The Nattslända (Night Fly)
It's properly hot out there. The kind of hot where you check the river in an afternoon, see absolutely nothing moving, and head home again.
The fish are sulking on the bottom. The surface is flat and glassy and entirely indifferent to your best efforts.
So you go home. Have your tea. Watch half an hour of football. And then you go back.
Because when the temperature finally starts to drop, and the light goes golden, something changes. The Caddis/Sedge start moving. Fish that haven't looked up all afternoon suddenly remember they're supposed to be feeding. Rings appear across the flat. You're in sedge time now - and for the next couple of weeks, this is where the best fishing will be.
Besides, I'd rather watch an evening rise than penalties!
The Swedes have a word for it: nattsländа. Caddisfly. Night fly. It suits this moment perfectly.
The Nattsländа - designed by Niklas Dahlin
Niklas Dahlin is one of Sweden's most respected fly tyers (and a good friend of Barbless Flies), and this pattern was built for exactly these conditions. We've forty selections available - with no restock planned.
The body is detached foam, which is angled away from the hook shank - and that matters. Rather than lying flat against the hook shank, it hangs with a natural curve, giving the fly a far more convincing silhouette when viewed from below. To a trout looking up, it reads as caddis. The thorax is pine squirrel natural dubbing - soft and genuinely buggy. An underwrapped hackle adds buoyancy in broken water and a little life in the flat stuff.
The hook we've used for these patterns is the best money can buy - the AHREX FW525, in a size 14:
These patterns work equally well on rivers and stillwaters. And come late August, when Daddy Long-Legs start blundering into the surface, it makes a convincing crane fly imitation too. One fly, two seasons:
How to fish The Nattsländа
The Nattsländа pattern can be fished as you would any other dry fly, but here's a few pointers:
Dead drift - Cast upstream into the evening rise, mend, let it travel. Start here.
The Twitch - Caddis swim to the bank before hatching. Occasionally skate the fly across the surface during the drift. Trout know this behaviour. They respond to it.
Duo rig - pair it with a nymph on the dropper for rivers where fish are still holding deep but beginning to look up.
Stillwater - Floating line, figure-of-eight or static. In this heat, fish the margins in last two hours of light. Leave it, let any breeze take it and watch.
We've put these together in a selection (of 12), which contains 3 each of the 4 different colour variations: Black, Olive, Rusty Brown & Tan - see below or click any link for detailed fly images:
Our full Nattsländа Selection contains 12 flies in total (3 each of the four colour variations, below, in a size 14) for only £24 (saving you over 11% over buying the flies individually) our price also includes FREE delivery to anywhere within the UK!
As well as selling these patterns individually, we are also able to supply our Nattsländа Selection in one of our stunning Slimline Silicone Fly Boxes for only an extra £10 (eneven bigger 19% saving):
Here's some more images of the Nattsländа patterns to really whet your appetite:
Please Remember: We only have forty (40) of these selections available, and when they're gone, they're gone.
So now you have secured your flies - I'm hoping you could maybe help me out with something ...
Trust Me, I'm A Trustee
I'm really proud to announce that a few months ago I was asked to be a trustee of Reel Recovery UK, and I gladly accepted - it's a charity you will have seen me mention on numerous occasions over the last year. It is very close to my heart as I have had immediate family members experience cancer so I'm happy to help in any way I can, even if in a small way.
Reel Recovery's weekend fly-fishing retreats help men with cancer in their recovery process. Experienced fly anglers give them individual tuition and trained facilitators hold group conversations within a safe, supportive environment to explore their personal experiences of cancer with others who share their stories. Reel Recovery retreats are entirely free to all participants. The men experience the beneficial effects of nature within beautiful, tranquil surroundings, learn a new skill and gain a network of caring support.
As all of our activities are 100% self-funded, I'm reaching out to see if you can help with our Charity Fundraising Auction?
Here at Reel Recovery UK we provide accommodation, meals, activities, instruction and equipment at no cost to the participants and all our staff are volunteers. We host 12 men with cancer on each weekend retreat and we need to raise funds of £500 per man. 100% of funds raised in the UK directly provide UK based retreats for UK citizens.
How you can help:
Please donate an auction lot for our online fundraising auction taking place in October this year. Lots can be anything fly-fishing related, in the widest sense, such as –
• Days on the water either guided or not.
• Fly Fishing Gear
• Fly Tying Gear
• Fishing or Country Clothing
• Instruction
• Art; or
• Accommodation
Anything with a guide price of over £80.
*Reel Recovery UK is a Registered Charity (Number 1217413).
If you can donate a lot, please contact sue@reelrecoveryuk.org with details.
Tennants Auctioneers, one of the country’s premier auction houses, are generously staging the online auction for us.
All funds raised from the auction will go directly into our UK retreat program – please help us to help more men with cancer.
Tight lines.
