Easy ... Easy ... Easy

It's time to deploy the Big Daddies, but how 'BIG' is big?

If you're around my age, let's just say 55+, then I'm sure you can remember sitting around the TV on a Saturday lunchtime with the dulcet tones of Kent Walton ringing in your ears!

These images and sounds came flooding back to me over the summer when our local history society had an exhibition showcasing some of the 'sporting' heritage of our local town (Scarborough) - that led me to think of the legendary bouts between Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks (and my personal favourite Kendo Nagasaki - whatever happened to him?).

I was looking for a way of framing this email, which is all about the Daddy Long Legs, and bingo (another local favourite), the idea hit me!

So forgive the cheesy nature of this but ... Now we are into early September and the haystacks have started to grow it's time for the daddies to make an appearance - I'm sure you've already begun to see them bumping into the windows around your house. 

Every September, as the first hints of autumn appear, fly anglers eagerly anticipate one of the season's most exciting hatches: the Daddy Long Legs. These gangly terrestrials, blown onto the water by late summer breezes, trigger some of the most explosive surface feeding of the year.

Fish that have grown wary and selective throughout the season suddenly throw caution to the wind, rising eagerly to gulp down these substantial mouthfuls. Yet despite the Daddy Long Legs' reputation as a bit of a 'banker' pattern, many anglers find their success frustratingly inconsistent.

The culprit, I believe, lies not in your technique or timing, but in a fundamental mismatch between the size of the flies in our boxes and that of the insects actually landing on the water.

At the back end of last season, when watching trout gleefully refuse my size 10 and 12 'regular' Daddy Long Legs patterns - even when fish were feeding confidently around me - I decided to take a closer look at the naturals themselves. 

What I discovered was quite revealing: while the usual commercial patterns are typically tied on size 10-12 hooks to create that "substantial mouthful" impression, the actual crane flies blown onto the water are considerably smaller and much more dainty.

The average Daddy Long Legs that finds its way onto our waters measures closer to what a size 14 hook would represent, with a lighter, more realistic silhouette that doesn't create the heavy disturbance many oversized patterns produce.

So, I had our tyers produce a few samples which had been scaled down and tied on a size 14 AHREX FW525 to try out:

By downsizing our patterns to match the genuine proportions of these terrestrials, I found that the more educated trout, particularly those that had been rejecting the bulkier commercial ties, began taking my smaller flies with renewed confidence.

Sometimes, the most effective revolution is simply getting back to what nature actually presents!

From that original tan-coloured size 14 Daddy Long Legs pattern (which was pretty much chewed to bits!), I've now spawned off a few different variations and created a full selection for you to choose from:

• The Black Foam Daddy - Size 14 AHREX FW525
• The Orange Foam Daddy - Size 14 AHREX FW525
• The Tan Foam Daddy - Size 14 AHREX FW525;
• The Peacock Daddy - Size 12 AHREX FW503 (see details below)

The Artisan Daddy Selection ...

Why not treat yourself to our Barbless Artisan Daddy Long Legs Selection, a selection of 12 barbless daddies - we've even kept the price to our 2024 pricing (at only £22 for the full selection):

The patterns included in our selection are:

• The Black Foam Daddy - A twist on the classic Daddy Long Legs pattern. This is a streamlined pattern, tied with swept-back wings, a black foam body and signature knotted pheasant tail legs. Our Selection contains 3 each in a size 14.
• The Orange Foam Daddy - A streamlined pattern, tied with swept-back wings, an orange foam body (easy to see in low-light conditions) and signature knotted pheasant tail legs. Our Selection contains 3 each in a size 14.
• The Tan Foam Daddy - With swept-back wings, a tan foam body (virtually identical in colour to the real insect) and signature knotted pheasant tail legs. Our Selection contains 3 each in a size 14.
• The Peacock Daddy (see below) - A pattern which works exceptionally well all across the UK. Tied with a sparse hackle (which includes 2 short wings), a peacock herl body (which allows this pattern to float high on the water) and signature knotted pheasant tail legs. Our Selection contains 3 each in a size 12.

Our Barbless Artisan Daddy Long Legs Selection, containing 12 flies, is available as a full selection for only £22, including free delivery to anywhere within the UK.

*** We have around 90 of these selections available, so we should be good for around a week or so, but grab yours now if you would like a set. ***

*** Go on, you know you want to! ***

The Peacock Daddy

At this very time last year, I was given a fly to try out that a friend had used for years (tied to his own secret recipe) - it was a 'Daddy' style pattern, but had a heavy front hackle and was tied with a peacock herl body - as it turned out, this was the one fly which saved me numerous blanks this year (in both the early-season and the summer). It accounted for fish when it had no right to, i.e. in the summertime's low water levels, I had Grayling rising for it!

I've had our tyers tie their interpretation of his original fly, and we've called it The Peacock Daddy:

For the whole of last September, I was hooked on this pattern, and I knew that we must get stock of them for the 2025 'Daddy Season' - well, we've just received them from our 'artisan' fly supplier, and the tyings are superb, all tied on the highest quality AHREX FW503 size 12 hooks.

To give you the best possible value, we've decided to offer these Daddies in three different quantities:

• Individually - for £2.15 each
• Packs of 6 - for £11.00 (equivalent to £1.83 each); or
• Packs of 12 - for £20.00 (equivalent to only £1.66 each)

Click on any image or button above to view this stunning fly in more detail and choose your pack quantity.

Please Note: The Peacock Daddy is also included in our Artisan Daddy Selection, which you can find by clicking here.

The standard and quality of these Daddies is that high, we've added them to our range of 'Artisan' flies.

We do have quite a few of these; even so, we're expecting them to sell out very quickly, so if you would like some, you will need to be quick!

When Daddy Long Legs are hatching in the area, use these flies with a slightly heavier/stiffer tippet than you would normally use - it will reduce the amount of twist in the leader as these flies are fairly big and wind-resistant.

Daddy Long Legs are also surprisingly effective when fished as a wet fly, so don't be too quick to keep these flies dry, once they are wet and submerged.

If on a Stillwater, gently "figure of 8" them back to create a small wake, on a River try fishing them in the surface film, don't worry about any drag (you want these flies to move across the current where possible) and hold on!

Tight lines & enjoy it.

P.S. You may recognise the above email, I send a variation of it at this same time every year - it's one of my favourites!