Mayfly Tombola - 2 Detached Duns & A Spent
I managed to venture out onto the water over the weekend - it was epic!
The wild fish on my local Derwent are usually pretty selective when feeding, and gently take any offering I pass by their noses.
However, over the weekend I arrived at my favourite pool and could hear some very splashy rises - I couldn't see anything specific hatching but could see the fish attacking something very vigourously.
After a little time spent watching, I saw a couple of Mayfly rise from the surface - so I tied on a Mohican Mayfly - and the fish went nuts for it! I only had a couple with me (as I was not expecting to be using Mayflies for at least another couple of weeks). I did have some Detached Body Duns, which I used to the very same effect.
It was one of those "Red Letter Days" that keep you coming back for more!
Up here in our corner of North Yorkshire we very rarely see a Mayfly before the end of May, but they seem to be appearing very early this year (as our Mayfly tracker is showing) - it must be to do with the nice and settled warm spell we are currently enjoying.
As well as focussing on the 'detached body' Mayfly variants in today's missive, I've also a bit of a treat for you ..
Introducing ...
The Mayfly Tombola
I've been thinking of a way to do something nice for all of our loyal community - yes, that's you - and then the penny dropped when I was a local village fete over easter!
Let's do it like a tombola, but instead of picking a raffle ticket that ends in either a '5' or a '0' - and winning a jar of jam that you will pass on to next year's raffle - let's do something a little different.
Our Mayfly Tombola will run until midnight tomorrow, you'll have to scroll to the end of this email to find out all the details!
But, back to the detached body Mayflies ...
On my local river I usually find the best sport to be had is in an evening - from around 6pm into the dusk - so only a few hours - but the signs are very positive for the coming weeks - I may have to leave the fly fairies to it, and take a few afternoons off!
The afternoon is when the Dun / Spinners come out to play and in the evenings the "Spent" mayfly patterns are king.
As a quick reminder - the majority of Mayflies only live for one day. During this time they:
- Hatch (Pattern Match: Emerger)
- Mature into an adult (Pattern Match: Dun)
- Mate (Pattern Match: Spinner); and
- Die (Pattern Match: Spent)
It's the ones that have had their fun and gone to the river in the sky that we are trying to imitate on an evening. When a mayfly expires they float on the water with their wings outstretched, as below:
TOP TIP: Reducing Leader Twist - when fishing with flies which have large wings - like Mayflies, this will induce twist in your leader (there's nothing you can really do to stop it). The majority of Mayfly patterns (especially the spent ones) have wings which act just like helicopter rotor blades and spin when you cast them. The best way to combat this is to:
- Reduce the length of your leader
- Increase the diameter of your leader
Try shortening the overall length of your tapered leader to around 6ft and step up your tippet diameter - use 3X or 4X. Once the fish really switch on to the Mayfly they become indifferent to your tippet, so step it up where you can.
As we are discussing the Mayfly (and why shouldn't we, this is the exact time of year to do it), we have a pretty special offer on the very best detached body Mayflies we can supply - The Mohican Mayfly & ayfly Dun - they are works of art, you won't know wether to hang them on the wall or fish with them!
When fishing the Mayfly hatch during the day, there's no better fly to use than a Detached Dun style imitation - and these are the best. We have these available now and ready to find a new home in your fly box.
Here they are:
Detached Body Mayfly Dun
If you arrive at the water in the mid-afternoon - Remember you are looking for sections of river which are below a slow-running silty section and preferably where the river narrows. This funnel effect will act as a conveyor belt delivering the mayfly to the waiting trout. The better-sized trout will be at the head of the pool, so steadily work your way up. Once the Emergers appear on the water it's time to break out the detached body mayfly Dun and Spinner imitations.
Ok, you've sold me on them, "What's the price?" I hear you ask - we are making all of these flies available to you either individually (from only £2.75), or in packs of 5 or 10 from only £12 - which includes Free Delivery to anywhere in the UK - in our Eco-Friendly packaging.
Mohican Mayfly
The Spent Mayfly
If you see Spinners dancing above you on an evening, pay very close attention to the water for softly rising fish, and look for dead Spinners caught in small pockets of dead water behind rocks or debris. If you find any, pick them up so you can get a good idea of their size and colour and then select an appropriate pattern.
Slightly darker in colour to the spinner, some mayflies die as soon as they hatch. These are an easy target for trout, sometimes they actively target these in preference to the hatching flies. In which case these are the go-to flies.A classic mayfly imitation, super buoyant and tied to exacting standards. This pattern imitates those mayflies which die hatching or after mating. One of the most effective Mayfly imitations when spinners are on the water.
All of our individual Mayfly patterns are available either individually (from only £2.75), in packs of 5 or 10 (from only £12.00) - which includes Free Delivery to anywhere in the UK - in our Eco-Friendly packaging.
Get them while you can, as we did run out last year!
Go on, you know you want to!
The Mayfly Tombola
I hope you like the header image from this email as much as I do - it adorns the book we released last year, 80+ pages all about fishing the Mayfly - you can grab your copy here, for only £9.99.
We've been thinking of a way to let all our loyal community - yes, that's you - get hold of one - for FREE, and then the penny dropped when I was at our local fete! Let's do it like a tombola, but instead of picking a raffle ticket that ends in either a '5' or a '0' - and winning a jar of marmalade which you will pass on to next year's raffle - let's do something a little more digital.
So here's the deal:
- Just place an order with us before midnight tomorrow (14th May), it doesn't matter how much for - we're good like that, we would appreciate it if the order was over £20 but it's not a requirement!
- If your order number ends in an even number, then we will add one of our "Fishing The Mayfly" books to your order for free (usually £9.99).
- If you order one of our Mayfly books as a part of your order, we will refund you the cost of the book if your order number ends in an even number.
- That's it.
We've only around 50 of our books remaining, so they will only last us a day or so. This virtual tombola will run from the time you receive this email until midnight tomorrow (14th May), or until we run out of books - whichever is the sooner!
Our Mayfly Tracker ... An Update
Over the weekend I asked you to help us with our 2025 Mayfly Tracker project - you didn't disappoint! and we've already had a fantastic response.
I've updated the tracking page with the info I have received so far - click on the button (or image) below to view the updated tracker.
Essentially, as soon as you see Mayfly hatching on your local water, get in touch letting me know where, and I will then plot it on a live map for all to see.
If you wish to contribute, (and we hope you will) as soon as you see a Mayfly hatch on your local water, please get in touch, by sending me an email (richard@barbless-flies.co.uk) to let me know the hatch location, and I will then update the live map.
Have fun out there!
