October always catches me out, every year.
You’ve put the dry flies away in your head. The Mayflies & Hawthorns are a distant memory, the evenings are drawing in, and you’re thinking about nymphs and heavier tippet. Then you’re standing in a river on a still, bright day and something sips down a fly off the surface, just upstream of you.
Then another one.
Autumn is a gift for the dry fly angler who’s still paying attention. Grayling are coming into their own, and on the stillwaters the trout are feeding hard before winter, often with their heads up.
The question, as ever, is what do you reach for?
How about one of these:
The Hare's Ear Foam Klinkhamer - A rough body, a bit buggy. The one I'd use for Autumn fish that are still looking up, or stillwater fish working just sub-surface.
Why the foam post matters in October
The light is the real challenge this time of year. Short days, low sun, dull afternoons, and that last half hour when you can still fish but can’t see a thing. The high-density foam post sits proud of the water, and the white shows up against almost any background, including any dark, broken surface. You’ll see the take, and you won’t lose the fly in the film after a few fish.
Small dry flies are hard to track at the best of times. These make it a lot easier on the eyes.
We've just had this review in from Paul, who loves them:
"I started fly fishing in May this year, thereby fulfilling a lifelong aspiration. Living in Devon, I decided to buy a season ticket to fish for brown trout on the difficult-to-fish Duchy of Cornwall rivers and streams. After many early blanks, I came across these flies, and I have not looked back since. Now, after catching 50 or so trout in my first season (using size 18), I am looking forward to using these flies on a duo rig targeting grayling on the Tamar (using size 14). In summary, these are great quality flies that work well from a supplier who provides outstanding customer service."Paul S, Oct 2026.
Black Foam Klinkhamer - Underrated for Autumn afternoons, particularly on stillwaters when midges are hatching and the light's going.
Adams Foam Klinkhamer - The utility pattern. Suggests just about everything without committing to anything. Brilliant when you can't pin down what they're taking.
Olive Foam Klinkhamer - Your go-to when Autumn olives are on the menu.
On stillwaters specifically - the 'late-season' Klinkhamer gets overlooked. Most people file it under "river fly" and leave it at that. But in Autumn on a reservoir or lake, when midges are the only insects hatching, and trout are intercepting emerging pupae just in the film, a size 18 Hare's Ear or Black Klinkhamer fished on a long leader and left to move in the wind is a very serious option.
It occupies exactly the right zone - body hanging below the surface, post sitting proud above it.
One of the great difficulties in fishing smaller dry flies in Autumn is the ability to quickly spot where your fly actually is, with our Foam Post Klinkhamer Selection of flies you will have no problem seeing them (the white posts show up extremely well against virtually any background - including water).
You will not miss a take with either The Foam Post Klinkhamer Selection - they save your eyesight!
All of these flies have been chosen for both their blank saving and high visibility.
Scruffy but deadly and floats like a cork - Sixteen Foam Klinkhamers, four patterns, two of each in sizes 14 and 18:
Olive Foam Klinkhamer - Your first choice when the late olives are hatching, which on most UK rivers in October, they will be. Grayling love them.
Adams Foam Klinkhamer - The utility player. When you can’t pin down what they’re taking (and in Autumn you often can’t) this is the one that suggests everything and imitates nothing.
Black Foam Klinkhamer - One for the stillwaters, when midges are hatching and the light is going. Fished on a long leader and left alone, it’s a serious option.
Hare’s Ear Foam Klinkhamer - Rougher and buggier, for fish being picky or working just under the surface.
Our selection of 16 barbless Foam Post Klinkhamers is now available for only £22, including free delivery to anywhere within the UK.
Please Note: These sold out quickly last time and we're not holding enormous stock - so if you've been meaning to restock your Klinkhamers ahead of the season proper, now's a sensible moment.
(for more detailed images please visit our website by clicking on any images or buttons above)
Go on ... you know you want to!
As always, all of our fly selections are delivered free of charge, anywhere within the UK.
Autumn Stillwaters
Reservoirs and lakes are still fishing well into the back end, and the trout are feeding up. On a calmer day, especially in the milder part of the afternoon, look for fish working in the surface film, particularly along the windward bank where food collects. A size 18 Black or Hare’s Ear Klinkhamer on a long leader, cast out and left to sit, is a very good way to catch one. Don’t be in a hurry to retrieve it.
Dry & Wet Fly Grayling
With the river trout season over on most waters, grayling are the reason to keep going. They’re a fish that rises up through the water to take a fly, and they do it most confidently when the day has warmed a little. Often that means mid-afternoon, so there’s no need for an early start. Look in the steady glides and the tails of pools, and fish a size 18 Olive or Adams upstream with a light tippet. Take your time, take one fish at a time, and keep low. (Do check your river’s grayling season and any local rules before you go.) You will also need to be quick on the strike/lift - Grayling are notoriously fast!
If you're having no luck on a Foam Klink, try one of these classic Grayling patterns:
Red Tag Palmer
£1.95
The Original Grayling Pattern.
Treacle Parkin Palmer
£1.95
A 'classic' Yorkshire Grayling Pattern.
The clocks go back this Sunday, and the dark evenings will be on us before we know it. If you’ve been meaning to restock your Klinkhamers for the back end of the season, now’s the time - we won't have these again until April next year!
Tight lines.
P.S. We've a Stillwater fly that's a little special (and unique) which we're launching on Saturday. I've not seen them available anywhere before - we've had a few customers testing them for the last 6 months, and they work!
