Six Months in the Making!
Morning,
There's a moment, somewhere around the second week of May, when everything in the fly fishing calendar changes.
The river that's been cold and indifferent for months suddenly feels alive. Rings appear on the surface where there were none. Trout that have been ignoring your best efforts start to look upwards. If you're paying attention & have done your homework, you'll be standing in the right place, and you'll see them.
The Mayfly, Ephemera danica, the most dramatic hatch in our fly fishing calendar, is nearly upon us!
We've been waiting for this ...
I always get really excited when I see a big yellow DHL van pull up outside the office in April, as this can only mean one thing ...
Our New Artisan Mayfly Selection - tied using the very best materials and on the very best AHREX hooks - has just arrived, and I want to tell you about it now, weeks before the season gets anywhere near us, because if last year is anything to go by, these won't be on our shelves for long!
Every single one is hand-tied by a small team of specialist tyers who have been working on our patterns for the best part of six months. They're tied exclusively on AHREX hooks, the best hooks in the business, full stop - and the materials are chosen for how they behave on water, not how they look in a box.
They are not cheap flies - they're not meant to be.
The 16 flies in our Artisan Selection include our best-selling patterns from over the last 10 years - plus, a brand new 'Trailing Shuck' style pattern which our customers over in the USA have urged us to stock (see further down this email). But let's start with:
Mohican Mayfly (AHREX FW525 - Size 12) - the adult dun in its most visible form. Upright, confident, unmistakable on the surface and one of our best-selling flies of all time!
Detached Body Mayfly Dun (AHREX FW525 - Size 14) - when fish are refusing the obvious patterns, the detached body changes things. The way it moves is different. Trout notice.
Mayfly CdC Emerger (AHREX FW531 - Size 10) - tied with CDC to sit right in the film. Fish during a hatch take emergers more readily than duns, and this pattern produces when everything else draws a blank.
Mayfly Loop-Wing Dun (AHREX FW503 - Size 10) - the loop wing gives this fly a silhouette that few others match at distance. A confidence pattern for technical fish.
Spent Mayfly (AHREX FW525 - Size 14) - overlooked by too many anglers. When the evening spinner fall starts, fish switch entirely to spent patterns and ignore everything else. This one earns its place in every serious mayfly box.
Mayfly Loop-Wing Emerger (AHREX FW525 - Size 14) - a second emerger, different profile, different presentation. When fish are being selective, having both gives you options.
Mayfly 'Trailing Shuck' Emerger (AHREX FW511 - Sizes 12 & 14) - brand new this season, and I'm genuinely excited about it - I believe we are the only ones to sell this style of fly in the UK. The trailing shuck represents the fly at its most vulnerable, half out of its nymphal case, suspended in the film, unable to escape.
The fish know this.
A size 14 on a chalk stream, a size 12 on a bigger northern river. We've included both in our Artisan Mayfly Selection.
The Artisan Mayfly Selection is available for immediate delivery, and they won't hang around - we sold out of these within a few days last year.
Each pattern is tied with the very best materials on AHREX barbless hooks (in the correct size). Each selection contains 16 flies and is priced at only £36 £45 (a £9 discount on buying them individually) - shipped to anywhere in the UK FREE of charge.
The quality of these mayflies has to be seen to be believed. They are all tied on AHREX hooks - the very best in the business - we're sure you cannot find better quality Mayflies anywhere else!
Only Want A Taster?
Think of these as an 'amuse-bouche' of the fly fishing world, giving you just one each of our Artisan Mayfly patterns, allowing you to see which ones work best on your waters.
We are supplying this Taster Selection of Mayflies as a selection of 8 flies, each one a different stage of the Mayflies lifecycle.
We usually run out of Mayflies, but this year will be different, we are determined to have them available to you for the full Mayfly season - they are all in stock and our shelves are groaning under their weight, we literally have tens of thousands of them - so fill your boots!
Why not grab a Taster Selection today, see which ones work on your water, then top-up your box throughout the season - at only £20.00 for the Full Artisan Mayfly Taster Selection, they are a bargain!
Get them while you can, as we did run out last year!
We are supplying this Taster Selection of Mayflies as a selection of 8 flies (one each of our Artisan Mayflies). We have already stocked up on these Mayflies and they're available now, at only £20.00 for the Mayfly Taster Selection - which includes FREE delivery to anywhere in the UK.
Go on, you know you want to!
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.
Generally, once the fish are confidently taking mayflies they will not be shy of leaders, try dropping your leader length right down and using a thicker diameter.
Try removing your tapered leader altogether and just using 4ft to 6ft of 5X tippet direct to your fly line with some of the larger flies - like the Mohican Mayfly.
Have fun out there - it's about to get really good!
