Morning,

Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you who 've put your trust in us over the last week and supported us with our 'non-fly related' emails - our Pisces 1 Specialist Nymphing Rod & Barbless Clothing Launch - both Jack and I really appreciate it - thank you.

As I write this, we've actually got snow here in North Yorkshire.

Which makes today's email all the more apt, as it's all about a specific nymph pattern which I turn to when it's really cold - and it virtually always works!

These nymphs seem to work for all fish - in all waters - at all times

We've also made a little tweak to them, they're ...

Electric Winter Nymphs

I've always found this a really difficult period of the year, fishing trips are usually fairly short and you really have to search for the Grayling to have any luck - especially if the water is not very clear, the few resident Grayling of my local 'tea-stained' Derwent don't usually need any excuse to take a nymph - you've just got to find them first!

One school of thought - which I personally subscribe to, as it's worked really well for me over the years - is to start to use smaller, more imitative nymphs, especially when there's no activity on the surface to give their position away.

TOP TIP: If you're fishing with two nymphs, tie a heavier nymph to a dropper with a size 18 Copper John v2.0 on the point. This will allow you to fish a small nymph at depth and still be sensitive enough to detect takes through your fingers.

One such nymph which I find works really well no matter which river (or stillwater) you are on, is the famous Copper John, the Grayling on my local river seem to love it in Red:

The original nymph, created by John Barr in 1993, has a world-famous reputation for catching fish.

There's an urban myth that the success of this nymph is due to the copper wire being wrapped around a hook, which creates a form of magnetic field which then attracts the fish - I suppose you do have the beginnings of an electromagnet with the materials, I'm still not sold on the idea though (see below) - but for Grayling in a Winter, I've always found that either an Olive or Red Copper John always seem to help avoid the dreaded blank!

If you want to give them a go and see their fish-catching abilities for yourself, then we have our updated Copper John patterns - and imaginatively called them, Copper John v2.0 -  they're available for you to try now:

The Copper John is a nymph which has always caught fish, this nymph is a great fly for both Trout and Grayling. Great in deep or fast water, it can also be used in the Duo setup with great effect.

This fly accounts for fish in virtually every river and stillwater across the world, due to its weight and profile, with copper wire twisted around the hook shank gives the fly a uniform weight distributed throughout the length of the fly, and more importantly, gets the fly to the depth where the fish are. Even in the smaller sizes this fly penetrates the water and sinks.

Our Copper John v2.0 Selection contains the following colour variations (Red, Copper, Olive Green & Black):

Our Copper John v2.0 Selection contains 16 nymphs (4 colour variations, 2 of each, in sizes 14 & 18) and is available now for only £22.50 - which includes Free Delivery to anywhere in the UK - in our Eco-Friendly packaging.

That's a massive 15% saving over buying them individually. If you have a discount code from us, you can include that to save even more.

Go on, you know you want to!

Does Copper Really Create a Magnetic Field Fish Can Sense?

You’ll sometimes hear anglers say that the tightly wound copper wire on a Copper John creates a magnetic field that trout and grayling can detect - almost like the fly has an invisible “aura” in the water.

It’s a brilliant story… but that’s all it is.

Copper isn’t magnetic, and there’s no evidence that wrapping it around a hook generates any kind of field strong enough for a fish to detect. Trout can sense electrical and magnetic inputs in their environment (most fish can), but not at the tiny, inert level produced by a coil of copper wire on a fly.

So why does the myth persist ... because it feels true.

The tight copper wire body creates a few real effects that anglers could misinterpret as something more mystical:

1. Consistent Density - A wire-wrapped body gives the fly an unusually even mass distribution. It sinks quickly but also smoothly - no wobble, no spin.

2. Vibration-Free Drift - A slim, rigid, wire-wrapped profile doesn’t flutter. It tracks cleanly through micro-currents, so the fly drifts naturally, exactly like the insects trout expect to see.

3. Subtle Light Pulses - As the fly rolls slightly on its axis (all nymphs do), the copper wire catches and releases tiny pulses of light. To a fish’s lateral line, that combination of movement & faint flash is very noticeable.

4. A ‘Hard’ Silhouette - Fish sense contrast more than colour. A copper-bodied nymph has a firm, insect-like silhouette underwater - sharper than something dubbed or fluffy.

Add all of that together and you get a fly that looks like it’s giving off something special … even though there’s no magnetic wizardry involved.

Have fun out there, stay dry, keep warm and find some fish!