As fly anglers we have many anglers before us who we can thank for doing some of the ground work for us. One such angler is undoubtedly Stan Headley who has done too much to mention in regards to unlocking and sharing the secrets of loch fishing. One of the flies that he created was the Doobry which is a killing fly in it's own right on waters such as Loch Leven. Taking the basic design and adapting it a little bit for the darker waters of the hill lochs I came up with this little gem that has really performed well as a point fly this season. It seems to work best in sizes 12 and 14 and was responsible for one of the prettiest trout that I have ever caught this year. It is tied in the "snatcher" style.
Ingredients:
Hook: 12-14 shrimp/buzzer
Silk: black
Tag: red floss (I use stuff from a building suppliers!)
Dubbing: black
Rib: flat gold tinsel
Body hackle: cree cock
Head hackle: dark cree or ginger cock
Cheeks: orange floss
1) Tie in the red floss. Take it down the bend of the shank.
2) Wrap the floss round the shank to form a red tag.
3) Tie in the flat gold tinsel. Remember to tie it over about 80% of the shank to keep the profile even.
4) Tie in the black dubbing.
5) Tie in the cree cock hackle.
6) Wrap the hackle back down the shank and trap it with the gold tinsel. Be careful not to let the hackle come loose. Wrap the tinsel over the hackle and follow up the shank towards the eye.
7) Tie off the tinsel and tie in a darker cree or a ginger cock hackle.
8) Wrap the hackle round in tight touching twists to form the head hackle.
9) Trap the fibres between finger and thumb, pushing them backwards and tie them in to form the head.
10) Tie a piece of orange floss at 90 degrees to the hook. Fold it back round the other side to form the cheeks.
11) Secure with silk to form two identical cheeks. Trim them to the same length. They should look like this......
12) Whip the head and varnish. A deadly little fly to have at all times when up in the hills.