Saturday, June 21, 2008

Fly of the Week (#3) -The Royal Coachman

This week's fly is the Royal Coachman. The Coachman is one of the most famous of traditional flies. It is considered an "attractor" pattern because it does not imitate a specific natural fly. It does however have characteristics of several types of flies. It is often used for "prospecting" on unfamiliar streams or when it is difficult to figure out what the fish are feeding on.
I have heard that brook trout are particularly fond of the Royal Coachman, but that rainbows and browns may turn their nose at it. Since I am planning to fish for brookies this weekend in unfamiliar waters, it seems to be a likely choice. I will let you know how it goes.

This fly was tied on a Tiemco TMC 531 #14 hook. Wings are white turkey quill. Tail is pheasant. The body is two strands of peacock herl with red silk floss. And the hackle is coachman brown.

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 23, 2008 at 9:39 AM

    Hi David:

    Royal Coachman is a pretty fly. If I have an occasion to present only one fly to my girl friend if any, I would go with this fly.

    One comment. The hackle you tighed is not uniform. You better use quality hackle and try not to use the tip section of the hackle which has shorter fibers.

    Kyousirou

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  2. DavidJune 24, 2008 at 6:40 PM

    You have a good eye. Yes, the hackles I had were too large for the #16 hook. So I tried to use just the tip section so the hackles would not be too long. But, as you pointed out, this made the hackle fibers not uniform. I need to purchase some premium necks.

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