Overview

Do not let pride stop you catching fish. When the classic dry flies are not bringing anything to the net, the Squirmy Wormie offers trout something familiar, high in protein and easy to commit to. It is not subtle and it is not trying to be, and there are days on every river when that is exactly the right answer.

Its moment is high or off-colour water. When a river comes up, worms are washed out of the banks and into the feeding channels in real numbers, and trout switch onto them fast because the food is abundant, obvious and requires no selectivity at all. The silicone body is what makes the pattern work rather than merely resemble: it flexes and undulates on the slightest current change, so the fly keeps moving through a dead drift instead of hanging inert the way a dubbed or chenille body does. The Red dressing carries best in stained water. Fish it deep under an indicator, as the point fly on a nymph rig, or on a short Euro-nymph leader through coloured runs. Tied here in size 12.Read More +