FLY OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER 2023

THE CDC OLIVE SHUTTLECOCK

HOOK: Size 12 – 16.
THREAD: Olive 8/0.
ABDOMEN: Fine olive dubbing.
RIB: Olive thread.
WING/WING CASE: 2-3 Cul-de-Canard feathers
THORAX: Fine olive dubbing.

This is a very effective fly when small olive-coloured midges are
hatching. Wet the abdomen before casting and the fly should sit in
the water with the oily CdC feathers above the surface. This makes
the fly easy to see and takes should be obvious. Match the
abdomen and thorax colours and size to suit the midges coming off
the water. The other main colours to have in your box are black with
a silver rib and tan with a black rib. Most anglers by now have
replaced the CdC with a piece of foam and use a range of ‘top-hat buzzers’.
There is no doubt that this is a lot more convenient, but I
think the colour and translucency of the natural CdC feather
matches the natural fly much better than a piece of foam. The
feather will be wet and slimy after catching a fish but a few swishes
in the water and drying on a folded kitchen towel will soon have it
floating again.

Given reasonable weather, fly choice should be similar to last month
as there will still be a lot of terrestrial flies and beetles on the water
on warm days. The daddy-long-legs is always a good fly to try at
this time of the year especially on breezy days when they could be
blown onto the water. On really hot days when nothing seems to be
happening at the surface, try sinking lines and lures. I usually start
off with something bright such as a Cat’s Whisker and if that doesn’t
produce a response change to something darker, such as a Black
Fritz or Humungous. Fish as deep as you can without continually
snagging on the bottom. Don’t forget the fish are still in the lake
and they still must eat so you are always in with a chance if your fly
is in the water!

Phil Bilbrough