Fly Fishers' Republic

Winter Brown

November 30, 2007

by Raif Killips

Winter Brown

Recipe:

Uses:

The Winter Brown is a traditional North Country pattern. It is an impressionistic pattern fished successfully during hatches of small stonefly which some texts claim it is meant to represent. Traditionally fished for trout and grayling the Winter Brown will work for species like roach, rudd and dace in Europe. This impressionistic pattern may also represent other aquatic life including in the spring time, the young alvae that hide at the river bed.

How to fish:

Traditionally fished ‘upstream and across’ like the other spider patterns, or on the swing, and dead drift. The fly can be fished on its own or as part of a team.

Tying instructions:

Toggle sequence Left/Right Handed ↔

Start the thread one and a half hook eye width behind the eye...

1. Lightly wax the thread first. Then start the thread one and a half hook eye width behind the eye.

Build a smooth body and return the thread to just behind the start of the thread base...

2. Take the thread in close touching turns to just before the bend and then return the thread to a couple of wraps behind the start of the thread base. My thread here is 8/0 and took a second layer to achieve a suitable thickness in the body.

Select a feather from the marked section of the wing...

3. Select a lower marginal covert feather from a woodcock wing. These fathers are found at the ‘elbow’ at the underside of the leading edge of the wing.

A lower marginal covert - a feather from the underside of the wing...

4. The feather will look more or less like this (with concaved side of the feather facing away from you).

The prepared feather...

5. Remove the barbs from one side of the feather. When prepared this way the hackle will curve slightly backwards.

Offer up the feather to the hook to check barb length...

6. You want the feather barbs to be about the length of the hook. When tied in at the start of the body they will reach slightly beyond the bend.

The exact point on the stem for tying in...

7. Catch in the prepared feather by the tip, either between the barbs or wrapping over the stem and the base of the barbs of the tip section of the feather – this can help avoid the feather snapping as it is wrapped in step 10.

Remove the waste feather close to the shank...

8. Cut away as much of the waste end of the feather as you can.

Take the thread a couple wraps toward the bend before wrapping the hackle in front of it...

9. Notice here I’ve taken the thread a couple wraps back toward the bend because the hackle will be wrapped in front of the thread before taking the thread throught the hackle in stage 14.

Wrap the hackle with hackle pliers. Make one or two wraps...

10. Wrap the hackle forward using hackle pliers. Make one or two wraps.

Secure the hackle by winding the thread through it and finishing with a couple wraps at the front...

11. Wind the thread forward through the hackle…

cut away the waste feather...

12…. and secure the waste with a couple extra thread wraps at the front. Let the thread bobbin hang.

Tie in the peacock herl by the tip end...

13. Now tie in one or two fine peacock herls by their tips. I’m using one here. If the herl’s tip looks especially delicate I deliberately snap it off before tying in – that way I’m sure of tying in a strong section of herl.

Put a small drop of head cement on the thread base to strengthen the herl head...

14. Touch in the thread base with a drop of head cement.

Wind the herl right up to the eye before removing the waste...

15. Wind a head of herl taking the wraps right up to the hook eye. You’re aiming to hide the whip finish. Cut away the waste material.

Using a hand whip finish...

16. Make a two or three wrap whip finish. I use a hand whip finish because it helps me keep the thread in tension and helps stop the herl from unraveling.

A finishing drop of cement. Steady your hand with your little finger on the vice...

17. Use a couple of tiny drops of head cement. I brace my hand for this by placing my little finger (pinky to you US readers) on the vice.

Bed the whip finish into the herl with a pinch of the thumb and index finger.

18. Use a pinch action to bed the whip finish into the herl head. You’ll end up with something like this.

History:

The Winter Brown amongst other patterns of the North Country School is first described in the work of T.E. Pritt, North Country Flies.

Variations:

Pritt is explicit about the covert feather for the hackle being from the underside of the woodcock wing. These are lighter that the upper coverts that are used for another pattern called the Little Winter Brown. That pattern omits the herl head and has a sparsely dubbed hare's ear body.

Further reading:

North Country Flies, 1886, Thomas Evan Pritt.

Brook and River Trouting, 1916, Harfield H Edmonds and Norman N Lee.

Fly Fishing: The North Country Tradition, 1994, Leslie Magee.