Fly Blown

After a pleasant bass fishing weekend in the Hunter Valley there was no need to hurry so I took a back road home. This took me via Wollombi and St Albans, then the ferry crossing over the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry. From there to Sydney.

Most of the road north of St Albans then was dirt, and rough in places. It wound through picturesque, lush and isolated dairy country. On one long stretch the road narrowed and in the centre lay a dead wombat. I stopped to move it out of the way when I also noticed a dead goanna alongside the wombat. It must have gone over to inspect the carcass hoping for an easy lunch and was then walloped by another passing car.

There was not a mark on the goanna and it was freshly killed. I skinned it right there on the spot. Its beautiful skin now has a ‘second life’ as I used it to make a nymph wallet.

In this wallet I am glad to say are a lot of experimental nymphs I’ve tied and used over the years. One of these is the ‘blowie’ mentioned here. Unlike the many blowfly and bushfly imitations covered in recent issues (FlyLife #60 & 61), this one is well and truly drowned.

I first used it ages ago when fishing the Eucumbene River somewhere near ‘Nimmo’. I can still see in my mind the crystal clear water of this mountain stream. On a bend was an interesting pool with some huge granite boulders rising from the bottom and protruding above the surface. I used these to jump from one point to another to get a better vantage point. Behind me on the riverbank were some higher boulders, which hopefully would block my silhouette from any trout entering the pool. I kept low and stood there stock still for a while studying the water when a beautiful brown trout casually happened along.

I froze and watched as it came towards me. It didn’t seem to be in any hurry and acted in the usual manner whilst looking for a morsel here and there. It then slowly turned and disappeared behind some of the boulders but soon swung back and noticed my buggy-looking nymph drifting towards it. A quick flick of its tail, a turn and it took the fly without any hesitation.

I landed it with the usual antics of me jumping from boulder to boulder and up the bank, as I had no intension of getting wet. All went well and a beautiful brown trout of two and a half pounds was netted and subsequently released.

Since then I have had fun tying variations of this pattern and used them with success as a ‘tail’ fly behind a Zulu or Mrs Simpson on lakes. Try it on the ‘lee’ sides where froth and weed collects and piles up against the shoreline. Cast it close to and behind these areas. These sorts of situations attract lots of flies especially as most of our large impoundments are situated in grazing country.

Drowned blowie or not, I’ve used it as you would any ‘searching’ pattern. It sinks and drifts along naturally. Fish it as you would a standard nymph, or suspended under a large dry fly as an indicator. You can add ‘hot spots’ of colour for extra attraction.

It could and probably does imitate all manner of aquatic beetles, nymphs and pupae or indeed any number of drowned flies, grubs and bugs. It’s a versatile little nondescript that seems to attract a lot of interest.