Martyn White | Thursday, 28 May 2026
Given it’s the right time of year for it I thought I’d give you a mulberry pattern I use for carp that, I imagine can be adapted to use for other species eating other soft fruits that may be falling on the water’s surface.
Obviously this is a bit of a niche, but fruit feeding fish are not totally unheard of, we’ve probably all seen the videos of amazonian fish eating falling fruits and seeds, but it’s not just there, an Australian mate of mine was telling me he’s been using something similar for sooty grunter when the little figs are falling. If there’s an available food source, something will likely be eating it. There are lots of berry patterns, and while they mostly all do a job I’ve settled on 2 after several years of tweaking and experimentation:
The first is a deer hair berry (POD), this is my favourite by a long way. I’ve tried foam and while it’s ok, I found I got far more refusals on foam even when the flies were essentially the same buoyancy. I assume the deer hair just feels better to the carp’s mouth. It’s a simple enough pattern :
Hook: Fulling Mill, grab gape heavy size 8
Thread: Black
Body: Spun deer hair mix (50% black, 40% purple 10% red)
Stalk: Strip of green foam tied over the eye - 2x2mm
I’ve used a lot of different hooks over the years and the grab gape is far and away the best choice I’ve found. It’s very stout so keels the fly nicely, the shank length is right and it’s a great hooker that holds well during the fight but almost always falls out in the net.
The mix of coloured hair seems to do better than a solid black for some reason, it’s not really any more work than spinning a single colour.
Don’t spin the hair too tight, it should be fairly open as you don’t want the fly to float high- think iceberg buoyancy.
The stalk isn’t for the fish, it’s just a nice way to put a sighter on the fly that won’t put the fish off. It makes a huge difference on a sunny day when you’re casting into the shade under the bushes.
The second is a slow sinking fly that I only sometimes break out after a few weeks of the berry hatch. When the fish are full of berries and aren’t really competing strongly to get them as they fall into the river, or after they’ve seen and even been caught on a few floating imitations this fly comes into its own. It’s also a simple tie:
Hook: Fulling Mill, grab gape heavy size 8
Thread: Black
Underbody (optional): A small amount of foam to slow the sink
Body: Black and red translucent (non pearly) blob fritz
Stalk: Strip of green foam tied over the eye - 2x2mm
I don’t always add the underbody of foam but I like to have a couple of flies like that for really slow water to keep them up a little.
The stalk is less useful on this pattern but it can still help you pick out the fly.
I basically fish both flies the same way, they must be drifted drag free. Just because the fish are going bananas for the falling berries doesn’t mean they’ll accept a shittily presented imitation that’s skating across the river like a morish mouse!
With carp I much prefer an across or downstream presentation, because the way they come up means an upstream presentation makes them likely to touch the leader and spook before eating.