Paul Arden | Wednesday, 9 February 2022
Yesterday I put out a request to Sexyloops readers for flies for the Sungai Tiang guides and Jason Stratford over on FB (quite rightly) asked me about specific patterns. That’s an instant problem for me however, because I don’t use specific patterns and haven’t done for decades. That’s not to say I don’t think that the fly is important – of course it is; its what fish eat! – only I just don’t think it matters if you use a Wulff, a Humpy or an Irresistible… a Pheasant Tail, a Hare’s Ear or a Grey Goose… a Bibio, a Red Tag, or a Zulu. Even when fish are locked on to a specific fly – an ant say – you can fish Ants, Black Spiders, Bob’s Bits, or a Black Spinner. Yes we will catch slightly more if you tweak our fly pattern… maybe!!
Peter MacKenzie-Philps once asked my good friend Jim Curry what he knew about entomology. And then he told Jim exactly what he thought about entomology, namely: if it’s small and brown then put on something that’s fkin small and brown!
So when I suggested fast water dries, slow water emergers, weighed nymphs and streamers, that’s about as specific as my mind goes!! I believe in colour, silhouette, triggers, movement and size (most definitely NOT in that order of importance!). I think what the Sungai Tiang guides actually need, is a wide selection of flies that they can test through fishing and quickly learn and develop knowledge from this experience.
We often learn as much, if not more, from flies that don’t work, as much as we do from flies that do work! And besides ALL flies work sometimes, even Dave Alexander’s Dead Caddis, that he sent me decades ago. Albeit my use of that fly was predominantly to spook fish, apart from Imaginary Flounder. Why Imaginary Flounder should eat a fly, that all other fish leave the pool to avoid, is beyond me. But they do.
I hope Dave sends us some of those. I’ve never had more fun with a fly!
Strong Kamasan trout hooks will be fine. I’m using Gamakatsu Bonefish hooks for Giant Gourami. That’s overkill for Mahseer. But the fine wire stuff is definitely out. I had a lot of straightened hooks on my last trip. They are about as strong as Carp, let’s put it that way.
The first thing I did was teach the Orang Asli to tie flies (God help them), so if they encounter something that works exceptionally well, they can copy it and tweak it. It’s that tweaking of flies that I think is one of the great games in fly fishing. You’ve seen my flies; you know it!! :)))
If you would like to help, my mailing address is on this page… https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/flies-for-sungai-tiang Alternatively you could try The Battleship, Belum-Temenggor Jungle, Malaysia! It’s just possible that Post Laju deliver by jet ski… but I somehow doubt it!
Cheers and many thanks!
Paul