Duán Flyfishing: Spring Templedogs

There is just over a week to go until the start of the 2013 season. The River Drowes which straddles the Donegal/Leitrim border usually produces the first fish. The first fish of 2012 however was caught on the Liffey. The River Lackagh in Donegal opens on January 1st 2013 for the first time in a number of years. The Lackagh, filtered by Lough Beagh and Glen Lough runs gin clear and gets some very big fish. The Lackagh is very short but finding a January fish will still be a mammoth task but I'm going to give it a go anyway.

I'm told that flies with badger hair in them are a must for the Lackagh. I don't know why, but badger hair is regarded as having almost magical pulling power on many Donegal rivers, I have an inkling however that it might have something to do with the natural translucency of the hair. I'm going to get tying some badger tubes for the Lackagh but I'm also going to try some templedogs.

First up is an Em Silver. This pattern was created by Per Palm and it appeared in the pages of Trout and Salmon recently. I think it could be useful for springers and could be worth a go on the Lackagh. It is dressed lightly, for a Templedog and does have the translucent quality I'm looking for.

Next up is a TD tied in the classic colours of that Scottish springer machine, the Willie Gunn. I've copied Per Palm's style of tying TDs by tying the final wing short and wide. This accentuates the teardrop profile that should be present in every Templedog.

View from above.

The Banana TD is a fly from Mikael Andersson. It has gathered a cult following in Scandinavia. I'll be trying it out for the first time in 2013. First up is a Turbo Disc version.