The Jersey Herd was created by Tom Ivens for reservoir fishing in the early 1970s . It derived it’s name because the early pattern’s body was made from the gold colour foil on the milk bottles known as gold tops. At that time the Jersey cows were the ones milked to give the best full cream milk, hence the name Jersey Herd.

It is still a useful pattern to have in your box. Materials have changed over the years and the body is now usually made of copper lurex ribbed with copper wire, or goldfingering. I have used a material called new body czech which I prefer. This fly like so many others from that era still catches a lot of fish and is well worth giving a try.
 

The Dressing

• Hook - L/S 6, 8 or 10
• Thread - Black
• Tail Back & Head - Peacock Herl
• Body - Either Copper Lurex ribbed with copper wire, Goldfingering or New Body Czech.

Dave C and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg1L38TH5Wc

• Scissors – You will need a pair of fine pointed very sharp scissors. Embroidery scissors are good. A good pair should last you for years as long as you don’t go cutting wire with them.

• Bobbin Holder – The early models had no ceramic inserts in the tube and eventually started fraying the threads. It is worth the extra cost to buy ceramic models.

• Hackle Pliers – Basic models are not expensive and will do the job adequately. I still have my original one that my mentor made for me from thick wire, and it still works.

• Dubbing Needle – I still use hat pins. They are handy for cleaning out varnish from the hook eye and applying varnish to the head of the finished fly. You can buy the proper tool cheaply.

• Threader – An indispensable tool for feeding your thread onto the bobbin holder.

• Whip Finish Tool – If you can use one of these then use it. If you cannot , tie off with the traditional double half hitch ( like me ).

• Varnish – You only need clear to start with. Apply with dubbing needle. Very good advice is to remember to put the lid straight back on the bottle when finished.

• Beeswax – Indispensable for dubbing.

• Pliers – A pair of small fine nosed pliers for de-barbing hooks

• Dubbing Brush – Used for raising dubbed hair. Make one easily yourself using an old lollipop stick and glueing velcro to both sides at one end.

I learnt my fly tying over sixty years ago when the whip finish or double half hitch was rarely used. In the early days when eyed hooks became popular many of the commercial flies were finished off with a single half hitch with well waxed thread…..no varnish! This practice was resurrected when it was decided to train young women in Africa and Asia to tie the flies. At that time I was tying for several local tackle shops and was told that I had to abandon my practice of finishing every fly with two double half hitches and varnishing the heads. This was by one of the men who had gone abroad to set up these factories and instruct the local tyers. Not only did I have to tie an inferior fly my price was halved, but not the cost of the materials or hooks. Needless to say I gave up tying for the retail market. But I digress.

The double half hitch is relatively easy if you follow the instruction clip. If you have trouble pulling the thread through the first loop, with your finger, try using a bodkin or the end of a short knitting needle, even a pencil. Always tighten the thread slowly and direct it to where you want it to lie .Cut the thread do not break it off.

Remember practice makes perfect. Just keep tying the knot on a bare hook until it is second nature to you. 

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qziAKQ3ZIgI

At that time I was tying flies for three of the local tackle shops and I was inundated with orders for the original baby doll and the several variants it had ‘spawned’.  Fortunately Jean, my lovely wife, took it upon herself to deal with all the ‘baby doll orders’ and left me free to carry on tying proper flies.

It was only after a good day at Eyebrook reservoir that I appreciated how good a fly it was. Despite its success over the years it has fallen out of favour and given way to more exotic creations when more man made materials became available to fly tyers.

I would suggest that before you tie this fly you make sure your hands are clean. The baby wool is fluoescent and loses its appeal if it is grubby. I would also suggest that you scrap the fly after a days fishing, after all it is cheap as chips to make.

If you want to give your ‘doll’ a ghostly look gently stroke the wool body with an emery board to raise the fibres, but make sure that the head is well varnished and dry first.

Materials

• Hook -- Long shank or Streamer hook ’8′ and ’10′.
• Thread -- Black or Red.
• Body/Tail -- White ‘Baby Wool’.
• Rib -- Silver wire (strong).

  
Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHQytZ6RDKk

The body is best tied with seals fur in claret, red, orange, olive or ginger. Do not be afraid to try different colours. The rib is pearl tinsel tied in fine or medium widths.

Once the fly has been finished and the varnish on the head is dry gently stroke the seals fur with Velcro stick or pick out fibres with a dubbing needle.

The fly can be fished on a floating line, individually or in a team of three when the trout are feeding on flies emerging from the surface. I have found that a static fly is often better during the day but a slow retrieve gets more reaction as the night closes in.

• Hook  -  Light weight. long shank sizes 10, 12, and 14.
• Tying Thread  -  Brown or claret.
• Body  -  Seals fur. Red, claret, olive, and ginger.
• Rib  -  Pearl/ Holographic tinsel, medium or fine.
• Tail / Wing  -  White Antron, CDC., Foam or Dapping Floss.

Happy Fishing
Dave Cammiss and the Team 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqmDzGBIz1c

The origins of this fly can be attributed to our American cousins. It was designed to imitate the salmon eggs which get dislodged from the redds when the salmon are spawning, and which are greedily devoured by waiting trout.

This is all a long way from our stocked stillwaters in the UK where it can be effective on its day for browns and rainbows. I have used them occasionally with some success on rivers.

The Materials required could not be simpler.

( I have found the most popular to be a mix of orange and pink ).

Once you have followed the simple steps to create a ‘fluffy ball’ you can trim to the size and shape to suit yourself.

Best fished with an intermediate flyline.
David Cammiss

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zie03a1sWE

Their long legs make them very distinctive and all the imitative patterns are based on this feature. They can be tied with a detached body on short shank hooks or wool body tied on a long shank hook, there are even gold bead versions.

The most common and certainly an effective pattern is tied with hackle point wings and knotted cock pheasant tail fibres for the legs on a long shank size 10 hook. The most trying part of this fly is tying the knots in the pheasant tail fibres. Try to acquire the centre tail feathers from a mature cock bird. These fibres will be longer and stronger. I also tie two together at the same time, it saves time and the trout do not seem to notice.

A variant of the daddy long legs is the hopper. For this pattern don’t give it wings and tie a seals fur dubbed body with lurex ribbing.

• Hook -- Long shank size 10
• Tying thread -- Brown
• Body -- Brown wool or floss
• Rib ( optional ) -- Fine copper wire
• Wing -- 2 brown grizzle hackles over back
• Legs -- 2 pairs of knotted cock pheasant tail fibres each side of the body
• Hackle -- Brown cock hackle

For the Hopper

• Body -- Seals fur ( any colour )
• Rib -- Lurex silver or gold
• Hackle -- Colour to match

Happy Fishing from Dave C and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p4LMMAoA68

Materials

• Hook --  L/S size 8, 10 or 12 -- wet fly 8
• Thread -- To match body colour
• Rib -- Gold or Silver oval -- Gold or Silver wire optional
• Body -- Black , Olive, Orange and Red Chanille
• Tail -- Marabou to match body
• Tail Flash -- Colour to match
• Hackle -- Henny cock, colour to match body ( long enough for 2 turns at head and 3 turns down the body )
• Gold Bead -- optional
• Clear Varnish ( cement ) -- for the head

Happy Fishing
Dave C and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC4LO_nXoKE

The early patterns were tied with a body of peacock herl with a wire rib.  More recently you will see them tied with fine fritz or metallic bodies, usually silver.  This is because of the fragility of peacock herl.

The materials are very basic:

• Hook -- Heavy weight wet fly size 10 / 8
• Tying thread -- Black
• Tail -- Tag of Flour. Red wool / Floss
• Body -- Silver / Red wire
• Wing -- Black marabou
• Wing flash ( optional ) -- Red lurex

A good fly to have in your box, particularly if you do boat fishing.

Regards, Dave Cammiss and the Team. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgPk8XBL9Y

Back in the mists of time when I was a young lad we used to turn over the bigger stones on the local stream and collect the caddis grubs in their shells and use them for bait, but that is another story.

This is a relatively easy fly to tie. You will have used all the steps at some time on the previous lessons. The peacock herl is fragile and does need the ribbing. You can give the body 2 coats of varnish and it will make it more durable. The hackle can be any shade of brown or orange. I have used brown partridge hackle to good effect, particularly on the rivers.

Materials

• Hook -- Long shank 10/12/14.
• Thread -- Black or Brown. If you tie some flies unweighted use a different colour thread to the weighted.
• Rib -- Wire copper,red.green or black.
• Tag -- Fluorescent antron or wool. yellow, green / lime.
• Body -- 3-5 strands of peacock herl depending on the size of hook.
• Hackle -- Henny cock. brown, ginger, orange or brown partridge.
• Underbody fine lead wire. If not available copper wire.

 
Regards Dave C and The Team  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUeHUvgic3s