[slippy]

  Hi all. I did 2hrs on a stillwater last evening and must have learnt something, but I'm not sure what  .
  Fishing dries I got no interest at all with my usual grey duster type thing, I tie them para style and they are normally takers.
  Bloke 50yds away was in almost every cast, anyway, over a brew we were comparing flies and he was using a klink,self tied.
  This fly was pretty much identical size and colour wise to mine, the only real difference was the curved buzzer type hook.
  I cadged one from him and got my arm pulled off for the next hour. So,, what is it about that fly that made the difference ?
  I can only think the obvious,, that the footprint is different and it sits in rather than on the surface. Never known this before on that 
  water 

     regards to all, derek

[The Black Douglas]

Hi Slippy

The popular theory regarding the success of Klinkhamers is that as they represent a hatching insect with the body of the fly subsurface that a Trout will see them as easy prey, captive if you like, whilst struggling from their nymphal shuck.

I think it was Oliver Edwards that described the Klinkhamer as the most important development in dry fly fishing in his lifetime

Partridge, in addition to their Klinkhamer hooks also make some Klinkhamer extreme hooks with a really long swept bend which places even more of the flys body subsurface, i have had real success with these hooks and if you are interested in tying a few Klinks i can recommend them

 

[slippy]

  Thanks for that TBD. I somehow got it stuck in my head that the klink was just another variation on a theme and designed to catch more anglers than fish    . Had pretty much the same scenario last evening and came home with a good lesson learned in that I need to broaden my horizons re fly development.
    for the hook info, need to try my hand at tying some up methinks, tis a deadly fly. 

       regards derek

[The Black Douglas]

It is indeed a deadly fly Slippy, i am never without a few in my fly box
I always think of the Klink as a concept fly and have seen people tying them to represent all manner of hatching insects large and small
Many years back at a CLA game fair i remember watching Peter O'Reilly tying several large Mayfly variants of the Klink
if only my tying skills were as good and as consistent as Peters

[Hamish Young]

Allan Liddle has a maxim for dry fly fishing which goes something like:
"it should be in the surface water not on the surface of the water".
I have to agree, nearly all of my dry flies are tied to sit in the water rather than on the water and the klink is a good example of that as the main part of the fly is very much in the water.
I tend to think of nearly all my dries as emerger-type patterns when I'm tying them, (regardless of any 'traditional' influence) and generally it's much more effective - for me, anyway 

Hamish 

[Mike Livingstone]

I have to agree with Hamish (as much as I hate to say it) but I have found that even when fishing more traditional dry flies if I do not dress them or clip the bottom of the hackle they tend to fish more effectively.  MY favourite for the small streams around Stavanger is a Royal Stimulator fished without greasing it and actually making sure the body is wet first!  Seems to work a treat!

[Sandy Nelson]

Hence the CDC Spiders 

Trout are lazy and most of the food, they will intercept is stuff that wont make a quick getaway.
So cripples, emergers, spinners and generally anything trapped in the miniscus will get looked at, even fag buts and grass clippings.

Not so great for those with less than perfect eyesight though, spotting your flies in the surface film can be pretty tricky, hence why the Klink is such a great fly.
the bulk of it is trapped in the film, but the post sticks up to show the angler where his fly is. I tie mine half orange/ half white and it covers bright and dark conditions

great stuff

Sandy

[slippy]

  Thanks for the replies fellas . Klink is well chewed now so need to buy or tie some up. Don't know if anyone here ties and sells but if you do then a pm would be very welcome.
  One thing that really impresses me is the no-fuss confidence of the takes.

      anyway, thanks again, regards derek 

[Hamish Young]

Try sending Ben_D a PM.... you never know, he might oblige with a klink or five at a fair rate 

Ties a not bad fly too   

Hamish