Craig Mcdonald is an accomplished angler and innovative fly tyer. He is also an ambassador for Fulling Mill flies and pro tyer for Funky Fly Tying. These are some of the nymphs that are sitting inside his fly box.
Duracell
Hook - Size 14 jig hook
Tail - Coq de Leon
Body- Red copper wire medium
Body dubbing hairline ice dub uv 40 brown
Thorax - cdc tied in using split thread method with body dubbing as thorax after cdc
Bead - 3.5mm silver tungsten disco bead
A great nymph for both trout and grayling especially in a slightly coloured river. This fly came about when tidying up after a day's tying, I tied a few scraps together and the duracell was born. The name of this fly came about from my mate Gary Mcginlay whilst we were fishing together in the Czech Republic. Gary says I run around the river as if I am fuelled on batteries so he called the fly Duracell after me!
Red Tag nymph
Hook-size 14, 16 jig hook
Tail - Coq de Leon
Body tag - Red holographic tinsel
Body - Black pheasant tail
Wire rib - Med silver wire
Thorax - CDC tied using split thread method
Thorax - Peacock glister or no 46 hends dubbing
Bead - Depends on hook size but silver slotted works best
A great nymph all season and very rarely off of my cast when French nymphing. The CDC gives good movement to the fly when tumbling down the current. This is a fish catcher everywhere I have used it and is a must for every river angler's box.
Hot spot nymphskin jigback bug
Hook- Fulling Mill Czech nymph size 14,16
Tail - Coq de Leon
Body - Hends copper jig back medium & small
Body cover - Translucent nymphskin coloured yellow underneath and brown on top
Body coat the top nymphskin in bug-bond lite
Hotspot underneath the head of the jigback is hot orange varnish
I was searching for a small, heavy bug for grayling fishing in the depths of winter and came up with this after much trial and error. This wee bug has everything the grayling need, it sinks very quickly and has the orange trigger that grayling love. This is my go-to grayling bug with a small nymph or czech nymph fished around 40cm above it on a French leader.
Biot Olive Nymph
Hook- Size 16,18 jig hook
Tail Coq de Leon
Body - BWO turkey quill
Bead - Gold,silver or copper slotted from 2mm to 3mm
Thorax - Squirrel mixed with a small amount of peacock glister
A good early season nymph when olives are abundant on the riverbed. I fish this again on a French leader or on a duo rig fished under a sedge pattern or a bright posted klinkhammer.
Czech nymph or Bobesh
Hook- Fulling Mill 10,12,14 & 16 Czech nymph hooks
Body - Flat lead
Dubbing - Olive dubbing with a slight mix of peacock glister with orange dubbing as a hotspot
Shellback - Tan coloured in with brown sharpie permanent pen
Rib - 3lb mono pulled in tight to create segmentations along the body
These type of flies are usually fished in a team of two or three directly under the rod tip hence the name czech nymphing. This is a great method still to this day for catching both trout and grayling and is always worth a go on those days when the fish don't seem to want to play.