We asked Lindsay Simpson if he would do us a step by step of a favourite fly. He came back with his Black Damsel that we reckon will work with both stillwater rainbows and in some of the brown trout lakes we like to fish too.
This fly came about purely by accident. I was fishing with the Soldier Palmers fly fishing team some 12 years ago and catching well at Pitsford on green damsels. Needing to tie more flies, that evening back in the hotel I'd no olive or green marabou so thought I would try one in black. It was very effective and has served me very well over the years. An un-imaginative name I know but it is simply known as the Black Damsel.
Things you will need.
Place a Hyabusa 761 or a Kamasan B175 in the vice and run a layer of thread (Danville’s 6/0 Red) until you are in line with the barb of the hook. Discard your pigs tail using a pair of scissors.
Tie in a pinch of black marabou to create the tail make sure the marabou comes all the way up the shank of the hook this will ensure a nice even body. It should stop around an eighth on an inch from the hook eye. Then tie in one strand of the blue holographic to run down the side of the marabou tail, fold it back so that the other side is the same.
Attach some clear wrap as your ribbing material and shade the side that will be going onto the body with a blue permanent marker pen. Dub your body material (Trout Ice Dub black) onto the hook shank ensuring you have enough space at the eye to attach your hackle and create a neat head.
Bring your clear wrap around the body of the fly until you arrive at the approximately an eighth of an inch from the hook eye and secure your thread with a half hitch. Prepare your partridge feather, I am using one that has been dyed blue but the natural feather works equally as well. Add your hackle into the front of the fly I find adding a little bit more wax to the thread helps to hold it in place. You are only looking for around one to two turns it should be very sparse.
Secure your hackle and discard the waste end piece. Build a neat head and finish with a touch of varnish.
The finished fly, give it a go……..
Lindsay Simpson is a competition angler who has fished for the English Loch Style Team and the Soldier Palmers. He is also a keen photographer. Visit his site for more details and excellent pictures.