Flies

The Professor Fly

Origin

The Professor fly is named after the much loved Professor John Wilson, a professor of Edinburgh University in Scotland in the early 1800's. He wrote under the pen name of Christopher North. The story of how the fly was created is that he ran out of flies while fishing and to create a fly he used petals of yellow buttercups for the body and a few threads from a sock. Later the fly was refined and a few materials added for effect.

Pattern

  • Hook: standard dry fly hook, sizes 6 to 12
  • Thread: black
  • Tail: red hackle feather fibers
  • Body: yellow tying silk or floss
  • Rib: gold or silver tinsel or wire
  • Wing: gray mallard flank feathers
  • Hackle: ginger or brown hackle feathers tied as a throat.

Tying Instructions

  • Tie on a small bunch of red hackle feathers for a tail the length of the hook gap
  • Wrap a body of the yellow floss and counter wrap with the tinsel rib
  • Tie on a small bunch of ginger or brown hackle at the throat
  • Add a pair of mallard flank feathers for a wing slightly longer than the hook
  • Tie down all the feathers to make a black head - whip finish the thread

Flies Imitated

It is a general pattern that does not imitate any one particular fly.

How to fish

It is generally fished as a wet fly and works best for brook trout in fast running water.