Alder Fly

This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Alder Fly.

Alder Fly | www.johnkreft.com

This fly is an old English fly pattern that is hundreds of years old. In fact, some quick Internet research suggests it may have been developed around 1496 when it was included in Dame Juliana Berners first fly fishing book Fysshe and Fysshynge.

I wonder if there is a similar fly in one of my Antique Fly Wallets. Other old fly wallets can be found at Antique Fly Wallets Revisited. I’ll have to check.

I have to be honest. I’ve never fished this fly. Found it and if I were to fish if, I’d do so during a caddis hatch.

I think it would catch fish!

Similar Posts

  • Lightning Bug

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Lightning Bug. I recently added the Lightning Bug nymph to the Fly Patterns list on RiverKeeper Flies. As I searched for the original fly pattern and who developed it, I thought it would be a good candidate for a TBT fly. I was surprised the Lightning Bug was over…

  • Dan Bailey’s Mosquito

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Dan Bailey’s Mosquito. This fly was from a collection of flies tied by Dan Bailey. I was fortunate to be able to photograph a total of nine Bailey flies – a Blonde Wulff, Light Cahill, Grey Hackle, Dark Cahill, Ginger Quill, Black Bivisible, Black Gnat, Fan Wing Royal…

  • Krystal Flash Nymph TBT

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Krystal Flash Nymph TBT. I found this fly in a favorite book I used for many years – Hatch Guide for the Lower Deschutes River (1994) by Jim Schollmeyer.  This is a small book and can be used as a stream-side reference. I also own his Hatch Guide for…

  • Ida May

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Ida May, a fly developed by Charles Brooks. The Ida May is listed as a general nymph fly pattern. I probably purchased his book Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout in the 1980’s. It was early in my fly fishing and fly tying journey. I’ve always been interested…

  • June Fly Box

    Perhaps you saw last week’s post entitled Fishing the Lower Deschutes. I drifted the river twice last week. My fly box was full of Salmonfly and Golden Stonefly imitations. So I returned to my home river today and found many more PMD’s hatching and thought I better get my June fly box in order. Where…

2 Comments

  1. Hi John,

    The Alder Fly tied as a wet fly and also as a streamer has long been a favorite. Al’s largest river trout (in his life) was taken on an Alder Fly wet-style pattern from the Clark Fork River in north Idaho in 1988. We like to tie the streamer version with a brown or white calf tail wing. Take care & …
    Tight Lines – (Gretchen &) Al Beatty

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the comment Al!

      Your comment is EXACTLY why I enjoy posting older flies. It seems to strike chords/memories in fly fishers and I’m the recipient of their stories! I really enjoy them.

      Thanks again.

      John

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *