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

  • WD-40

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the WD-40. The WD-40 was developed by Mark Engler for the Frying Pan River in Colorado back in 1982. The WD is for Wood Duck, which is used in the tail and wingcase, although I’ve seen the fly tied with Mallard Flank as well. The fly can be used…

  • LaFontaine Enchanted Prince

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the LaFontaine Enchanted Prince. The LaFontaine Enhanced Prince is a twist of the old favorite Prince Nymph. Instead of tying the fly with a body of peacock, it’s tied with peacock herl AND some LaFontaine Double Magic dubbing for the body. For complete tying instructions how to tie…

  • Drunken Sailor

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Drunken Sailor. The Drunken Sailor is a fly found in LaFontaine’s Legacy, a book authored by Al and Gretchen Beatty about 26 fly patterns Gary LaFontaine never finished publishing.  This fly is based on Gary’s theory about “off-balance weighting” and how important it is in triggering a strike response. It was…

  • LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge. LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge is one of the flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy, by Al and Gretchen Beatty. In the book, Al relayed his story about Gary’s underwater research and how he observed adult midges crawling underwater to lay their eggs. Trout…

  • Northern Idaho Bee

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is a Northern Idaho Bee. This fly is one from a box of old flies I borrowed from my friend Jim Fisher. He learned to fly fish in Northern Idaho. This fly is probably from the 1950’s or 60’s. Here is a sampling of a few other posts I…

  • Lord Baltimore

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Lord Baltimore wet fly. This is an old fly pattern listed as No. 64 (page 158) in Mary Orvis Marbury’s Favorite Flies and Their History (1892). Click the link for a free download of the book. The fly can be seen on Plate I, page 183. No….

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 *