Tying a Waterhen Bloa (Wet Fly)with Davie McPhail

[@damonm7541]

Great stuff, and doubly impressive; If I dared use a blow dryer at my tying bench, there would be materials everywhere.

[@Rustyboyyy1]

So glad you included this pattern, thank you 🤙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@davep2322]

very good idea....now ive loads of waterhen left.....Thanks Davie

[@tomt5176]

Good morning Davey. Nice pattern looks like a real fish catcher. And nice touch using a bloa-dryer on a wet fly.

[@garyproctor6044]

Thank You Davie and really enjoy the traditional flies..... enjoyed the video on the river too !!! Best Regards

[@BB1872]

Simple , not over complicated, a proper fish catcher .

[@50Squirrel]

Another great fly! Nice to see the options for using the larger feathers!

[@krallmi48]

I've got some of the substitutes you mentioned to Graham Webb's question below. This is going to be a fun fly to have and early spring fishing will be here some day (spent a lot of today shoveling 2 feet of new, wet snow). Mike

[@newflyrod1]

Gotta love the wet flies 🪰 top producers year after year!!

[@donaloflynn3922]

Lovely fly thanks Davie

[@MyPancho1]

One of my favorites Thanks, Davie

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Beautiful fly

[@ross1458]

Gotta love spiders. Haven't spent the money on Waterhen wings yet but use light Starling. And mole lightly dubbed is magic. Wonderful tie.

[@paulbridgers3820]

Thanks for sharing great looking flies.

[@ceesbouma2776]

Hi Davie, thanks for posting i found your pattern with tail in 2016 also a very nice tying 👌

[@Johnnyboi1971]

one of my favourites ,always get a fish with the waterhen bloa or Stankhen blae as they say in Scotland.

[@Stevie_B735]

Great fly Davie

[@davidgregg8757]

Great video, I think I prefer the second fly tbh. Looks top class. Funny enough I’ve been using teams of spiders over March and most of the fish are taking the waterhen bloa

[@AllanMHutton]

Lovely tying and style!

[@WeeManSham]

Waterhen is difficult to find, I know some people use Coot as a sub but it’s difficult to find too! Anyway brilliant stuff! 🎣

[@ericlong9085]

Damn it i new the hairdryer would come in handy for something after i went bald 😂

[@comesahorseman]

👍👍 Well tied! Waste not, want not.

[@grahamwebb3546]

Brilliant little fly , thanks for sharing that. Do you think starling fethers would work?

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Graham, Starling, Coot, Snipe feathers from the wings and even the body can be used as I have used them myself or even Mallard coverts works as a good sub for the Waterhen so once I have fished what I have I will use them..Even a nice soft dun hen neck would be a good sub as well..I'm glad you liked the flies.. All the very best Davie..

[@lawfish5270]

What’s the advantage of “touch dubbing” vs very sparse “direct dubbing”? Enquiring minds want to know. Thanks for another masterclass Davie!

[@reneschwab9878]

Good solution

[@dottormanhattan4010]

Ricorda molto la peute , con la differenza che questa ha il corpo con il dubbing , mentre la peute solo un giro di filo . L'ho provata spesso ed è molto efficace con diversi pesci , dalla trota al cavedano e all'aspio.👍

[@stuartjones7903]

Excellent Davie , can you advise please what are the advantages of using silk and when you should use it and finally is YLI as good as the Persues ,thanks Davie

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Stuart, You could get away with just using a normal thread but using the silk thread is part of the original dressing and as they have caught me many fish over the past 40 years it's hard to tye them another way..The Yli silk threads are as good as the pearsalls silks in my view though I still like the old pearsalls silk but I don't have a lot of them now so it's good to have a great sub like the Yli.. All the very best Davie

[@mazman8343]

Once again class. Davie it's very difficult to get moorhen or waterhen wings .teal or malard wings what do you think 🙏👍

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi maz man, Either Teal or Mallard would work as a good sub for Waterhen as I have used both in the past and they have caught me fish.. All the very best Davie

[@mazman8343]

@@DavieMcPhail 🙏

[@Abcd12342600]

Really nice pattern, water hen may be a no go here in PA!

[@krallmi48]

Jim, did you see Davie's substitutes a few post down from here... a reply to Graham Webb?

[@shannonyork5300]

Davie, Thanks, I've had good success with the Waterhen Bloa. First learned to tie it from an Ollie Edwards video years ago along with some other traditional Spider patterns. Have you used the Waterhen Bloa or other Spider patterns for Stillwaters? When Stillwater fish are feeding near the surface it would seem that Spiders could be very effective, but I've not tried it. And, I don't hear of folks using Spiders for Stillwaters, and I"m not sure why. Thanks. Cheers,

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Shannon, I have many a time especially in the summer months when the fishing is a bit slow as it's saved the days fishing when it was looking that we were not going to catch.. All the very best Davie

[@shannonyork5300]

@@DavieMcPhail Well, I"m going to focus on some Spider Stillwater fishing this season. Do you have a favorite Team of Spiders for Stillwaters? Cheers,

[@ppricket]

Superbe 👍

[@adrianmowat]

Hi Davie. Are there any good subs you can use if you don’t have waterhen?

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Adrian, Starling or Snipe are good subs though when I first started tying them I was happy to use Mallard coverts and they fished well so any dun coloured soft feather even hen hackles will work as well.. All the very best Davie..

[@adrianmowat]

@@DavieMcPhail that’s magic! thanks Davie

[@townieoutdoors8121]

Good sea trout fly

[@StephenJay]

Does anyone know where to get waterhen wings? Usual sources are showing no stock

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Stephen, They can be hard to find though a good sub would be Coot,Starling,Snipe or even Mallard coverts will work as I have used them myself in the past with the same body or even a nice dun hen neck would make a good sub..I have attached a link to Cookshill tackle who do a good selection of wings and full skins..cookshill-flytying.co.uk/wings/ All the very best Davie

[@jamesgallacher7560]

Hi Davis I've gave up 😅 trying to find a stockist of Waterhen. Any pointers in as far as stockists go . My mole fur came today . 😊

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi James, I normally buy the feathers from Cookshill so I have attached a link to theri website for you to see... All the very best Davie cookshill-flytying.co.uk/game-skin-range/

[@jamesgallacher7560]

Aw mate thank you so much ,with all you do I imagine you'll be so busy so fully appreciate your time. I absolutely love this video, my wee river fishing pal is going to get such a surprise. 😊

[@АлексейРумянцев-ф8ю]

👍🏻

[@mortenthenorwegian2875]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@kzinti100]

What is a good substitute for Waterhen?

[@WeeManSham]

Coot or Jackdaw.

[@DavieMcPhail]

Hi Jerry, Coot, Starling or Snipe are good subs though when I first started tying these flies I was happy to use Mallard coverts and they fished well so any dun coloured soft feather even hen hackles will work as well.. All the very best Davie..

[@kzinti100]

@@DavieMcPhail Thanks.

[@JrPenna]

👏👏👏👏