Tom Bird was formerly the fishery manager of Draycote reservoir, an England international angler, commercial fly tyer and all round rivers and lake fly fishing guru. In this edition, Tom uses his vast experience to lay out his top 5 Upavon fly patterns and how to fish them on autumn still waters. Please read to the end to get a discount code, you can browse the Upavon flies collection here and if you prefer to tie, all materials required are available from Upavon.

Autumn is one of my favourite periods of the fishing season as the fish awaken from their summer slumber. After all Trout are a cold water species who do not enjoy warmer summer temperatures which slow their metabolism and reduce activity. To try and escape the warm water, the fish drop in the water column meaning that in order to keep catching you must reach for the sinking lines. I am not adverse to this at the end of the day, I want to catch fish when I go out and will fish any method to do so. However, I do enjoy fishing higher in the water column on floating, midge tip or slower sinking lines.

With the arrival of longer cooler nights and the stronger autumnal winds which help to turn over the water column, subsequently the fish will often rise in the water following the cooler temperatures. In addition, the fish have had a full summer to mend and naturalise resulting in some cracking silver and brown resident fish which really do test the tackle and the angler.

As the longer nights draw in and the temperatures drop we also see the fry starting to shoal up for the winter and head for the structure. The Trout start looking for more protein rich forms of food to see them through the winter months ahead. When all these factors combine, Autumn can yield some of the most exciting and fulfilling days fishing of the season. Below I have picked my top 5 patterns for Autumn, I hope they’ll be as successful for you as they have for me.

Silly Shad Popper Fry

At this stage of the year fry will shoal up and Tout will start to look for larger satisfying meals to see them through the winter months. As a result they will work in packs to crash into the fry and stun them with their tails, often resulting in some fantastic scenes. Fry can be seen leaping from the water with large Trout in pursuit while seagulls attack them from above. All very exciting and can prove a bonanza for fly fishermen too.

The popper fry is a fantastic way to imitate this event, as the fish hit the fry and stun them. They will often make small movements trying to get away while sitting in the surface film. The popper fry imitates just this action. The large foam cylinder on the top makes a V like wake across the surface bringing on the fish. They then see the subtle silver/grey body which is why I love this pattern tied with the Upavon Silly Shad straggle. And I can’t get enough of the big red trigger point, often this is enough to make them attack with true aggression, smashing into the fly engulfing the ‘injured fish’.

I would fish this fly on a floating line with some 1X ASSO Fluorocarbon using a fast figure of eight retrieve to make the fly pop across the top. Normally along the edge of structure which could be Dams, Weed beds, Pontoons, Valve Towers. Anywhere the fry feel safe. A top tip is sometimes the fish won’t eat the fly until it dips in the surface often the fluorocarbon is enough to do this. However, sometimes using a midge tip or poly leader can make the fish eat quicker as the fly dips under the surface. A suggestion for later in the year, fish them on a short leader and fast sinker, cast out and suspend from the bottom to attract fish towards an easy winter meal.

The Silly Shad Popper Fry is available here.

Mini Pink FAB

The first fly is the mini pink FAB, I think this is a great all round pattern. As previously mentioned the fish will rise in the water column due to the cooling temperatures and the “Foam Arsed Blob” (FAB) is a fantastic fly to fish as part of a washing line set up to keep the flies high in the water.

The reason I like this pattern so much is that due to the higher rate of catch a release on our waters the fish have seen a lot of flies and smaller patterns can help tempt the wiser fish. This pattern tied with Upavon Pure Blob Fritz also means a softer material meaning the fibres slick back leaving a lovely profile.

Finally September is often a time of year when stockings become more frequent, and the bright colour of this fly is a real winner for me. As due to the warmer temperatures in the summer most fisheries are unable to stock and with the number of anglers who get out on the water at this time of year “stockies” are more common.  So a bright fly on the cast always helps to bring the fish onto the hook (or adjacent flies).

The Upavon mini blob selection can be found here.

Pseudo Camo Bug Body DB

My next fly I have chosen is the Pseudo Diawl Bach tied using the Camo Bug Body. I love Diawl Bachs they are never off my cast in some form when I am fishing nymphs, but the great thing about them is that their profile represents a wide variety of food.

This particular variant is a favourite of mine due to the material properties and the mix of olives and browns resulting in a perfect buggy look to the fly. It imitates nothing in particular but everything at the same time.  As the fish cruise higher in the water they will be looking for food and a buggy looking Diawl Bach is a proven fish catcher. But for me the main advantage of this pattern is due to the lovely soft nature of this material it creates such a perfect profile.

The unique Bug Body DBs can be found here in 3 colours.

Fusion Humungus.

The Humungus is another well known pattern, commonly used to target large resident fish and fresh stockies alike. The normal convention is for them to be tied with a fine fritz and palmered hackle, however, in conjunction with Upavon we developed some straggle variants. The pick of these for me is the Fusion straggle Humungus, the colours are unlike anything I’ve seen before and it moves fish better than many alternatives. The Humungus is so versatile, it can be fished in the top couple of feet for the active fresh fish, or deep down on fast sinkers to fool residents and does a great job on Zander too! Don't forget to hang at the end of the retrieve, this is often when many takes come, particularly from bigger fish.

A variety of fish catching Straggle Humungus can be found here.

Brown & Orange Foam Daddy

My next two flies I have added together as they are equally effective on their day. The Daddy Long Legs (Crane Fly) is a firm favourite amongst anglers and also Trout. As we enter into October the ground gets softer creating the conditions for daddies to hatch from the grassy banks. Luckily for us anglers its often grass and farmlands that boarder our waters, and thankfully daddies aren’t the best at flying. When the arrival of these daddies meets the stronger winds of the Autumn it’s the perfect recipe for this large terrestrials to be blown onto the water.

With the cooler water temperatures and the fish sitting higher in the water it’s the perfect time to get one on your cast. These flies are tied with the new Super HD Foam from Upavon, this foam is slightly more dense than typical plastazote foams on the market meaning that the flies are neutrally buoyant. Perfect for us anglers as we can fish them on the surface or suspend them just beneath.

I would use these daddies as a pair, fishing them on a slightly longer cast than I would if fishing more conventional dries, something like 18 yards away. I would use the orange on the top dropper as a slighter as it’s easier to see with the brown daddy behind it. The reason for this if you can see the orange daddy and you see a swirl behind it, there is a good chance it’s on the brown daddy which is harder to pick out.

I would fish these on the surface for 20-30 seconds then after this time I would retrieve the flies. Using the ASSO 2X Fluorocarbon the flies would be pulled under the surface where they can be just as deadly or sometimes even more so. The straight shank barbless dry fly hook means that the flies will not spin when retrieved under the surface, therefore not compromising presentation.

As the daddy is such a well-known food source to the Trout at this time of year, I would also have no issues in fishing these flies on washing line with nymphs and maybe the previously methods FAB on a midge tip to explore a little deeper.

Upavon Daddy paterns are available in three colours here.

Thank you for reading, I truely hope this selection of flies brings as much joy to you as they have for me. Upavon supply a fantastic range of flies tied using unique and in house manufactured materials. Tried and tested across UK stillwaters by top anglers, you can get 10% off your first order using discount code WELCOME10 and clicking this link.

Tom Bird.