Coch-y-Bonddu

Dry fly imitating land insects, for trout, grayling and sea trout. Beginner.

A flat gold tag, a plump body of bronze peacock herl ribbed with gold wire, and a red-and-black coch-y-bonddu hackle.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 90% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: gold flat tinsel Tie in the gold flat tinsel with a few firm thread turns.
  4. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 8% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  5. Wind: gold flat tinsel Wind the gold flat tinsel forward to 6% of the way along the shank in 3 turns. Three or four touching turns at the start of the bend.
  6. Tie off: gold flat tinsel Tie off the gold flat tinsel with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  7. Tie in: gold wire Tie in the gold wire with a few firm thread turns.
  8. Tie in: bronze peacock herl Tie in 4 strands of peacock herl with a few firm thread turns. Twist the herls into a rope for strength.
  9. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 72% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  10. Wind: bronze peacock herl Wind the bronze peacock herl forward to 72% of the way along the shank in 9 turns. Touching turns, a plump acorn-shaped body.
  11. Tie off: bronze peacock herl Tie off the bronze peacock herl with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  12. Wind: gold wire Wind the gold wire forward to 72% of the way along the shank in 5 turns. Counter-wound through the herl.
  13. Tie off: gold wire Tie off the gold wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  14. Tie in: coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle Tie in the coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle with a few firm thread turns.
  15. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 90% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  16. Wind: coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle Wind the coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle forward to 88% of the way along the shank in 4 turns.
  17. Tie off: coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle Tie off the coch-y-bonddu (or furnace) cock hackle with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  18. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread.

History

A traditional Welsh fly imitating a small beetle, which Mary Orvis Marbury says is sometimes called the bracken clock; Rusty Dunn names it as the garden chafer. Charles Bowlker's Art of Angling (1792 edition) has it as the Shorn Fly: a red cock's hackle "with a black list up the middle" and a peacock herl body. The 1854 edition adds that it is much used in Wales and better known there as Coch-a-bonddu, "red with a black body", after the hackle. Fred Klein traces peacock soft hackles back to Dennys's Secrets of Angling (1613); that is unverified.

Fishing it

Bowlker's 1854 edition has it at its best in June but useful all season, and says many anglers always have one on as a dropper. Fish it dry in summer, when beetles are blown onto the water on windy days; tied wet with a soft hen hackle it is a good general wet fly. Courtney Williams, as quoted by Dunn: "Wet or dry, and at any time of the season, it is always a good pattern to try on a strange river."

Sources