About the CDC ParaDun Trout Fly

This is a great dry fly for Arthurs Lake during the three month long mayfly season. It is an easy fly to tie, but I hate tying it because in my early days of guiding I tied so many of these flies- often late into the night in preparation for the next days guided fishing. I have so much faith in this fly for mayfly feeders on Arthurs Lake, that when we are using two dry flies on one line, I attach two CDC ParaDuns. This fly combines a few useful attributes: firstly fish love to eat it; secondly the CDC floats high and is easy for the angler to see; and thirdly the body of the fly sits mostly below the surface of the water like a vulnerable emerger. If you have ever watched a dun slowly squeeze itself from it's nymph shuck in the skin of the water, you will know what I mean by vulnerable! The CDC ParaDun is tied to represent a highland dun. During some dun hatches we will not get a single refusal using this fly, even when the water is flat calm. On other days we will get refusals, but a correctly placed CDC ParaDun normally brings those big Arthurs Lake browns undone. During huge dun hatches when our fly is one in a hundred, we give it a short pull as a fish approaches, this will normally result in the trout charging and hammering the fly- sometimes the thrill of the trout's charge results in an over exuberant strike and a break off! Comments By Brett Wolf who owns and operates Blue Lake Lodge, a luxury fishing lodge on the shores of Arthurs Lake, Tasmania's most productive wild brown trout fishery. There is a huge self sustaining population of fish in Arthurs Lake, mostly in the 2-3 pound category with some 4-5 pounders thrown in. The fly fishing on Arthurs Lake is centred around prolific mayfly hatches, midge hatches, and v

Expert Tip:

Another word of warning- have a good supply of CDC ParaDuns on hand when the fishing is fast and furious. After landing a fish we cut the fly off, rinse the fish slime from it, stick it in the carpet of the boat to dry, and tie on a fresh one. This allows the CDC to recover and the fly will be ready again in half an hour or so. If you need to apply floatant to the fly, only apply it to the body of the fly, not the CDC! We have caught so many fish with the CDC ParaDun (sometimes 2 at a time on the same line) that it is difficult to single out a highlight. However, in January 2001, George and Helen Westropp were fishing with me from my boat during a small mayfly hatch. We spotted a big brown sipping duns on the other side of a snag. Helen threw a great cast over the top of the snag to put the fly right in the path of the fish. The big jack brown sipped the fly, Helen set the hook. Helen then gave the fish some slack line so as not to pull the fish into the snag and the fish casually sipped another dun, while it was still hooked!

Creator of this trout fly: Brett Wolf

Tier of this trout fly: Brett Wolf

Country of origin for this trout fly: Tasmania