The Essential Fly

Fly Fishing Trout Wet Flies For Sale

Traditional wet flies include old patterns like Alexandra or Butcher along with stunning modern sparce spider fly patterns. See our vast range below. These patterns are designed to be fished below the water's surface. They vary from traditional styles for over a hundred years to modern using flashabou type and other bright modern materials. These patterns  are often very old, well proven patterns. They look like a bug or drowned fly in the water.

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The Essential Fly Snipe Bloa Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Snipe Bloa Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
£1.00
£1.25

Available in Fly Size(s)
14, 16, 18

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Kee Hee Black Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Kee Hee Black Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
The Essential Fly Olive Bloa Northern Spider Trout Fly Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Olive Bloa Northern Spider Trout Fly Fishing Fly
£1.25
(1)

Available in Fly Size(s)
14, 16

The Essential Fly Snipe & Purple Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Snipe & Purple Fishing Fly
£1.00

Fly Size 12, 14, 16

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Red Zulu Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Red Zulu Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
The Essential Fly Smoke Fly Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Smoke Fly Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
£1.00
£1.25
(1)

Available in Fly Size(s)
14, 16, 18

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Spider Wet Barbless #16 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Spider Wet Barbless #16 Fishing Fly
£1.50
The Essential Fly Sandys Blank Buster Spider Hot Orange Fishing Fly
£1.10
(3)

Available in Fly Size(s)
12, 14 & 16.

The Essential Fly Soldier Palmer Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Soldier Palmer Fishing Fly
£1.00

Fly Size 12

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Bumble Donegal Fiery Wet #10 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Bumble Donegal Fiery Wet #10 Fishing Fly
£1.50
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Kate Mclaren Snatcher #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Kate Mclaren Snatcher #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
The Essential Fly Black Pennel Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Black Pennel Fishing Fly
£1.00

Fly Size 10, 12, 14

The Essential Fly Barbless Moorland Spider Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Barbless Moorland Spider Fishing Fly
£1.50  -  £1.65

Fly Size 14, 16

The Essential Fly Black Midge Wet Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Black Midge Wet Fishing Fly
£1.00
(1)

Fly Size 12, 14

The Essential Fly Black Spider Wet Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Black Spider Wet Fishing Fly
£1.00

Fly Size 12, 14

The Essential Fly Soft Hackle Caddis Olive Tungsten Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Soft Hackle Caddis Olive Tungsten Fishing Fly
£1.65

Fly Size 12, 14, 16

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Pennell Hackled Wet #14 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Pennell Hackled Wet #14 Fishing Fly
£1.30
The Essential Fly Bloody Butcher Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Bloody Butcher Fishing Fly
£1.00

Fly Size 10, 12

The Essential Fly Sandys Blank Buster Spider Scarlet Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Sandys Blank Buster Spider Scarlet Fishing Fly
£1.10
(3)

Available in Fly Size(s)
12, 14 & 16.

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Cinnamon & Gold Winged Wet #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Cinnamon & Gold Winged Wet #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
(1)
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Claret Dabbler #10 Fishing Fly Barbed Wet Fly
Caledonia Flies Claret Dabbler #10 Fishing Fly Barbed Wet Fly
£1.50
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Doobry Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Doobry Hackled Wet #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Dunkeld Winged Wet #10 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Dunkeld Winged Wet #10 Fishing Fly
£1.30
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies White Invicta Winged Wet #10 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies White Invicta Winged Wet #10 Fishing Fly
£1.30
The Essential Fly Kingfisher Butcher Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Kingfisher Butcher Fishing Fly
£0.90
(1)

Available in Fly Size(s)
10, 12, 14.

The Essential Fly Partridge & Orange Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Partridge & Orange Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
£1.00
£1.25
(2)

Available in Fly Size(s)
14, 16, 18

The Essential Fly Snipe & Purple Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Snipe & Purple Northern Spider Heritage Range Fishing Fly
£1.00
£1.25
(2)

Available in Fly Size(s)
14, 16, 18

The Essential Fly Sunray Dabbler Fishing Fly
The Essential Fly Sunray Dabbler Fishing Fly
£0.90
(2)

Available in Fly Size(s)
10

Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Black & Red Snatcher #12 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Black & Red Snatcher #12 Fishing Fly
£1.30
Caledonia
Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Spider Wet Barbless #14 Fishing Fly
Caledonia Flies Black Spider Wet Barbless #14 Fishing Fly
£1.50
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Patterns For Subsurface Fly Fishing Use

These can be fished as a team or you can use them as part of a washing line rig using a buoyant fly to lift the rig from a lake bottom or even with a buoyant dry fly like an elk hair caddis or even a foam terrestrial fly with the wet patterns suspended at a fixed depth on droppers drifting with the streams current.

Fishing Wets

Probably the most common way to fish a soft-hackle wet dressed fly is to cast it across and slightly downstream, letting it sink and then swing in the current, rising with the tightening line much as a natural rises to the surface before hatching. It's on this rise that fish usually strike. Another productive method is to cast the fly upstream on a short cast and then let it dead-drift back to you just under the surface (or, if tied on a light-wire hook, in the surface film). On lakes and ponds a soft hackle fly cast in front of a cruising trout and then twitched slightly can be absolutely deadly. Many anglers, especially in Europe, favor fishing two or three of these flies (of different colors and sizes) at a time.

What Are Wet Patterns?

These can be quite large bodied or extremely slim like Blank Buster Spiders. Northern spiders or Clyde Style patterns are tied very sparcely to imitate an emerger with one and a half turns of hackle imitating the emerging legs on an emerging fly. The success of the pattern often depends far more on its action than it resembling a specific insect and matching a hatch / nymph. When fish are on the feed the actual pattern is generally not important, but when the fish are preoccupied or need tempting the angler must use ingenuity to discover what the fish are feeding on and what color they are taking. When fishing wets, it is important to remember that the higher the wave on the water the higher the fly hook size can be, but still take into account the brightness and clarity of the water.

These patterns are used as some flies begin to hatch below the water surface. Alternatively up-winged flies swim or crawl beneath the surface as adult spinners in order to lay egg. Often duns & spinners are swamped by the current and forced under the water surface. Emerging duns that have been unable to get rid of their nymphal case or at the time of emerging are drowned when they float under rough water that is flowing over a large rock or ledge are also hunted by the fish. The trout on purpose lurk in slack water near eddies and small plunge pools to look out for these type of snacks. Clearly a trout does see winged insects under the surface at certain times of the year so be prepared with a selection of different colored flies for when the fish are not taking from the surface.

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