Body: Black mohair
Hackle: Black
Wing: Water-hen wing, or woodcock

The Black Ant from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

Another easy and simple pattern that have stood its time since the days of Blacker: A black and fly, fished wet.

Body: Black mohair
Front-hackle: Black
Wing: Starling or Blue Jay

Hawthorn Fly from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

Found some nice and soft hackle for this pattern – a slow retrieval should give it the movement and action to trigger a hungry trout.

Tail: Mallard, three fibers
Body: Rat’s back fur, mixed with yellow mohair
Hackle: Grey
Wing: Grey mallard
Head: Peacock herl

Grey Drake from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

I have neither mouse or rat in my material-stash, but I chose some grey mole that should be close enough (without me knowing the exact qualities of rat).

Tail: Black bear, three hairs
Body: Yellow-green mohair
Hackle: Yellow
Wing: Yellow mallard
Head: Black

The Green Drake from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

The tail can be substituted with any dark, relatively stiff, material. For this one I’m actually not sure what I chose, but it was a piece of fur with stiff material. This comes down to my philosphoy of choosing what could be the best approximate if I don’t have the exact match in material.

Body: Mole or water-rat’s fur, mixed with yellow mohair
Tail: Mouse’s whiskers
Hackle: Dun
Wing: Tomtit’s tail feather

Blue Blow Fly from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

One with a couple of subsititutes: mouse whiskers is not something I’ve got in my stash, so I chose some of the thinnest whiskers from a Hare. The wing was also substituted with Grouse