The Black Frede

The famouse Frede goes black

By Martin Joergensen

The Grey Frede is a surefire pattern for sea trout. It's a very versatile and robust fly that has become very popular. I decided to tie a darker version of the same fly.

The problem with this fly was primarily to find some good feathers for the tail and body. the Frede uses grizzly marabou wich can be bought in large bags, but I hadn't seen black feathers of the same type. Also Peter Loevendahl - father of the Grey Frede - uses dry fly grizzly hackles for the body hackle of his flies, and I had no black dry fly saddles or necks.

The solution was a Hoffmann Chickabou skin. These skins are available in all kinds of colors and they are sold both as grizzly - perfect for Grey Frede's - and black - perfect for my dark frede.

See larger pictures of both the Grey and the Black Frede's

Hook	Partridge Nymph/Emerger, niflor, or large streamer 2-4
Thread	Black
Tail	A few straws of black flash black chickabou tailfeather. 1/2 hook length
Body	Thick layer of black marabou dubbing - very thick
Rib	Copper wire, fairly thick
Hackle	Black chickabou bodyhackle
Eyes	bead chain eyes under the hook shank (the original has the eyes over the hook shank)
Head	Marabou dubbing over the eyes and a small head from tying thread

The tying instructions are almost identical with those of the Grey Frede.

1. If using a nymph/emerger hook then put the hook in the vice and straighten it a bit. The hook gap has to be enlarged a bit. The finished hook looks much like a slightly curved Limerick hook.
2. Tie in flash on top of the hook bend
3. Find two dense marabou tailfeathers and tie in one on each side of the hook to make a flat tail. Leave the surplus as a base for the body
4. Tie in a length of copper thread at the hook bend
5. Cut of the barbs from a handfull of marabou feathers and mix them well
6. Wax the tying thread and dub it with marabou in a thick layer
7. Turn the dubbing over the hook to form a compact but fluffy body
8. Let the dubbing stop approx. 1/3 from the eye
9. Tie in a chickabou body feather as a hackle hackle in front of body. Tie in base first.
10. Wind the hackle to the rear end of the body
11. Lock down the hackle with the copper thread. Wind it opposite the hackle over the body
12. Tie down copper thread and cut surplus
13. Tie a couple of bead chain eyes on under the hook shank in front of body
14. Dub the thread again and form a large head over and in front of the eyes
15. Form a small head from thread, whip finish and varnish
16. Stroke the whole fly lightly with a brush.

Did you find the above interesting?

People who looked at the above also looked at these pages: South Swedish Sea Trout Every year fishermen from all over the world visit the swedish shores and rivers, hoping their exertions will be rewarded with one of the large sea trout. Spin fishing is popular and effective. Is fly fishing possible or is it "Guru Meditation #8400001 - Unknown method"? Night trip The first fish I caught on the Morrisfoam Diver was a small sea trout which I took on a nightly outing with Maj-Britt and Henning Grey Frede I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the Danish shoreline fly fisher Peter Loevendahl, who is a discrete man. He goes around quietly in his native western Seeland and catches fish. A lot of fish. Bead chain eyes You will see that many of the Danish saltwater flies -- The Magnus, Bjarke and Grey Frede are prime examples -- have bead chain eyes. These eyes serve two purposes: weight and imitation. The eyes till add quite a bit of weight in the front end of the fly and the balls obviously look like eyes. Their shiny surface even adds an attractive feature that will glimpse and get the attention of the fish. Fly patterns Section: The best fly patterns from all over the globe

A few random articles for your entertainment Good, Bad, and Ugly Having wrapped my share of thread over the years, I thought it was time to revisit a long held interest of mine - traditional salmon flies. My first attempt years ago was pretty disappointing, and I was hoping my skills had evolved enough for me to take that next step and produce a better result. November 20th 2007 Hen Hackles and Wet Flies Awhile back, I received a shipment of hen necks and saddles from Whiting Farms. The saddles struck me with their intense colors and solid web, then necks with their stem length and shortish barbs. These feathers were perfect for the wet flies I was working on. October 23rd 2006 The Pefect Cast - Distance and Delicacy - Cracking the Code Internationally reknown salmon guide Henrik Mortensen is your tutor in these three DVD’s on casting and salmon fishing, which are quite an odyssey in the subject and at the same time a journey almost as far around the world as you can come. July 3rd 2006 Surf Candy Experimenting with epoxy might glue you to the tying bench for hours, days, weeks. You can make highly durable, translucent baitfish imitations using synthetics and epoxy. Some years ago Bob Popovic's book "Pop Fleyes" introduced Kasper Mühlbach to the Surf Candy. February 12th 2006