The name gives away the source of inspiration for this fly. I've been tying and fishing the Goddard Sedge for years, and I've been happy with it. It performs great in rough water and low light conditions as it rides high for a long time. However, I really hate spinning deerhair and once wet, it's difficult to dry properly. That prompted me to begin thinking about another type of fly that contained the same basic elements - silhouette and super floatability. And hence the Goddard Poly Sedge. The first versions were tied during the winter with no possiblity to test-fish them, so I sent a batch down to Paul in NZ, and as far as I remember, he really liked them. More were given a away and some were sent to Scandinavian brethren, who regularly fish segde-hatches. They also reported back that the fly worked great in low light, fast water and was excellent when skated.
Below you'll find the step-by-step photos of how to tie the fly - it's not difficult, it's not fast, but very durable and because of the poly yarn, it's very easy to dry with a few hard falsecasts. Adding a floatant makes the fly rides very high and gives it enough buoyancy to pop back up when pulled under. The fly has been published in the Swedish book, "Flugbinding" this year.
Attach the thread to the hook and form a dubbingloop at the bend - secure well and bring thread forward to a few mm behind the hookeye again! Here's the tricky part that'll take a few attempts to master properly - cut polyyarn in the desired colour in 2cm pieces and spread out to a thin carpet in the dubbingloop. A dubbingblock is a good help if you have one. Keeping the fibers as parallel to the thread as possible will minimise fouling as you spin.
Attach a dubbingspinner and spin the loop tightly!
As if it was a palmerhackle, spiral the spun poly yarn forwards in tight turns and stroke back the fibers for each turn, so you don't trap too many fibers. Keep working your way forwards and tie off a few mm behind the hookeye, where the thread is hanging. As you finish, you'll end up with this untidy bunch :-) Tie off thread!
With a dubbingneedle (or a piece of velcro) pick out any trapped fibers and tidy everything up a little prior to taking the scissors to the fly.
Working from the back and forwards, trim the fly into shape.
Re-attach the tyingthread and tie in a small genetic hackle and wrap it 3-6 turns forwards and tie off. Alternatively, a spun hackle of CDC looks fantastic on this fly - as does a spun hackle of hare or a deerhair/dubbing mix. The choice is yours. This is my preferred version for skating!
Done :-)!
The Goddard Poly Sedge:
Hook: Tiemco 900bl, #8-14 or similar hook. The fly floats well, so you can choose a heavy-ish hook.
Thread: I prefer a lightly waxed thread, my favourite is UNI 8/0, but others will do as well!
Body: Poly yarn.
Hackle: Genetic cockhackle, color to match poly yarn.
Happy NewYear - enjoy the fly!
Viking Lars
Lars Chr. Bentsen (Viking Lars) (lars@sexyloops.com) is a medieval archeologist flyfisherman - possibly the first. When not plundering, he either flyfishes the salt "concentrating at all times" or else investigates ruined castles, abbeys and burial mounds (this is true-life stuff). He is an FFF Certified (or at least certifiable) Master Flycasting Instructor and has a bag fetish. Lars lives with Pauline and their daughters, Anna and Elvira, and they try to live with him.