Martyn White | Thursday, 27 August 2026
I’m a bit behind schedule this week with the jetlag from returning to Japan. But fear not, a fly of the week you shall have! A modern classic this week; the Serendipity.
Probably most of the folk reading loops will be familiar with this simple pattern, but perhaps newcomers or younger humans won’t be. I feel like I don’t really know anyone who still fishes them to be honest, but that might be a location thing. Certainly, it’s a pattern that lacks bin appeal when compared to newer, fancier flies. But it’s exactly the kind of fly I like. It’s a quick, simple and very effective generalist. It can just as easily imitate a midge, small mayfly, caddis or even some kind of small terrestrial. It’s just food that’s stuck in the film and is relatively easy to spot even in the smallest sizes.
Here’s the pattern:
Hook: curved emerger size 16-22
Thread: 8/0
Body: Twisted z-lon or antron
Head/wing: Deer hair
You can probably go a bit bigger or smaller if you want to.
Change the body colour to suit yourself… All the usual suspects will work but if I had to pick I’d go black, red and olive.
I just use natural deer hair for the head/wing and leave it a bit big to make sure the fly stays in the film, you can always trim it down a bit on the water if need be.
If you feel you need a bit more in the fly, a single stand of midge crystal flash or a couple of strands of yarn for a shuck won’t do any harm, but probably won’t make any difference in the long run either. It can be difficult to build confidence in spartan flies, but it really is worth it.
So put some of these in your box, or dig out your old ones and give them a try. From summer nights to winter midge hatches they’re worth tying on when the fish are looking up!