March Brown Dry Fly

R35.00

3 flies in a reusable plastic tub. The March Brown may not occur as a species in the south, but there are plenty of similar brow or tan mayflies which start hatching in spring.

SKU: March Brown Dry Fly Categories: ,

March Brown Dry Fly - Barbed

3 per pack

See the Mosquito Fly

The March Brown fly has been an early season fly  for hundred of years and imitates brown mayflies, especially the March Brown as it occurs around March in the Northern hemisphere, which would be September in the South. The March Brown may not occur as a species in the south, but there are plenty of similar brown or tan mayflies.

A simple, classic, well balanced, and very natural-looking fly pattern. The insect March Brown is a mayfly, and most March Brown patterns imitate that in some sense ? as a nymph or emerger.

From the US when they have large hatches of mayflies in March, just after their winter, hence the name March Brown.

Fish this when the mayflies are around on a floating line with a long leader using a very slow figure of eight retrieve.

I have always liked the March Brown. It's a simple, classic, well balanced and very "natural looking" fly pattern. The insect March Brown is a mayfly, and most March Brown patterns imitate that in some sense – as a nymph, an emerger, often tied as a wet fly, or as a dun in the form of a dry fly.
But as a fly pattern the March Brown has evolved far beyond that, and you will find Salmon March Browns, Steelhead March Browns and back when fishing for sea run sea trout in the ocean took off here in Denmark many decades ago, the March Brown wet would often be used as a saltwater fly.

Originally the March Brown is the popular name for the mayfly Rhithrogena germanica. In the US it's oftentimes used for Rhithrogena morrisoni, also a mayfly. Both species are early hatchers, often hatching in the end of the winter in late March and early April, hence the name.
You will also find the name Brook Dun applied to these flies, especially in the UK, and on the British Isles, the names Deel Cruik, Deul Cruick, Dule Crook or Devil Crook will also refer to March Brown like patterns.
As a fly pattern this has been known for a very long time, with lots of early references to the name March Brown.

The following is by no means a complete account of the history of the March Brown, but just a handful of references, showing how old, common and widespread - and varied - this classic pattern is.

As so often, the earliest is Dame Juliana Berners, who in her chapter on the month March (Marche) refers to a "donne flye" (March dun fly) in her book "A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle" from 1496. This is by some believed to be the first reference to a March Brown like fly pattern, even though the name isn't mentioned verbatim.
Marche. {21}
The donne flye the body of the donne woll & the wyngis of the pertryche.

In other words a fly for the month of March described as "the dun fly, body of dun wool and wings of partridge". Not exactly a detailed pattern description, but close enough to have some resemblance to the more recent March Browns.......

From https://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/the-march-brown-legacy