Nymph · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 1 version
Lucian Vasies
Hook Demmon Supreme J100 BL jig hook, 12-14
Thread Yellow or white Tyer's choice
Materials
Bead (oversized slotted tungsten)
Tail Grey polar fibre (partridge barbs)
Body Natural case (hare guard fur dubbing)
Thorax Red and orange material (nutria red dubbing mixed with orange or red rabbit/hare dubbing)
Hackle Grey hackle (partridge)
How to tie it
Slot an oversized tungsten bead onto the J100 jig hook, Italian alpine rivers run hard and this fly is meant to get down in them, so err heavier than you would at home.
Start yellow or white thread. Vasies is emphatic about this: a black thread underneath turns the finished fly noticeably darker once it is wet, so use a pale thread that will not fight the body colour.
Tie in a short grey partridge tail at the bend, then dub a shaggy body of natural hare guard fur forward to the 65% mark and pick it out. The spikiness of guard fur is the reason he uses it here rather than underfur.
Blend red nutria dubbing with orange or red rabbit or hare and dub a distinct collar just behind the bead. This red-orange chest is the robin's breast the fly is named for, and it is the whole identity of the pattern.
Take one or two turns of grey partridge hackle in front of the body, stroking the barbs back so they sweep over the thorax.
Whip finish behind the bead and fish it deep in fast alpine water, either on a Euro rig or hunted to individual fish in the Italian pesca in caccia style.