Cochybondhu         The Cochybondhu Click for full size image

Hook:   TMC100 / Daiichi 1330 # 12-20

Thread: Brown 6/0 or 8/0 Uni Thread

Tag: Gold Tinsel

Body: Peacock herl

Hackle: Brown Cock

1/ First off wrap a nice even base of thread starting from near the front of the hook and extending to the point where you are going to tie in your first part of the fly, the tail. This point should be roughly level with the barb on the hook. Once this is completed and you have a good bed of thread proceed to step two. Step 1 Tying the Cochybondhu
2/ Now take a piece of flat gold tinsel. Tie this in at the rear of the hook extending towards the back of the fly. This tinsel is to be wrapped flat around the hook to create a little bit of flash at the back of this particular pattern. Once this is securely attached trim the excess and lay a couple of thread wraps to disguise the cut and give a nice even flat bed of thread on to tie on . Step 2 Tying the Cochybondhu
3/ Next tie in the gold tinsel and wrap it firmly (don't break it though!) back toward down the bend of the hook to about a third of the way around the hook bend. Then very carefully wind back over itself back towards the thread where you started. Tie off with the thread and remove the excess tinsel. Then move to step 4. Step 3 Tying the Cochybondhu
4/ Next take two pieces of good bushy peacock herl. These should be tied in extending to the rear of the fly and with the bushiest side of the feather on the outside. This will allow a good body to be easily constructed as the wrapping of the herl around the hook shank will cause it to stand out at right angles to the hook. Trim the excess and wind the thread forward to a point roughly 1/3 the shank length short of the hook eye. Step 4 Tying the Cochybondhu
5/ Now take one of the herl pieces and very carefully wind it forward towards the thread. Make each successive wrap just to the front of the previous one to construct a nice plump body. Care must be taken to avoid breaking the very delicate herl which would mean untying the last step and replacing the broken herl with new pieces. Once finished, tie off and trim the excess herl.  Step 5 Tying the Cochybondhu
6/ Take the second piece of herl and wind forward toward the thread. This time the object is not so much to make each turn in front of the previous one but more so to avoid crushing the previous herl and also to fill in any gaps that may be obvious to the tier. Winding it in a gentle to and fro motion will help you to not squash the herl already in place. When you reach the thread tie off and trim like in the last step. Step 6 Tying the Cochybondhu
7/ We are nearly finished. Select a good quality hackle feather from your cape. Either Ginger or Brown, light or dark. I have used a normal Brown Cock feather here. Tie it angled backwards and with the dull side towards you. This will assist in getting the hackle to stand up correctly right from the very first turn. Once this is tied in trim the excess feather stem and wind the thread forward to the eye of the hook. Step 7 Tying the Cochybondhu
8/ Lastly take the hackle feather and carefully wind it forward to the thread. Make sure each successive turn is just forward of the previous one just like in Step 5 with the peacock herl. When you are satisfied with how the fly looks (the one pictured has about the minimum amount of hackle I would use) tie off the hackle, trim the excess and apply a couple of half hitches. Step 8 Tying the Cochybondhu

The Pattern

The Cochybondhu is a welsh pattern representing a particular beetle found there. While it doesn't  imitate anything particularly precisely it is a fantastic all round terrestrial pattern. Tied in all sizes from #12 down,  I prefer them 16 or smaller with a particular soft spot for 18's. Without a doubt this is my favourite pattern and probably my most successful. On the Goulburn fishing to cunning browns mooching in backwaters this is the fly that produces more often than any other for me. When fish are gently sipping small terrestrials from the surface such as ants and beetles the cochy is the fly of choice. It is also a fantastic lake fly enjoying great success in Tasmania even on those large, pedantic Dee Lagoon rainbows.....you know the ones with 20/20 vision! Also while on lakes it can be extremely effective in small sizes when fishing to trout taking emerging chironomids. This is a versatile fly that is both easy to tie and quite durable, qualities that are very important to just about every fly fisherman around.

Antony