New for this year is a pattern from Howard Croston. Howard, being the Global Brand and Product Manager at Hardy’s knows a thing or two about design, especially when it comes to trout flies as he is the current FIPS Mouche World Fly Fishing Champion.

As the name suggests, “Spring Brown” often coincides with early season hatches. This pattern is suggestive and leaning towards the more imitative realm of fly design and it works wonders. Not only is this a fantastic early season fly but, seemingly when all else fails this seems to shine through and have saved numerous outings!

“Early season on the larger Northern freestone rivers of the UK we have a couple of the larger up wing species active during the first couple of months , namely the March Brown and the Large Dark Olive . Although this pattern isn’t particularly a close copy of either species it does include a number of triggers that liken it to the natural. This pattern has always produced well for me early season – particularly with larger fish that are often looking for a mouth full after a lean winter. As well as producing some of my larger early season fish over the years its also helped me qualify for the England Rivers national final on a number of occasions when the qualifier was held in the early season and a few good fish caught during the brief hatch window was enough to secure a placing .”

– Howard Croston