Red Tag

Red Tag is one of fly fishing’s great classics, and even though the pattern is more than a hundred years old it still takes rainbow trout year after year. The green, gleaming body and the little red tail (the tag) are a simple but irresistible combination, and the fly is as useful on the surface as just under it.

Simple but effective

The secret behind Red Tag is the red tag. That little patch of red works as a clear trigger point that gets the fish to lock on, rather like a sight. The body of green or shimmering peacock herl gives life and flash, and the brown hackle keeps the fly floating and hints at legs. It is precisely the simplicity that makes it so reliable, because it looks meaty and believable without imitating anything particular.

Dry or wet

Red Tag is versatile. Treat it with floatant and it sits high on the surface as a small dry fly, perfect when the fish are rising. Leave it untreated and let it sink and you can fish it as a wet fly just under the surface film, often with small, slow strips. The red tag does the work in both cases, so try both ways in the same session and let the fish show what they prefer.

Size and when it works

Size 12 to 16 covers most of it. Go smaller when the fish are rising small and cautious, larger when you want a clearer fly in slightly coloured water. Red Tag shines brightest on quiet evenings and hatches when rainbow trout hold near the surface, but it is always worth a try as a “different” fly when the standard patterns have gone quiet.

A given place in the box

Red Tag is a cheap and easy-to-tie fly that deserves a place in every put-and-take box, not least because it often catches when nothing else does. It is also a grateful pattern to tie yourself, see beginner flies to tie. More on surface fishing you find under dry-fly fishing and more choices in flies for rainbow trout.