A few people have been on my case about a step-by-step (SBS) article on the Falloon. I am now convinced that it is a great fly and certainly worth the time to tie if you are a species-crazy angler. I received positive reports from Gerald Penkler (who caught a nice big UK brown on the concept), Peter Coetzee (who swore that the Falloon was the only ‘thing’ the Berg River carp wanted on a recent trip) and Guy Ferguson (who mentioned that Danie van Zyl of www.kalahaririverandsafari.co.za said you can’t visit his spot on the Orange River without the Falloon).
Gerald Penkler with a lovely brown trout that he caught on the Falloon concept in the UK.
Catfish likely pick up the vibration of the Falloon’s lively tail making it a deadly pattern for them in my opinion.
More recently, I’ve also managed to catch rainbow trout on the fly. The fish took it with such confidence and aggression that I believe it should be a part of every serious trout angler’s fly box. Here is the SBS pictorial demonstration of the Falloon:
1 – Select a ‘smallish’, sturdy curved hook, such as the Dohiku wet fly hook.
2 – Use a selection of tungsten beads (<3.5 mm) to add weight to the fly.
3 – Grab a balloon from a packet with multi-coloured ones (white, black and yellow are my favourites – in that order).
4 – Cut a half-moon shape with a stem from the fold of the balloon.
5 – Open the cut piece so that it looks like a lolly-pop.
6 – Cut out an inner circle with a fine pair of scissors to shape the tail.
7 – Prepare a hand-full of tails while you’re at it.
8 – The mouthpiece of the balloon will be used for the body of the fly.
9 – Tear off the mouthpiece so that it’s flush like an O-ring.
10 – Prepare the hook in the vice and wrap Gordon Griffiths Sheer 14/0 to the ‘bend’ of the hook.
11 – Tie the stem of the tail in so that the tip of the tail faces away from the hook tip.
12 – Tie in the cut and tapered rubber rib that was the mouthpiece of the balloon.
13 – Wrap the rib forward to form the segmented body and tie it off just behind the bead.
14 – After cutting off the excess rubber rib, tie in a few strands of peacock herl.
15 – Twist the peacock herl into a noodle and wrap it to form the collar of the fly.
16 – After a half-hitch and a bit of varnish to secure the thread, the fly is ready to use.
17 – The shape of the tail should look like this in the water – it moves nicely with the resistance of water.
Black Falloons work really well for trout.
I believe that a black Falloon may be mistaken for a tadpole by predatory fish. This rainbow ate the fly like its life depended on it…
Finally
Thank you leonard. Going to tie up some soon
Leonard, Oreochromis mossambicus also like them.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing