When I first saw Francie Jarrett's article on snatchers in 'Trout Fisherman' a good number of years ago, I was immediately attracted to what to my eye looked like a visually attractive set of flies.  Originally developed as an imitation of the large buzzer pupae on Loch Leven (No, really!) my first thought were that although a superb looking series of flies, they did smack a little of the pulling man’s buzzer, and we all know how many of the regulars like to pull on the Double L.  However, this thinking really does do them an extreme disservice, and over the last few seasons I have come to use them more and more, and in a wide variety of circumstances and using a number of techniques.  They really are a very versatile fly, and can be pressed into use in a number of situations.  I find that they work with equal aplomb for both brownies and rainbows, working particularly well when the trout are patrolling the upper layers of the water.

The beauty about snatchers is that virtually any pattern of fly can be given the “snatcherising” treatment.  My own favourite is the hare’s ear version, which has caught me and my fishing pals browns and rainbows, from the waters of Central Scotland to the Limestone Lochs of Caithness and the machair -- and peaty lochs -- of the Outer Hebrides.  It really is a cracking fly.  Other good patterns for us have been claret, with a butt of red globrite floss, black with a butt of green globrite, a Kate Mclaren variant, a soldier palmer variant (with a body of mixed seals fur and red glister) and a Dunkeld/Doobry variant.  The world really is your oyster and any wet fly dressing can be adapted to the snatcher style of dressing.  A word about tying them however…..

First hooks: a lightweight curved buzzer hook is required.  The original snatchers I saw were dressed on Kamasan B100 or B100G (gold) hooks.  The B10G and B100N (nickel) hooks are ideal for this dressing, being that little bit heavier in the wire than the B100 which can be easily straightened out, particularly if you are pulling the flies.  To my eye, the B100G and B100N are also better proportioned than the standard B100, and not quite so wide in the gape.  However, these days I tend to use the Hayabusa 384 grub hook, which is superb for these flies (you can get them from Rutland Flyfishing), being ideal in the wire and very strong but light enough not to sink the flies too quickly.

A word about dressing...  The flies are pretty easy to tie but a couple of points make all the difference.  When palmering the body, try to use a softish “henny” cock hackle as this will give more movement.  Also, keep the turns of hackle open.  I would say four turns on a size 12 hook.  If you use genetic cock hackles, the flies will make nice dry palmers!  When tying in the jungle cock eyes, I tend to use the split larger feathers from an old cape to form two eyes.  This has the benefit of using up some of the larger feathers on the cape and provides eyes that are the ideal size for these flies. Dress the flies in size 10 to 14, but for me size 12 is by far the best.

(click on thumb for larger image)

You can fish snatchers using a variety of techniques.  The main one I like when boat fishing is to fish a team of three on a 17ft fluorocarbon leader of around 5-6lb breaking strain (higher, i.e. up to 9.5lb, if using Riverge or other pre-stretched, low diameter fluoros).  This is teamed up with a slow sinking intermediate line, such as a Cortland blue, or SL slime line, and the flies are figure-of-eighted back to the boat, with the occasional long pull mixed in.  This is a good technique for exploring the top three or so feet of water.  Takes can be savage.  When a rising fish is covered, the flies sit up long enough without sinking for many covers to be converted into takes.  When fish are feeding just sub-surface, but not taking dries, two snatchers fished just under on a light copolymer leader can often be really successful.  This technique works well in the early part of a hatch when the fish are taking ascending pupae and emergers, and when the fish are not sufficiently tuned into the adults for dries to be successful.  The method has served me well, fishing off the bank at venues as diverse as Portmore loch (for big rainbows) and the Outer Hebridean machair lochs (for wild brownies).

When buzzer fishing in the classic fashion (see Nymph fishing article by Jimmy Millar) a snatcher positioned on the top dropper, with two other, slimmer nymphs below, fished on a copolymer leader in particular, will keep the nymphs fishing high in the water on days when the fish are cruising around on the fin looking for food items.  Often in these conditions, slim heavy nymphs such as epoxy buzzers fished on fluoro, will sink below the feeding zone (unless held up by a float… Er, sorry, I mean a 'tache).  Interestingly, our southern cousins just seem to have woken up to this fact (see the recent FF&FT article by Mick Huffer).  It's nice to think that we found this out many years ago and adjusted our rigs to suit conditions accordingly.

Another technique that snatchers are ideal for is the 'washing line'.  A couple of seasons ago, I was looking for some alternative to the ubiquitous Diawl Bach (none needed -- Ed.) and experimented with a number of flies.  The snatchers were the most successful, and I often pair one up with a Diawl, fishing the snatcher on the top dropper with the Diawl in the middle, using either a Cortland ghost tip, Scientific Anglers Kelly green, or an Airflo fast glass line.  This technique has been particularly successful in the clear, shallow water around International bay and the pink buoy at the Lake of Menteith.

I dare say that you could fish them on a HI-D or DI-7 but I’ve not got round to trying it yet!  (I'm sure I've had fish on them using them as the meat in a Hi-D washing line sandwich -- Ed.)

A.M.

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