The Kate McLaren is a fly I’ve sung the praises of many time before and the competition borne green-tailed version was one of many variations that came about, however it’s also one that’s survived and is present in many wild anglers fly boxes.
Using “Glowbrite Fluorescent Floss” in the tail of flies is commonplace nowadays but the combination of the lime green (Glowbrite No. 11) and the predominantly black colour of the Kate McLaren was a winner from the start. That said many anglers still prefer to use “Glowbrite No. 12” which is a darker shade of green (you could say a true green as opposed to the lime green / yellow colour of the No. 11 floss) but I’ve not found this shade to be as effective so I’ve pretty much stuck with the colour as shown. I have been told that the darker green works better if fishing this fly deep, to be honest I can’t say I’ve really noticed the difference and the G-T Kate has struck gold for me when I’ve had to use it ‘down and dirty’.
There is a tutorial from me on the Muddler version of this fly amongst these very Partridge pages, and if I was pressed, I’d admit that the muddler in a bigger wave is slightly better so the obvious step from here is to the Hedgehog version I’m demonstrating here.
Hedgehogs hail pretty much from Orkney, or at least how we know them today do and this style of tying is a go-to dressing for me when chasing wild loch trout (also handy with our stocked fish).
My G-T Kate Hog has certainly not let me down, especially when used on darker, peaty style waters the north of Scotland is so famous for. But it is not limited to here and it has also worked for me in the salt when chasing silver trout given its general impressionistic profile and fish attention grabbing action.
So that’s an introduction to the G-T Kate Hog for you all, all that’s left is for you to add this to your collection and head out to make your own memories with it.