This pattern is equally effective for brown trout as it is for rainbows, which is a bit of a rarity. It can be fished on all lines, but for best results go for a sinking line of some description because this means it can retrieved relatively quickly on an even plain. A roly-poly can be really effective as can just a slow figure-of-eight retrieve – ring the changes and see what works on the day. The Techno Dog can be fished on its own or as part of a team of three. The original Techno Dog featured the painted red eyes, the same as the original Techno Cat.

Hook: Standard wet size 10
Thread: Pink or orange
Body: Gold chenille
Tail and wing: White marabou
Head: Build up of tying thread

How to tie the Techno Dog stillwater fly


1. Clamp the hook in the vice and with touching turns create a base of tying thread, stopping opposite the barb.

2. Take a generous pinch of marabou and secure with a couple of wraps of thread, trim the excess and even up the body.

3. Strip the end of some gold chenille so that you are left with just the core and secure it to the hook shank.

4. Wind the chenille in touching turns back up the hook shank, stopping a little way behind the eye.

5. Now take another bunch of marabou and secure it in by the butts with a few wraps of tying thread.

6. Trim the excess marabou with your scissors, angling the scissors up the way at 45 degrees. This will make for a neater head on the fly.

7. With the tying thread, tidy everything up at the head of the fly and start to create the bulbous head; it should be roughly a third of the length of the hook shank.

8. When you are happy with the head of the pattern, whip finish and rip the marabou with your fingers so that the fly is international-rules size.

9. Rather than finishing off the head of the fly with varnish, use a drop of superglue, being careful not to get any on the marabou – it makes fore a more robust pattern.

Total Fly Fisher