The Grey Fred
A classical and very universal fly tied in the Wooly Worm tradition with a twist
Den Grå Frede. A hard D, a hard R, a very soft D and quite difficult to pronounce for most foreigners. It's a fly, which is known by far the majority of the Danish coastal anglers. The name translates into The Grey Fred, which might be easier to get over your tongue.
The fly was originally tied by Danish Peter Loevendahl, who makes his flies to almost industrial strength on large hooks with lots of superglue to secure everything. He sometimes ribs the fly with flash twisted to a thread and continues the flash into the head and the eye of the hook. The fly has been widely adapted by Danish coastal anglers as well as our Scandinavian brothers and anglers visiting from Germany, The Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
This version is a little more subtle and quite durable with its copper rib, but otherwise very true to the original. We have featured the fly before, but this is the first time we show in detail how to tie it.
The fly is very universal imitation of any small, bright fish, and can even stand in as a shrimp. It is of course tied in the very well known Wooly Worm tradition, but still differs from this mainly with it's eyes and large dubbed head. You can vary the fly in color and get almost any nuance you want. Brown and black are a staple colors in many boxes, but orange can also work well. But the far majority of Grey Fred's are brightly grey like the fly shown here.
I have tied huge Grey Fred's which have fished for tarpon, and I am sure that this fly will be able to catch almost anything that swims and has scales with little or no modification.
About The Grey Fred
| Type | Cold salt water |
| Originator | Peter Loevendahl |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Target species | Smallmouth bass Largemouth bass Cod Garfish Sea trout (sea run) |
Materials
| Hook | Saltwater streamer hook, #6-2 |
| Thread | Dark grey or black |
| Eyes | Bead Chain eyes |
| Weight | Lead free wire |
| Tail | A few fibers of crystal flash and two grizzly Chickabou feathers |
| Rib | Copper wire |
| Body | Dubbed grizzly marabou |
| Head | Dubbed grizzly marabou |
Tying instructions
See images below
The flies in the pictures are tied by Ken Bonde Larsen.
 Step 19 - trim tip Martin Joergensen |
 Step 20 - dub head Martin Joergensen |
 Step 21 - dubbing Martin Joergensen |
 Step 22 - brush up Martin Joergensen |
There's a Black Frede and an ancient article on the Grey Fred to be found on GFF too.
Submitted March 30th 2009
Drew,
Glad you liked the instructions.
he ribbing is ordinary copper wire as it is found from Uni as Soft Wire or can be bought in Michael's Craft. I have no idea what diameter it is, but it's not really critical as long as it's not too thin and fragile and not too thick and stiff.
My own variation is roughly documented in my article about filling the box a couple of years ago and I tend to vary this fly depending on mood, available materials and conditions. My most common variation is using hare or rabbit fur for the tail as well as for the body. This makes a denser fly, which sinks a bit more rapid than the marabou Frede.
Apart from that my flies are slightly warmer than the original in color, bordering on tan rather than grey.
But as I said: it's temper and what's in the materials box more that science that governs this.
Martin