Published Mar 10. 2009 - 15 years ago
Updated or edited Feb 26. 2023

Domestic Fly

The common housefly is indeed... eh.... common, and an obvious insect to imitate. Bulgarian Radoslav Kiskinov has made a simple but very efficient pattern imitating Musca domestica using foam, raffia and peacock herl, which will catch several species when fished dry.

Compared - A real fly - left - and an imitation on the right showing how close the resemblance is
Two flies - The housefly imitation is very close to the natural
Buzzzz - Ready to fly away to the stream!
The housefly - Domestic Fly
Radoslav Kiskinov

What does it imitate?
It imitates a house fly, obviously.

The idea for making this fly came from nature. I tie my flies after taking a closer look at the real insects. Knowing the entomology of the insects is the key to making a good imitation of a fly. The next thing is to choose the appropriate materials.

I use it when go fly fishing for chub. Here in Bulgaria the chub (Leuciscus cephalus) is a very popular fish for fly fishing and you can find it in almost all streams and rivers in our country as well as in many lakes.

I fish the fly as a dry fly.

Domestic Fly
Pattern type: 
Terrestrial
Originator: 
Radoslav Kiskinov
Species: 
Materials: 
Hook
Mustad 94840 #14
Thread
Black
Abdomen
Black foam and three peacock herls
Wings
Roman Moser Plastic Raffia Sheeting Lt. Dun
Back and head
Black foam
Thorax
Three peacock herls
Legs
Black monofilament
Eyes
Pearl Flat Tinsel Medium Lureflash
Skill level/difficulty: 
Medium
Instruction: 
See the images below

Step 1 - thread

Step 2 - herls

Step 3 - foam

Step 4 - herl body

Step 5 - raffia

Step 6 - wings

Step 7 - foam

Step 8 - thorax

Step 9 - monofilament

Step 11 - back

Step 12 - eye separator

Step 13 - flash

Step 14 - eyes before

Step 15 - divide

Step 16 - legs

Step 17 - done

Housefly - A common housefly - Musca domestica
The fly
Kamran Iftikhar

Comments

I made a house fly p...

I made a house fly pattern also but it was a little different. For the eyes I melted the end of monofilament and put on two red seed beads, then melted the other end to form sort of a dumbell. Same body and I just tied a thick parachute style hackle with a white post of calf tail. I tried this pattern yesterday in the native brook stream in front of my house. Landed a 10" brook and a 12 1/4 brook in about 15 minutes! They sure do love the house fly!!!

I think your fly tyi...

I think your fly tying is absolutely outstanding and extra comments would be uncalled for

You are getting bett...

You are getting better and better, Rado the Shark! Great job!

l have been tying fl...

l have been tying flies on and off for the past 25 years and have never saw one so realistic, but l would be inclined to agree with Ripley that so much detail is not necessary to catch fish.
wish l could tie that good.

Fly-tying has never ...

Fly-tying has never been my cup of tea.
While I admire and give full credit to anyone that can tie life like patterns, I am sure the pattern would still work if you finished at step 4.
Great pattern though.
R

CARLOS's picture

Great design Radosla...

Great design Radoslav!
The best housefly pattern I've ever seen.
Tonight I'm going to tie some!

Great true fly...

Is it over detailed? Not necessarily. Is it a great fly? Absolutely! Frosty Fly has a version they sell that is no better, just more steps and a little flashy. I respect anyone that can come up with a fly like this. PS, for avid tiers like me, that is not so complicated. A huge benefit.

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