The Secret Fly of Cutcliffe

One of the interesting concepts put forward by Cutcliffe is the idea that the specific pattern is not as important as stealth, fly placement (casting accuracy), and the method of drifting the fly. This of course is specific to "rapid streams" or streams with fast-flowing broken water. In fact, Cutcliffe argues that the fly should stand out and be easy for a trout to notice quickly. At the same time though it needs to look just enough like a food item so as to not scare the trout. This he refers to as "conspicuity" rather than imitation - the latter reserved for calm water rivers.

This is a point that Dr. Paul Gaskell focuses on in his reprinting of Cutcliffe's book. It is also a point he mentions in his earlier book "How to Fool Fish with Simple Flies: The Secret Science Behind Japanese "Kebari" and Euro-nymph Patterns". In that book, Dr. Gaskell refers to it as "anti-camouflage".

Hidden within the text of Cutcliffe's work, he confesses about a single pattern that would be all one needs to accomplish this...but this pattern is not in his list of flies! That is the secret pattern and this video reveals the fly.

For more about "conspicuity" and these fly ideas I recommend the videos by Dr. Gaskell and getting his reprinting of Cutcliffe's work with more details of Cutcliffe's ideas translated to the modern day.

https://youtu.be/9Db8jwP8G8s?si=sbPYKrT28IDJRweq

https://www.discovertenkara.com/devon-wet-fly-2/