There is a simple, practical elegance to an ‘ancient’ wet fly. Malcolm Greenhalgh at Fly Fishing & Fly Tying writes on the use of flies in general and about the Ancients….

“For 25 years I wandered the length and breadth of Great Britain yattering with either pictures or my fly-tying kit to fly-fishing clubs….. The interesting thing is that, in youth and early middle age, most of us love to ‘invent’ new flies or modify older flies, the new or modified being (we tell ourselves) better than the old or unmodified. Then, in later middle age, I think that most of us have flies that we can tie easily and, the most ingredient of any good fly, flies that we confidence in.”

A few 'Ancient' wet fly patterns from Malcolm Green

There should be a few such patterns in your boxes…simply think Partridge and thread (vary the colors) or Starling and thread. Throw in a rib or a tiny thorax if you must, but keep it simple and believe.