MERCANTOUR FLY

The Mercantour(s)
The Mercantour is a polyvalente fly. I invented it forty years ago when I was exploring the canyons, streams, rivers, high mountain lakes of Mercantour in the Alpes Maritimes in France. Always on sports excursions, I had to minimize the weight of my equipment to quickly climb chimneys and ravines. I simplified my fishing technique as much as possible: a line, a rod, a fly box. Finished the dozen fly boxes that monopolized my backpack reserved primarily for survival equipment, rescue, food for the high mountains. I kept a single box with a single model. Thus was born the Mercantour, a polyvalente artificial fly that mimics the Diptera families as well as those of the Hymenoptera, Trichoptera, Ephemera, Plecoptera. By arranging the wings a little, removing them, or shortening a few tufts of duck ass, changing the hook sizes from 12 to 30, I managed to imitate the insect of the day on different mountain profiles. The success of this fly was rapid and its specific adaptations were numerous, sometimes too numerous because I found myself again with dozens of boxes of Mercantours variants. There are now Mercantours for tropical fresh waters such as lakes in northern Thailand, rivers in Mexico, Iceland, Finland, Mercantours for high mountain lakes, Mercantours for ravines, Mercantours for large smooth, waterfall broths, Mercantours for the steep valleys of the Cévennes, Mercantours for fishing Mugil mugil in brackish water, etc. There are also Tube Bodiz variants, total duck tail variants, in deer hair, variants in Léon's rooster feather, synthetic variants in foam, etc. That's a lot of Mercantours.
I always told myself that if I had to keep a single fly in my box, it would be a Mercantour. But, that was the time before, now I will be very bored to know which one to choose. On this page, all variants in all colors and sizes.