I found this pattern in a two year old copy of Trout and Salmon (September 2007 by Stan Headley) from the UK (excellent publication). The Pictures of The Snatcher were most appealing. I found some pictures online (not from the article) and have included them here. It is in someways like other flies, but in other ways it seems a refreshing pattern for here in the US and beyond (it is apparently well known to UK fly fishers on reservoirs/lochs). It would be easy enough to overdress this pattern with hackle wraps and dubbing. I like the looks of this pattern. The article mentions fishing this pattern in a size 10 or bigger for buzzers. I can see this pattern in size 8 to size 14, fishing nicely on NW lakes and B.C. stillwaters (of course, it would be just fine on streams too). Also, in the article the pictures of the flies showed them tied on a ‘goldish’ or shiny brass Tiemco TMC 2487  scud-pupa hook…very nice. When overdressed it has the classic wet fly look..still productive I am sure, but the pictures of the pattern in the article were much sparser (is that a word?) and suggestive of more movement and life.

Snatcher

Snatcher

Snatcher (As Depicted in Article...more sparse)

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-tie-the-claret-snatcher-for-competition-fly-fishing-169754/   (Excellent Tutorial)

http://flytyer.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/shadow-snatcher/

http://www.flyforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3269           by Andrew P.