A FLY TYING JOURNAL

Getting to know needle flies!

2012-01-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

I have returned to this blog and to the world of fly tying after a long spell away. I can only say a huge thank you for your patience and to those new readers for joining the site. Flies, Flies, Flies! Where does one start? North country and spider wet flies, that's where!

With NC wet flies, I am continually learning about the dressings and feathers. Over the last year or so, I have been reading much of the rich and fascinating literature on North Country flies, tying and fishing with them. I feel I am beginning to learn a little more, albeit slowly, about the various patterns, their dressings, history and fishing use. It is a lovely learning curve and I am no rush to go down it, nor should I.

Spiders are very enoyable to fish and to tie. When you are on a river in the Dales, you usually set up a team of spiders with a lot of confidence. There are moments, however, when you ponder the possibility - 'these fish must have seen these flies so many times, they could tell you who tied the fly. Would I be better off using something else?' Then you get a tug on the line and all confidence is restored, sometimes. I suppose you further remind yourself it is how you fish them that what really counts. Anyway, there is a point to this pre-ample, I think...

I have been tying spider imitations for needle flies, recently. Needle flies (Leuctra fusca or Lectra Hippopus) are the smallest of British stoneflies. They are dark brown and very thin. As John Goddard in 'Trout Fly Recognition' writes:

These two species are the smallest of our stoneflies are exactly alike in appearance. Although they prefer rivers or streams with stony beds, they are widespread over the whole country, including the faster stretches of many chalkstreams. The male is between 5-8mm, and the female between 6 and 9mm. As their name implies, they are exceptionally narrow flies of a dark brown colour, and although simialr in shape and appearance to the willow fly, are much smaller. L Fusca is mainly a late season species, the adult winged fly appearing between August and October, while L.Hippopus is an earl season species most common from February to April (p.127).

I believe Pritt's 'Dark Spanish Needle' is one pattern used to imitate them - as described in his Yorkshire Trout Flies (1885). However, for the same pattern, I have tied an Edmonds and Lee dressing:

Dark Needle (Edmonds and Lee):

Hook: Partridge, The Wet, Size 14-18

Thread: Pearsalls Gossamar 6b

Hackle: Starling underwing feather

Head: Magpie Herl

Edmonds and Lee (1916) in their excellent Brook and River Trouting use magpie tail herl for the head, starling for the wing and Pearsalls Gossamar 6b sillk for the body. Oliver Edwards perfers this Edmonds and Lee dressing with 6b thread (see inserted image on the pearsalls silk chart taken from Edmonds and Lee - below- click to enlarge). Edwards points out that 6b (as originally produced) is obviously rare to find nowadays and very tenatively suggest you could resort to a 6A - coloured with a pen if you are stuck.

Phil Holding of the 'Fly Tying Boutique' has a version of 6b. He says this is good for the needle fly and was chatting to him about it. Phil has worked with Langley threads of Cardiff to bring back many of the shades that have been discontinued for around 35 years.

So where does the name Spanish Needle come from? Leslie Magee in his 'Fly Fishing: The North Country Tradition (1994)' tells us that it can be traced back to the early 19th century in Nidderdale and Wharfedale. He suggests it is derived from the dark steely blue colour of the fly and its elongated appearance (p.79). The colour is akin to the unpolished sewing needles which were formerly imported from Spain in large volumes. So much praise exists for this pattern both for trout and grayling. Williams (1948) in the Dictionary of trout Flies' states this is a deadly pattern up to December and likewise Oliver Edwards in his DVD series has remarked how this is very effective for the late season, especially September and October.

My research has revealed a number of addtional needle dressings that I would like to share. I apologise to the average Northern angler who no doubt will know these flies as well as the day of Christmas! However, for a few readers, this may be new ground - so to speak. Roger Wooley in his text 'Modern Trout Fly Dressing (1950, 3rd edition) states a dressing for the Needle which can incorporate claret waxed tying silk for the body, or orange (p.137). Roger Fogg in his superb book ' A Handbook of North Country Trout Flies' (1980), has an interesting dressing which I like. His Needle Brown is a modification of a winged pattern used in the 19th century by Micheal Theakston. He states "The Needle Brown is the fly to use when any of the darker stoneflies are in evidence" (p.143). Here it is:

Needle Brown (R Fogg)

Tying thread: Well waxed orange silk

Hackle: A small and dark snipe feather from the marginal coverts. The hackle should be wound sparsely.

Body: Waxed orange silk - which should assume almost a brown shade, with a thorax of grizzled hare's ear. Pick a few fibres cut to merge with the hackle.

Here is another suitable dressing: the winter brown.

Winter Brown

Hook:Patridge L2A 12-16

Thread: orange waxed so it become dark

Hackle: Woodwock underwing covert

Head: Peacock herl

So I am really looking forward to trying patterns these out next season.

If you are relatively new to fly tying and wish to tie spiders I think the above bird wing feather illustration (to the left) will be useful. It helps you identify where to locate the specific feathers on the wing. Thank you for reading this post!

Stimulating a touch of the Irish!

2011-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Did Randall Kaufmann ever imagine his stonefly imitation would be revised by Irish lough fishers? I suspect not. Yet this is the case. His dry stimulator pattern has evoked a range of Irish wet fly variants, collectively labelled, 'Irish Stimulators', funny enough! The original orange body has been replaced with some quiensessiential Irish colours, fiery brown and sooty olive, for example. Moreover, to provide the wet-fly touch, the cock hackles have been replaced with cock saddles or even hen. These variants are used on loughs as part of a three fly wet fly cast. Yet, to my thinking, this seems a bob fly supremo. The deer hair wing and the thoraxed hackle provide more boyancy than maybe your average Irish wet fly.

As far I know, Mr Frankie McPhillips - the Fermanagh based professional fly tyer - introduced Irish colours to the original. So I thought I would do some research to construct a list of established patterns for your eyes.

Green Irish Stimulator (Frankie McPhillips)

Hook: Diachi

Tail: Red squirrel or bucktail

Body: Green olive Frankie McPhillips Dubbing (no 6), or similar

Rib: Gold oval

Body hackle: Green olive cock saddle

Wing: Deer Hair

Thorax: orange seals fur

Head Hackle: Grizzle dyed orange

Note: Frank McPhillips states that there are no hard and fast rules with the tail. You could use floss, wool, bucktail or artic fox hair as alternatives.

Fiery Brown Irish Stimulator (Frankie McPhillips)
Hook: Diachi
Tail: Pheasant tail fibres
Body: Fiery Brown seals fur
Body hackle: Fiery brown cock saddle
Wing: Deer Hair
Thorax: Orange seals
Head hackle: Grizzle dyed orange

Black Irish Stimulator (Frankie McPhillips)
Hook:Kamasan B170 size 10
Tail: Black squirrel hair or deer hair
Body: Black seals fur
Rib: Oval silver
Body hackle: Black cock saddle
Wing: Black deer hair
Thorax: Orange
Head: Grizzle cock saddle

This is considered effective for Sea-Trout. Try a blue hackle through the thorax area for another variant.

Peter Stimulator
Hook: Kamasan B170 size 10
Butt: red seals fur
Body: green seals fur
Rib: oval gold
Body hackle: red game cock saddle
Wing: Deer Hair
Thorax: Red seals fur
Head hackle: red game cock

A minor variation of that brilliant great Irish sedge pattern - 'The Green Peter'.

Golden Stimulator
Hook: Kamasan B170

Tail: Golden pheasant tail dyed orange (or dyed squirrel)
Body: Golden olive seals fur
Rib: fine oval gold
Body hackle: golden olive cock
Wing: Golden Brown deer hair (or natural)
Thorax: Orange seals fur
Front hackle: Grizzle dyed golden brown (or orange dyed grizzle)

Dyeing notes: Cree capes dyed olive and yellow

2011-09-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

A good friend very kindly sent me a batch of capes yesterday - many were cree cock capes. Needless to say, I thought it was Christmas come early. I was over the moon! As most know, this is not a good time for buying capes. This hair extension fad in the US appears to have seriously depleted stocks, particulary saddles. I suspect many tyers have spent many frustrating hours on the web searching for available supplies. I have. Anyway, delighted at my good fortune, I set out to dye some of them dark olive, green olive and yellow. Here are the results:


Cree dyed dark olive

Cree dyed Yellow

Cree dyed green olive

For each colour, one litre of water brought to near boil (in a saucepan) and reduced to simmer. 1/4 t-spn of Veniards dye with vinegar and left in around ten minutes. Stiring all the time. Prior to the dye bath, I degreased the capes in a basin of water with a small amount (t-spn) of Veniards venepol for several hours. Then rinsed out before placing in the dye bath. Many advise to wash the feathers overnight. It is probably wise, if you can wait. Anyway, I am pleased with the final outcomes. These will tie various Irish wets during the Winter tying period.

Emerger buzzers... tying frenzy!

2011-08-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Before I beging this post, I would like to offer my sincere and probably overdue thanks for your readership to date and general support to the blog. I am touched by people all over the world checking the site and for all the kind comments provided. Thank you for making this an enjoyable new experience. I hope you continue to gain something from the blog.

My recent time on the bench has involved emerger buzzers (midges)- a must for any summer evening on the lakes when fish become precocuppied with adults or emerging midges. I had great sport recently (as photo) with CDC type patterns which incited me to fill the box with them. That said, they were very enjoyable to tie, working with CDC and mixing new shades for the body and thorax. I came across the excellent Dave McPhail tying a CDC emerger pattern where he mixed some pearl UV dubbing with orange seals fur for the thorax which simply looked deadly. So that was further inspiration.

A CDC Bubble style buzzer worked very well that evening fishing fished on the point of a three fly 18ft cast. Yet I did pick up some further fish on a emerging hare's ear on the top dropper. I think the CDC emerger on the point keeps the droppers just right in the surface film.

As for the killing pattern, the pattern below:

BBE Emerger (Black Bubble Emerger)

Hook: Kamasan B100

Shuck: A few strands of Z-lon or Antron looped

Body: Black silk,

Thorax: a small amount of black seals fur mixed with pearl UV on shuck side of wing. Then deep red seals fur mixed with UV dubbing - that resides under the wing

Wing: Two CDC tied bubble style and allowed small section of the wing to sit beyond eye.

For additional tyings, I spent some time finger-mixing some dubbing mixtures for the body and thorax, mostly seals fur and hare-ear. This is so enjoyable. I could spend hours mixing dubbings for developing new shades, never really knowing the outcome and often becoming amazed at my efforts - for good and bad. Indeed, by mixing you can gain some very subtle rich and complex shades. I don't think I always appreciated, until recently, the complexity of nature's colours and insects colouring. For many years of my fly tying I always just used single colours of dubbing. Yet, I do have a competing thought that precise imitation of form, including precise colours are not always necessary. Maybe so. I do recall, however, coming across an argument tendered by an excellent UK fly tier - Scratch - a contributor to the UK fly fishing forum which has stayed with me. He argued that you should tie flies that really please your eyes, which appeal to your own visual senses and intution. Such perceptions sustain great confidence when on the water. I could not agree more.

Here are a few more patterns that I tied and plan to try.

CDC and Lace Emerger

Hook: Timeco 212Y

Body: Black silk ribbed with fine green D-Rib lace

Thorax: green and black seals fur mixed dubbed hook point side of the wing

Wing: Two CDC feathers tied upwing

CDC Puff Buzzer Emerger

Hook: Fly to the left -Klinghammer Emerger, Fly to the right, Tiemco 206BL

Shuck: White Antron or Z-lon looped

Body: Seals fur

Rib:Clear wrap (sparton)

Thorax: red, orange seals fur mixed along with a pinch of pearl UV dubbing

Wing; White CDC feathers

Black Buzzer Shuttlecock emerger

Hook: Kamazan B160

Body: Black seals fur

Rib: Clear wrap (Sparton)

Thorax: Orange mixed with pearl UV

Breathers: Two CDC feathers

Shuttlecock Emerger (with mirage shuck)

Hook: Kamasan B100 (flies 1 and 2) Tiemco2499SP-BL

Shuck: 2-3 strands of Mirage Krystalflash

Body: seals fur mixture

Rib:

Thorax: orange and read seals fur mixed with a pinch of UV dubbing

Beathers/wing - 2 CDC feathers.

And so, that was the latest prolific session at the bench. Thank you for reading this post.

Fishing in Donegal, Ireland

2011-08-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

My absence from blogging can be explained by a family holiday to County Dongeal, Ireland. After a few days visting family, we arrived in Dunfaeghy on Sunday afternoon. We simply marveled at the beautiful lanscape on our doorstep and quickly realised we made the right choice for our annual family holiday.

Even if the fishing is poor, sights such as this would be enough.

New Lake was the first setting on the fishing part of the holiday. I have fished here before. This is an interesting and quite beautiful lake to fish - it was formed in the 1920s as a result of an atlantic storm. Donegal has a deeply indented coastline which has formed a number of natural loughs. On the lake that day, there was a good wave, ideal for the wets. However, I spent a lot of time rowing the boat. Indeed, I found it very difficult to move across the lake on the oars. I was taking a long time to move up the lake and drifting back in no time. Talk about hard work! I was taught a real lesson that day - get a engine and an anchor! I gave up and returned home thinking about the fish I could have enticed on a golden olive bumble. Indeed, the experience made me recall a recent letter in the 'Trout and Salmon' proposing an option to relieve the fishing pressure in the West of Ireland - bann outboard motors. I am pretty sure it would have an impact for the better!

We were staying not too far from the Rosses Fishery (130 loughs). This famous Salmon and Sea trout fishery is spread over five river systems. As the town of Dungloe is at the centre of the fishery, we visted Bonar's tackle shop in the town to see what was happening with the fishing, or in other words, if fish were up. So with the word that some sea trout were, I eagerly set out on Dunglow Lough (1 mile east of Dungloe) with the prospect of catching sea trout. I have fished this once lough before - landing a 1 1/2 stocked fish on a dry daddy. Interestingly, I was informed how the fishing club no longer stock the lough to avoid interfering with the sea-trout stocks.

It is a lovely lough and a joy to fish despite the labour with the oars on the boat. Yet, the sea trout were staying elusive that day. My saving grace was a handful of brownies taking kindly to my Blue Zulu when worked on the bob. As way say in Ireland, good craic!

We returned to the 'New Lake' for some evening fishing. It was a calm and warm night. As sedges and midges are out in good numbers we got excited and expected a fantastic rise. The Gillie (AKA, my Brother) searching for rising fish.

We both set up with the dries and with the fourth cast a lovely small fish took my small dry sedge on the point. I have to say, this is one of the nicest looking brownies I have ever caught. I was well pleased! Yet, a significant rise never materalised.

Despite the absence of rising fish we fished near dusk - just enoying the lake on a beauitful August night. For myself, I was delighted with my stunning small brownie. Indeed, I looked at this photo multiple times - amazed at the sheer beauty of the trout.

That was near the end of the holiday to Donegal. Despite the very few fish we had a great time fishing on beautfiful loughs surrounded by gorgeous scenery. We also got to the beach - taking my baby boy to the beach for the first time and dipped his toes into the Atlantic. Funny enough, he didn't seemed bothered!

Currently Reading: 'Fly Tying with Harold Howarth' by Donald Townsend

2011-07-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

I am a avid reader of fly fishing books. Their collection and reading is one of the many aspects that I love about this great sport. Indeed, I thought I maybe make a regular feature of the blog and share with you what I am currently reading and my thoughts on the book. I think we all know we are forunate to have a historical and contemporary rich body of work to experience. You could spend a small fortunate very quickly on Amazon, for example, amassing a tidy collection or spend your days hunting down the classics in second hand bookstores.

The first book is Fly Tying with Harold Howarth by Donald Townsend (1980) Published by A & C Black. Before I begin, as with nearly everything in this blog, these are only my impressions, opinions and insights. I first came across Harold Howorth's name in Malcom Greenhalgh's and Jason Smalley's 'Trout Flies' where he was attributed as the inventor of a number of spider patterns, and more significantly, where he was accredited to pioneer a style of soft hackle in the 1940s and 1950s along with Frederick Mold. This style was inclusion of a thorax to mostly standard patterns of usually peacock herl before the hackle to enhance the insect profile of the fly and its movement in the water. I was eager to learn a little more about Howorth and his fly dressings.

Townsend provides a brief introduction to Howorth before describing his fly dressings for 30 trout and salmon flies. Harold Howorth was born in a small Lancashire town, Haslingden in 1898.

In this short book of 96 pages the author illustrates Howorth's flies, why they were invented and his experience with them in practice.

Many of the flies presented are standard or established flies - the waterhen bloa, the greenwell and the black gnat, for example. Yet, for many of the established patterns, Howorth modified the pattern in terms of design and materials. For example in his Waterhen Bloa, Howorth dressed a slim section of yellow silk as one part of the body followed with mole fur built up for the second part. Townsend writes "This is then followed by a rather sparse hackle. This causes the hackle to stand more erect and allow better movement when the fly is finished" (p,69).

In terms of another established pattern in the North Country grouping - the Snipe and Purple, Howorth replaced the soft snipe hackle with durable lesser coverts of a duck wing. Again he added a few turns of peacock herl behind the hackle to give better fibre movement. This is known as the Henthorn Purple. So this style of a herl thorax before a sparse hackle on spider dressings is a trademark of Howorth's tyings. And from reading Roger Rogg's 'Handbook of North Country Flies' we realise this addition of a short thorax before the hackle constitutes one dressing style for North Country soft hackles.

So the book contains some really interesting dressings - some modified versisions of the established and some new. Additionally, there is some useful advice. For example, the tying of a collar hackle after the wing enables the fly to fish well, prevents twisting in the water. Yet, this is not the conventional recipe book or instructional book you commonly see nowadays. Luckily, I never held this expectation. This is a short personal book of one man's experiences with flies he was using, modifying and creating over his extensive fishing life. More than this, I suspect this book is an important slice of the rich history surrounding North Country wet fly fishing. Indeed, for me, it tells something about soft hackles and North Country flies - their development and limits of use. The inclusion of a thorax to provide extra movement to the hackle reconciles with the argument that some standard soft hackles are not as effective in fast water, especially when fished downstream. Maybe more surely, the book is a reminder of how some tradtional patterns were modified by creative anglers, and yet preserved by others. Indeed, I suspect there have been many Howorth types in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Borders that took certain classic soft hackle dressings and modified them to suit their own intution, rivers and insect hatches. Maybe this is nothing new? So for myself, who aspiring to learn more about North Country flies and fishing, the book was valuable, a nice addition to the collection.

Yellow Spiders

2011-07-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

I apologise for not posting lately. With work and family commitments I found it very difficult having time for fly tying and blogging. I am trying my best to finish stuff at work before I head off on holiday in Ireland with the family at the end of the month. I am so looking forward to take my baby boy home to see his grandparents and uncles and for some fishing. I manage some time for the bench today - yellow spiders were on my mine. On the last few occasions on the river I noticed a few Yellow May Duns (Heptogenia sulphurea) and anticpate to see the Yellow Sally (Isoperia grammatica) stonefly in the forthcoming period. So I thought it would be useful to have a few yellow spiders in the box:

Yellow-Legged Bloa
Hook: Partridge, 'TWH, The Wet' Size 14
Body: Primrose gossamar
Thorax: Light olive/yellow fur (optional). I have used light yellow hare's ear.
Hackle: Light Yellow or Ginger Hen. I have used light yellow.

I believe this is a pattern which can be used to imitate the nymph or emergers of the Yellow May duns or the Yellow Sally.

Yellow Sally (wet)

Hook: Partridge, 'TWH, The Wet' Size 14

Body: Light yellow fur. I have used pale watery yellow polyrite dubbing

Hackle: Golden Plover

I bought this Whiting brahma cape dyed pale yellow several months ago which nested in drawer forgotton about. I think it is a lovely looking cape, striking, has that dyed partridge/game look. My personal niggle is the number of small feathers on the cape. It has not too many hackles for tying size 14 or below. That aside, it will still come in very handy for palmered wets, bumbles and the sort. Anyway, there were enough hackles for a few size 14 flies and therefore tied some yellow-olive spiders for the river to give an idea what the hackle looks like:

Hare's Ear Spider Variant

Hook: Kamasan B160, Size 14

Body: Olive Hare's Ear plus

Rib: Gold Wire

HackleL Pale Yellow Brahma

Yellow Patridge Spider

Hook: Timeco TMC531, Size 14

Tag: Gold tinsel

Body: Yellow silk

Rib: Green thread

Hackle: Pale Yellow Brahma Hen

This is based on an old Irish variant of a Partridge and Yellow.

Brahma Fluff Emerger
Hook: Tiemco

Body: yellow gossamar
Wing: Tied buble style

This is made from the flue on the base/bottom of the hackle. I am not sure about the floatability but should have plenty of movement.

Edward's Yellow Spider

Hook: Partridge L3A, Size 12

Body: Yellow sulphur superfine dubbing wound tigthly

Hackle: Primrose or pale yellow hen hackle

This appears to me to be similar to a Pritt dressing for a Yellow Sally. Mr Oliver Edwards features the above in one of his DVDs (Wet Fly Fishing) - he uses this to great effect at this time of the year when Yellow May Duns are on the water and I suspects uses it for Yellow Sallys. He usually fishes this as a team of three, on the top dropper, to ensure it fishes on or the near the water surface as possible. He ties this on size 12, with his beloved Partridge L3A. I have a 100 size 12 L3A, by mistake. I ordered 100 size 14 and received 12s instead. In terms of the hackle of the fly, I needed to dye a cape for this and again fortunate enough to have a spare white hen cape. I dyed this with veniards yellow dye, a 1/4 teaspoon but kept the cape in the dye bath for a period of say five minutes or so. The result is a very pale yellow/primrose cape.

It was interesting to hear Edwards state how fish take Yellow May Duns, refuting some past authors' speculations or even inisting they may not be interested in them. I have personally never imitated the Yellow May Duns before - as never came across them on my home rivers back in Ireland. I have used the yellow sally to good effect and of the opinion trout fed on them. On several occasions in June, I failed to notice too many on the water. He makes the point that such a sparse hatch appears to incite the fish to take when they come across an artifical on the water. We may have passed the time for Yellow May Duns. The above patterns should of use for Sallys and olives. One final thing. On the DVD he commented on 'three greatest books', mentioning the Practical Angler by WC Stewart, Edmonds and Lee, but the third, he failed to say? Maybe he did and I did not pick it up! I would love to know what this third greatest book was and if he was referring to three greatest books on fishing or simply books on north country fishing/wet fly fishing. Anybody know? Thanks for reading this post!

Greenwells and Partridge and Boit Spiders

2011-07-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Despite feeling very tired from the fishing yesterday where more walking was undertaken than casting a fly - due to the low water level on the river and the bright sunshine, I have returned to the tying bench for a few hours this afternoon. I have been trying to keep the river wet fly box stocked up, as well as exploring some variants - tying some spiders or soft hackles. Starting off with a classic and an excellent fly for the river - the Greenwell spider. This is likely to be a common fly found in the most river fishers fly box, I suspect. Further common to be fished as as part of three flies either upstream or downstream. Indeed, this was the first fly I fished when my Father took me for the first time to the local river and one of the first flies my Father taught me to tie. It was invented by Canon Greenwell of Durham and James Wright of Tweedside in 1854 (Williams, 1948, p.197). Although I think this is primarily a dark olive dun pattern, it may be considered a general olive imitation and therefore a very useful fly to have in the box. I suppose you can manipulate the thread colour and hackle to suit your purposes. Williams remarked how this has taken trout feeding on the BWO and Iron Blues. It is something to think about if you are stuck!

Greenwell Spider

Hook: Yorkshire spider hook

Body: Primrose gossamar silk well waxed

Rib: Fine gold wire

Hackle: Coch-y-bondhu hen hackle

Around the partridge hackle theme, I further messed about with some patterns using Turkey boit feather for the body. Boit feathers make beautiful bodies, don't they? The problem of course will be durability. A touch of varnish or glue before the boit may be a practical suggestion. Although I have a feeling it may be not enough to withstand the collective 'nips and thumps' you experience with fishing a decent pool. Anyway, I intend to give these a testing soon. Here are a few of the flies:

Partridge and Cream Boit Spider

Body: Cream Turkey boit

Thorax: Cream dubbing

Hackle: Grey partridge

Partridge and olive boit spider

Hook: Yorkshire Spider hook

Body: olive Turkey boit

Thorax: Hare's ear

Hackle: Grey Patridge

Yellow Partridge Boit spider

Body: Yellow Turkey boit

Hackle: Yellow partridge

Thorax: Black peacock herl

I have many spider dressings to tie and try so there may a few more posts on spiders to come. Thank you for reading this short post.

Dyeing feathers for claret

2011-06-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

On my return last night from the river I took the odd decision of dyeing a batch of feathers and some fur. Obvioulsy waited until the wife had retired for the night and the kitchen was my own to mess with. I had taken stock of several colours of Veniards dye last week and was eager to put this to work. I started with dark claret. I dyed a batch of french partridge, white rabbit skin, turkey boits, widgeon. grey partridge and a cock cape. I remembered how the best results with claret can be gained from working from a base colour of brown, red game or ginger cape. So I dyed a natural dark red cock cape using a 1/4 tablespoon of dark claret dye. The results were very good, for me anywhow. I am not an overly experienced dyer of materials so I was quite pleased. A black claret is how I would describe the result. This is what I wanted - mostly for tying wet flies such as bumbles and dabblers. You can see from the far photo below the difference between the white rabbit skin dyed claret and the red cape over-dyed with claret. I further dyed a batch of widgeon feathers (on the left of the second photo) that turned out not as expected - on the light purple side. The french patridge turned out well as usual. As above, the boit feathers will make some nice claret spinners. I have not yet decided to take E.J Malone's (Irish trout Flies) advice of using rain water for the dying bath, but I am thinking about it! Anybody used rain water for the dying bath?

Fishing on the River Ribble

2011-06-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

I fished the Ribble at Settle for a few hours yesterday afternoon. I knew it would be make more sense if I waited until the evening time. Yet, due to other committments, this was not possible. The river level was high. Indeed, it was gorgeous wet fly water and therefore thrilling to work the pools as the spiders dead drifted down and across. No fish were rising. The rainfall over the last few days topped the river to a height to the point it was slightly black in colour. They say trout have suicidal tendencies under such conditions. Well not so that day, they were perfectly happy - content to look and ignore my flies. Not all together true. A few small fish were caught on the partridge and yellow, along with several missed takes. Nevertheless, it was an enoyable few hours on the river bank.

Fishing notes: on the Ribble, Yorkshire.

2011-06-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

I spent the afternoon on the River Ribble, Settle - Yorkshire. Arrived around 11.30am. Very good conditions. Disappointed to find the river still on the low side. Yet, despite the water level, there was a palpable freshness and vitaility about the river. There were no fish rising, nor any hatch of any significance. A few sedges about. I set up with a team of small spiders, starting off with a black spider on the point, patridge and yellow (variant) on the middle and a patridge and orange on the top. I considered placing a black and silver spider or a black pennel on the point - to possibly connect with some sea trout that were supposed to be in the river but I decided otherwise.

On the third cast, I took a thump and landed the first brownie of the day on the black spider. This followed with five more fish around the 7-8inches mark, two being caught on the partridge and yellow and the rest on the black spider. No monsters - but still great fun!

Around 4.00pm just before heading off, I took off the black spider and replaced it with a Grouse and Green spider. With this spider, I was thinking along the lines of sedge nymphs. Several more small fish followed on the Grouse and Green. I then connected into a very decent fish only to come off. All together, an enjoyable day with the wets. Yet, the day was made truely special when my 4 1/2 month year old baby boy gave me (with the obvious assistance of his Mother) his first Father's day card and present (priceless!)

Brassies

2011-06-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

On a friend's request, I have been tying some brassies in recent days with a green tag. It is one of those patterns if somebody asked you for a dozen, you would reply, 'are you sure now, is that all? It is of course, a simple wee pattern with the reputtation of being a deadly fish catcher as well - the fly tyer's dream really! This green tag brassie has been successful for my friend when fished as part of a team of nymphs from the boat. I'll send these off tomorrow. I must admit - I have never fished much with a brassie or caught anything with it. Yes, US readers, you read corectly! But I'll keep a few aside to have in the box and see if can I break my 'brassie duck' someday. Anyway, I could not resist tying some variants. As evident in some cases, I treat the term 'variant' very liberally. Indeed, I have maybe went 'off steer' slightly, ah well!

Brassie (Original)

Hook: Kamasan B420

Body: copper wire

Thorax: Muskrat fur

According to Dave Hughes in 'Trout Flies - The Tier's reference' (1996), the brassie was orginally tied to imitate small caddis larvae that live in fast water. Yet, it is also now used for a range of imitations - midge larvae and pupae, and even mayfly and stonefly nymphs. It was devised by Ken Chandler and Tug Davenport on Colorado's South Platte River in the 1960s. It has been suggested that the original brassie had short piece of black heat shrinked plastic tube for the thorax and black tying thread as the body. As a footnote point, you will commonly see brassies tied with a peacock herl thorax, or with a bead-head.

Brassie (Variant)
Kamasan B170

Body: copper wire

Rib: Black silk

Thorax: Fine black fur

Green Tag Brassie

Hook: Kamasan B175

Tag: flou green tying silk

body: cooper wire

Thorax: Hare's ear mixed with red fox squirrel

Hairy Fat Brassie

Hook: Kamasan B420

Body: Cooper wire

First thorax: Short length of red squireel underfur

Hackle/wing: Deer hair on a dubbing wire (wound with several turns towards the body and then pushed up).

Thorax: Red squireel underfur dubbed into a tight ball

Dark Brassie
Hook: Kamasan B100
Body: Black and Cooper Wire wound together
Thorax: Squirrel underfur mixed with small amount of cooper litebrite

Rick Murphy - also of the South Platte River came up with the idea of using two colours to give a segemented body in his two wire brassie (Greenhalgh and Smalley, 2009). This creates some lovely effects and colours. Similar to above, here are a few buzzer patterns using two colours of wire for the body:

Dark Green buzzer
Hook: Kamasan B110
Tail: White organza
Body: green and black wire wounded together
Thorax: Black lite brtite mixed with muskrat
Breathers: White organza

Light Green Buzzer
Hook: Kamasan B110

Body: Green and White wire winded together

Thorax: Orange glo-brite floss followed by muskrat fur mixed with pesudo peacock herl
Breathers: CDC white strands

JC Brassie buzzer (black)

Hook: Kamasan B100

Tag: flou green

Body: black wire wound loosly over the body

Cheeks: Jungle cock feathers tied on each side

Thorax: black SLF mixed with squirrel

Brassed off-soft hackle

Hook: Kamason B110

Body: orange and black wire

Thorax: grey seals fur

Hackle: Black hen

Upside Down on K3A

2011-06-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

The tying of upside down flies (USD) indictates another evolving step for me when it comes to dry fly designs. Yes, I move slowly! So what about USDs and their history? For those that are interested, this is what I gathered from the library. It is unintentionally brief. In the 1970s, Brian Clarke and John Goddard of the UK introduced a series of upside down patterns to deal with selective trout, and called it the USD series. I am unsure how sucecssful these flies were or how popular they remain today. Andrew Herd - the fly fishing historian holds the opinion USD flies did not catch on - partly because they are difficult to tie and partly because few trout are that selective. In 1972, Joe Brooks in the US introduced the Keel fly. Yet, a very similar design was pictured by J H Keen before 1886 (Proper, 1982. p.102). Then, Neil Petterson of the UK invented the Funnel Dun - detailed in his book Chalkstream Chronicile. In 1979, Partridge first made the K3A hook. These hooks were designed in Sweden by Nils Eriksson and Gunnar Johnson who were well known Swedish fly tyers. This helps the fly land upside down or point up out of the water - and less visible to the fish and with the abdomen usally touching the water's surface like the natural. Gary Lafontaine in his "Caddis Flies" recommended them for a number of Sedge dry fly imitations. In fact he has 15 dancing caddis dressings for the K3A. He writes "an imitation of the USD hook could be effective for all types of adult caddisflies, the fly not only resting on the wing edges and body, but also skating on them. without the hook to interfere, one fly could simulate their important characteristics whether drifting drag free or moving" (page 24).  However, in later times, he revised the pattern to be tied on a standard dry fly hook. He called it the Simplified Dancing Caddis.
               In David Klausmeyer's book 'Unnaturals - a practical guide to tying with synthetics', a nice step-to-step guide is provided for tying a green drake on the K3A - which to my eyes, 'looked the business', as they say! So eager to replicate this beauty, and to know how they fish, I started hunting for these patridge K3A hooks, and hunting I did. As implied, these are not so easy to purchase in the UK. Well, not amongst the big mail order retailers anyhow. I could not see them. I suspect they may be discontinued by Partridge. I eventually found them with 'Taimen', the Polish on-line retailer.
               As you can see these are a big hook, about 2x long shank and disaportionate to the gape. This surprised me. Thus, if you need a size 14, then an 18 K3A is appropriate. As I acquired mostly Size 12 and 14s, I decided to tie some mayfly imitations and largely worked from Oliver Edwards mayfly dressing on the K3A. The hook's unqiue shape is suitable for mayfly duns. The original dressing of Edwards Mayfly as detailed in John Robert's 'A Guide to River Trout Flies' (page 177) is: Hook: K3A, Tail: four strong moose mae or deer hair, body: equally mixed ivory seals fur and fine ivroy poly dubbing over silver lurex, rib: light brown rayon or nylon floss in two broad bands at the rear, wing: silver mallard breast or flank feather dyed pale yellow or lemon wood duck. Hackles: mixed pale blue dun and a pale lemon yellow dyed grizzle and thorax: ivory and light brown poly dubbing.

A collection of Upside Down Mayfly Duns on Partridge K3A hooks

Tying instructions:
1. Tie the silk up the shank of the hook to the eye
2. Tie in three/four pheasant tail fibres.
3. Tie in the silk rib.
4. Tightly dub the body up the end of the straight shank
5. Rib the body to the end of the straight shank.
6. Turn the hook upside down
7. Tie the hackle to the hook at the bottom of the bend in the shank
8. Dub the fur from the base of the hackle to form the thorax of the fly
9. Tie in the wing on the edge of the elevated curved side
10. Wind the hackle up to the wing which moves along the elevated curved side.
11. Add further dubbing in the frontal region at the hook eye for a thorax.
12. Wipe finish

Note - in some patterns I have give one or two turns on the other side of the wing. Although you will commonly see this in other sources, this may be wrong, preventing the fly from sitting correctly on the water.

Edward's Mayfly (variation 1)

Hook: Patridge K3A, Size 10
Tail: Black Pheasant tail
Body: cream flyrite dubbing
Rib: Brown silk or floss (banded near the tail)
Hackle: Olive dyed grizzly cock
Frontal dubbing: cream and brown dubbing mixed
Wing: Light green-olive mallard flank

Edwards Mayfly (Variation 2)

Tail: Pheasant tail fibres

Body: Cream poly dubbing mixed with a small pinch of olie dubbing

Rib: Brown thread

Hackle: Grizzle dyed yellow-olive

Wing: Light yellow-olive mallard flank

Thorax: cream and brown flyrite poly dubbing

Edwards Mayfly (Variation 3)
Tail: Pheasant tail
Body: creamish poly yarn
Rib: Black tying thread doubled
Wing: Four CDC feathers
Hackle: dyed grizzle olive
Thorax: rusty olive flyrite poly dubbing

Edwards Mayfly (variation 4)

Tail: Pheasant tail fibres

Rib: Black thread

Body: cream poly dubbing

Wing: olive poly yarn looped

Hackle: light blue dun cock

Green Drake
Tail: olive dyed pheasant tail
Body: light/emerald green poly yarn
Rib: Black floss of thread
Wing: Green olive mallard flank
Hackle: olive grizzle cock
Thorax: olive and brown poly dubbing mixed

It appears flies on these hooks have not got a great reputation for catch rates and hook hold. I need to find out for myself. You can possibly compound the problem in the dressing. For some of the flies above, the wing is probably too close to the barb of the hook. You either ensure the wing is tied within the gape or place the wing upright near the frontal region of the hook eye. USD dries are commonly tied on standard dry fly hooks and some tiers use the Timeco TMC200 and TMC 400 for uspside down mayfly imitations. Anyway, 'food for thought', maybe! P.S. Roy Christie has an insightful article on upside down flies in 'sexy loops': http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/troutflydesign3.shtml. Additionally, there is an useful discussion thread about Patridge K3A in this UK fly dressing forum link: http://ukflydressing.proboards47.com/.

Back to the point!

2011-05-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, 'half an hour here' and 'half an hour there', usually after work or at the close of the day, I have been focusing on flies for the leader point. As with many anglers fishing on British and Irish stillwaters or lakes, I often fish three nymphs on a floating line, long leader with a slow figure of eight retrieve. Typically you would fish a heavy nymph on the point with two smaller nymphs on the droppers. I really enjoy this style of fishing - typically searching a bay with a team of nymphs, working the nymphs at three different depths. This can be deadly for 'buzzer fishing'. This approach was popularised by Arthur Cove, the celebrated British angler from the Midlands.
I lean towards biggish nymphs on the point in either size 10 longshank or size 8 or 10 grub/nymph hook. I am sure it is a limitation at times. Am I right in conjecturing that big nymphs are out fashion these days? Anyway, here are a few examples of recent tying sessions - starting off with 'bread and butter' - (hares ear and pheasant tails) and then experiementing with some variants. All the flies are weighted with lead under the thorax to provide the necessary depth. A few of the patterns have CDC for the hackle to give the nymph extra movement.

Hare's Ear Nymph
Hook: Patridge YK12STTail: Hare's ear
Body: Hare's ear fur dubbed
Rib: Gold oval
Wing case: pheasant tail
Hackle: Brown partridge

Good all season search patterns.

Olive Hare's Ear Nymph

Hook: Partridge YK12ST

Tail: Patridge olive fibres

Rib: Oval gold

Body: Olive Hare's Ear Dubbing

Wing Case:Olive Pheasant tail

Hackle: Natural CDC

Cove's Pheasant Tail Nymph

Hook: Partridge Czech nymph fine wire

Body: pheasant tail

Rib: Cooper wire

Thorax: Rabbit Fur

Wing case: pheasant tail

The classic big buzzer by Arthur Cove. Great all season - with many tiers varying the colour of the thorax largely according to the buzzers being imitated. I have had fair success with an olive thoraxed version. Orange is considered popular too.

Orange Pheasant Tail Nymph

Hook: Kamasan B800

Tail: Pheasant tail fibres

Body: Dyed orange pheasant tail

Rib: Orange wire

Thorax: Orange Rabbit

Wing Case: Dyed orange pheasant tail

Hackle: CDC

Wired Orange Bug

Hook: Partridge YK12ST

Body: Orange Wire

Thorax: Hare's Ear

Bead: Gold

Hackle: Dyed orange partridge

Head: Black peacock herl

Wired Copper Bug

Hook: Partridge YK12ST

Body: Copper Wire

Thorax: Hare's Ear

Bead: Gold

Hackle: Brown patridge

Head: Black peacock herl

Daiwl Bach Variant

Hook: Partridge Czech nymph fine wire

Tail: Dyed orange patridge

Body: Peacock herl dyed black

Rib: Orange wire

Head Peacock herl dyed black

Head: Flou Orange silk

Daiwl Bach Variant

As above (except for flou green wire and green partridge)

Two variations above of the very popular Welsh pattern. The pattern is a general imitative pattern representing buzzers, mayfly nymphs and corixa. A very useful fly to have in your box. The original-smaller version is typically used on the dropper. Numerous variants exist with one a red holographic tinsel variant being a favourtie of my own. Access the following link to the fly fishing forum: http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fly-tying-forum/32898-classics-diawl-bach.html which contains a lovely collection of some beautifully tied variants and original.

Brown Hare's Ear Bead Head

Hook: Partridge YK12ST

Tail: Brown turkey boits

Body: Brown hare's ear

Rib:Oval gold

Wing Case: Pheasant tail

Thorax: Hare's ear mixed with brown SLF

Hackle: Brown partridge

Bead: Gold

Rough Olive Bug

Hook: Partridge Czech nymph fine wire

Tail: Olive Hare's Ear

Body: Dark Olive Hare's Ear fur

Rib: Oval gold

Thorax: Dark Brown hare's ear

Hackle: CDC tied collar style - followed with dark olive antron dubbing (dark olive antron picked out and positioned along with the CDC - sheathing the body)

Bead: Copper

I need new hackle pliers...badly!

2011-05-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

It would be slightly dramatic to state how hackle pliers are the major annoyance of my life. To say, however, they are a source of irration would be quite true. I have owned a fair number of different types of hackle pliers in my time - all dissapointing, resigned to the far corners of my fly tying bench. I suspect I am missing a trick or two. A trick one would find expressed in a book by A K Best. I am sure there is something I am doing wrong. Anyway, along with a order of fly tying materials yesterday evening I could not resist ordering a pair by Marryat (seen below) for around £12. I know, not cheap. Yet, worth every penny if they are good - with less muttered expressions of anger and annoyance coming from my fly tying room. I will post soon on their performance. Of course, and a bit late to ask, if anybody knows of a truely excellent pair of hackle pliers, please say. Thanks in advance.

Bullet-head Emergers

2011-05-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

The depressing low water level on the rivers has kept me at the fly tying bench on bank holiday Monday. I decided to tie several emergers for the lake box - picked up Schollmeyer and Lesson's excellent book, 'Tying Emergers'. What compelled me into action was a last section of the book which detailed a style of emergers -'bullet-head emergers'. Quoting from their book, "these are emergers that are characterised by a material mounted at the hook eye that is drawn rearward and secured at front of the abdomen to make a large almost bubble-like head and thorax" (Schollmeyer and Lesson, 2004: p.326). The authors explain that the bullet-like head gives density and bulk to the front of the fly which reproduces the visual impression of the hatching natural. As deer-hair and foam materials are the typical material for the 'bullet head' this provides the buoyancy required. You can, however, add multiple wings such as CDC or krstalflash with the deerhair. I have seen bullet-head style dry caddis and stonefly patterns - mostly orginating from the US although they appear to be less employed for emerger patterns.These are very quick to tie emergers and may make a nice change to your usual patterns. A step-to-step guide to tie the pattern - from the book:

Here are a few examples below of today's tying session.

Black Buzzer Emerger 1 BH

Hook: Kamason B100

Body: Black seals fur

Rib: Grey flexi-floss

Cheeks: Orange goose boits

Wing/head: black deer hair

Thorax: Black seals fur

Black Buzzer Emerger 2 BH
Shuck: Pearl krsytalflash
Body: black seals fur
Rib: one stramd of pearl kyrstal flash
Wing/head: black deer hair
Thorax: Black seals fur (well teased out)

Shipmans Buzzer BH
Shuck: white antron or floss
Body: Brown seals fur
Rib: pearl
Wing/head: Deer hair
Thorax: brown seals fur

Hatching Olive Midge BH

Hook: Kamason B100

Shuck: pearl krystalflash

Body: olive nymph skin

Wing/head: Dun deer hair

Thorax: fine olive fur

Hackle: Grizzle cock dyed olive

General olive nymph (BH)

Tail: A few fibres of coq d'lon

Body: olive turkey boit

Wing/head: deer hair

Thorax: olive possum fur or any fine olive dubbing

Sedges and new wings

2011-04-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

For a long time now my dry sedge collection has been rather dismal and a bit embarrassing. I must admit, I tend to get by each season with an Elk-Hair caddis or a Green Peter. Although this maybe reflects my limited opportunites for fishing with sedges than anything else. Anyway, where is the fun in one or two patterns? So during Easter, with some time for the tying bench, I decided to start building up a respectable collection and returned to E J Malone's book for some assistance. Reading Malone's book is always an exploration, yet sometimes intense and tiring. The limited number of colour photo plates in the book means scrutinising the dressings very intently, hoping you have the material or in the right colour/shade and often you don't. Indeed, you can expect to deviate from the original out of prgamatism. Moreover, there is often up to three/four versions of the pattern - forcing you to think about which one to tie. Yet, this can be decided for you by material availability. Of course there is great scope to adapt these old patterns with new materials. Yet, I love the book. Besides the large range of dressings and unknown gems, Malone offers a much needed historical and fascinating insight into Irish fly dressers/dressing. Seminal!

Back to sedges - I tied some Great Red Sedges and Bann Sedges to start off with. For the wings, I coated the natural wing material in hard and nails varnish and left to dry.

The Bann Sedge (orange)

Hook: Fulling Mill Light dry fly hook, Size 8-10

Body: Ginger hare's ear mixed with orange seals fur

Wing: Brown hen coated in varnish

Hackle: red game cock hackle

Attenane: Cock pheasant tail cock fibres

Great Red Sedge

Hook: Fulling Mill Light dry fly hook, Size 8-10

Body: Rusty fly-rite poly yarn

Body hackle: Furnace cock hackle tied from the shank

Wing: Grouse wing (or brown hen) lightly dressed with hard as nails varnish (and dried)

Hackle: Furnance cock

Materials for above wing: Grouse Wing feather coated in hard as nails varnish

I also tied a few with the new winging material from Hemingway - purchased from Troutcatchers. Although synethic wings are something I have never bothered much with in the past, I always liked their look and decided it was it time to give them a go. They are easy to work with. You just place the folded wing over the body and tie in at the stub. For me, the problem was the rest of the fly. I tied up a great red sedge - replacing the natural feather with a synethic wing. This just looked wrong. Following others, it is advised to incorporate natural materials underside or overside the wing - such as deerhair, CDC or snowshoe hair. This sort of harmonises the fly and reduces that hard look from the wing.

Sam Anderson's Green Peter (Variant)

Body: Peacock herl

Hackle: Ginger cock (tied from back to front)

Wing 1: Hemingway brown wing

Wing 2: Natural CDC (tied in looped fashion)

Thorax: Hare's ear dubbing

Attenane: Two cock pheasant tail

Red Sedge

Body: Rust fly-rite poly yarn

Wing: Hemingway's synethic wing with dear hair before and after

Front area : grey squirrel

The next dressing is a variation of Martin Westbeek's (Netherlands) 'Snowshoe Caddis' as featured in his Danica fly page: http://www.danica.com/flytier/mwestbeek/snowshoe_caddis.htm. Similar to above, it is intended for fishing low in the water with a suggestion of an emerger.

Snowshoe caddis (variant)

Body:Green-olive caddis flyrite poly-yarn
Underwing: grey snowshoe (teased out and down).
Wing: Hemmingway wing, with coq de leon fibres

Front area: Green hare's plus dubbing

Dabblers

2011-04-27T03:49:00.000-07:00

I took the decision a few days ago to replenish my declining stock of dabbler wet flies. The Dabbler series of flies are now 'part and parcel' of lough fishing in Ireland. Fishing on the big Irish loughs without a dabbler or a bumble is similar to going fishing the Dales rivers in Yorkshire without a Partridge and Orange or a Snipe and Purple in the box. You just don't do it! The original dabbler - the Golden Olive, was invented by Mr Donald Mclearn of Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland in the mid 1990s. He's nicknamed 'dabbler' As far as I know, and I may be wrong, the dabbler began life as an accident. He was tying some Goslings for a competition in Lough Melvin and discovered he ran out of grey mallard flank. He replaced the grey mallard with bronze mallard and a deadly pattern was born. It is known to take fish anywhere on the cast - although the top dropper is a favourite position. As with many Irish patterns, the impressionistic nature of the pattern accounts for its success and its range of variants. It is further recognised how the cloak style mallard wing offers an impression of an emerging insect. I always remembered the former 'Trout and Salmon' writer Rod Tye remarking that the main reason why the Dabbler works well is due to the gosling-type wing that encircles the body (Trout and Salmon 2000, May, p.13). Moreover, the cloak style mallard wing causes multiple strands of mallard to split and enclose the fly. This engenders considerable movement and vitality to the fly when pulled through the water. Yet, this appears to be have already considered by dressers before the arrival of the dabbler. Malone remarked how Michael Rogan and fly tiers of Rogan's generation tended to seperate a few strands of the finished wing with a needle - 'believing that individual fibre movement was so important that he combed the whole wing to seperate each fibre' (p.12). Anyway, it is a great fly for the Irish loughs.

Golden Olive Dabbler

Hook: Ken Sawada Summer Sproat wet fly size 10

Tail: Pheasant tail fibres

Body: golden olive seals fur

Rib: gold oval (fine)

Body hackle: red game

Wing: bronze mallard - tied cloak style

Hoppers

2011-04-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Bibio Hopper

Hook: B170

Body: red, black and red sealsfur

Rib: pearl lurex

Legs: Black dyed knotted pheasant tail

Hackle: black cock

Oisin's Hopper
Hook: B170
Tag: Red lurex
Body: Green lurex
Legs: Natural pheasant tail knotted
Thorax: Peacock glister dubbing
Hackle: Black cock

Half Hogs

2011-04-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Yellow-brown half hog hopper

Hook: Kamasan B170 size 10

Body: Yellow seals fur

Rib: Pearl Luruex

Legs: Knotted pheasant tail

Wing: Yellow dear hair

Thorax: Fiery Brown seals fur

Harry Potter

Grendair half hog hopper

Hook: Kamasan B170

Body: red-orange seals fur

Rib: Pearl Lurex

Wing: Natural coastal deer hair

Legs: knotted pheasant tai

Thorax: Orange seals fur

Viva Half Hog Hopper

Hook: Kamasan B170

Body: Black seals fur

Tag: flou green thread

Rib: Pearl Lurex

Legs: Black pheasant tail knotted

Wing: Black coastal dear hair

Thorax: black seals fur

Sedge-Hog

Tail: Dear hair fibres

Body: claret seals fur

Wing: : two parts dear hair. half rear and half fron of body

Hackle: Brown or red hen

Ken Sawada Trout Hooks

2011-04-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas I acquired some hooks from Japan, by Ken Sawada. I came across Ken Sawada's name in various places - largely as an excellent fly dresser of traditional salmon flies so I wasn't that surprised to discover his on-line fly fishing and fly tying shop. Yet, his range of trout hooks certainly caught my eye, especially his lovely sproat and limerick bend classic wet fly hooks. Despite the unfavourable price on the Yen, I made a covert buying operation (from the wife)and bought several packets of the limerick and sproat bends in size 8 and 10, along with his long shank straight eye limerick bend hooks, for tying goslings, straddlebugs and mayflies etc. Not dissapointed so far - they are very strong and a high quality look about them. The old limerick is well suited for that classic wet fly. I suppose the next test is hook hold from the fish...will let you know.

A Rogan's Gosling wet mayfly tied on the 'Old Limerick Wet size 8'.

Tail: pheasent tail cock fibres
Body: golden olive seals fur
Rib: gold oval
Hackle: organge cock
Wing: Grey Mallard flank

Dark Olives

2010-11-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

The 'Baetis Rhodani' or the Dark Olive as commonly termed, probably constitutes the first Dun river fishers observe sailing down the river when the season begins. Witnessing this annual event in these first few days always (without fail) starts my pulse racing - as I struggle tying the fly on, nervous and excited. Sounds familar, yes? As such, when tying for the following season, I always graivitate towards matching the dark olive hatch before anything else. Here are a few of the various styles I recently tied for the river dry fly box:

Dark olive poly dun:
Hook: Varivas Standard Dry IWI S-2000 #14
Thread: olive
Tail: Dub Fibbets
Body: olive-brown superfine dubbing
Wing: blue dun poly
Hackle: Blue dun cock hackle

F-Fly Variant

Hook: Varivas IWI S-2000, #14

Thread: olive

Body: Olive silk

Wing: Two natural CDC feathers

Thorax: olive hare's ear

Para-dun dark olive (looped)

Hook: Partridge SLD #14

Body: olive superfine dubbing

Wing: White poly

Hackle: Dun cock hackle

Para-dun olive

Hook: Partridge SLD #14

Thread: olive

Olive para-dun

Hook: Partridge SLD #14

Tail: Microfibbets

Body: Olive Dun flyrite

Hackle: Blue dun

Wing post: Med blue poly

CDC Emergers

2010-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

I spent time today taking advantage of a fresh batch of quality CDC. It is a joy to use and makes it easier if you use quality CDC - from Marc Petitgean.Good, but expensive. I have tied some CDC bubble style emergers. Winterbourne in his blog has tied a lovely CDC comparadun which should be checked out. Looking forward to using these next season in both the river and the lake.

Dressing:

Hook: Fine wire scud hook, Size 14-18.
Shuck: Krstalflash
Body: Turkey Boit or superfine dubbing
Wing: Dun CDC (tied bubble style)
Thorax: Hare's ear (colour to suit abdomen)

Obviously the styles for adopting CDC in emerger patterns are numerous. Here are several more.

Shuck: Dun CDC fibres

Body: black thread

Rib: gold wire

Wing case: Dun CDC

Thorax: Peacock herl

Hackle: Grizzle

The next pattern is a generic emerger pattern that can be used to represent a variety of hatches. As with many emerger patterns, it is a 'quick tie' as Oliver Edwards would say, and very easy to throw a batch up quickly.

Shuck: Mirage krstyalflash (two strands)
Body: Turkey Boit
Wing: Light Dun CDC
Thorax: Rabbit or Hare's ear to match body

Check out Dave Whiltshire's fly page on the Dancia fly tying site for some lovely CDC styled emergers, http://www.danica.com/FLYTIER/dwiltshire/dwiltshire.htm .I really like his crippled emergers - sleek, slim and deadly looking. Another tyer deomonstrating the use CDC for all sorts of flies is Gianluca Nocentini. http://www.danica.com/FLYTIER/gnocentini/gnocentini.htm.

Hare's Ear Emerger

2010-10-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

Dressing:

Hook: Size 14 Kamasan B100

Silk: Yellow

Body: Hare's ear fur

Rib: Fine pearl lurex

Wing: White poly yarn looped

Thorax: Hare's ear mixed with squirrel dubbing

An introduction

2010-10-01T16:08:00.000-07:00

Why I have started this blog? It is certainly nothing to do with the aspiration of captivating you with wonderfully intelligent and humorous prose. As you will quickly gather, I am no Frank O'Connor or Sean O'Faoilan. Nor am I aiming to be the 'John Gierach' of the fly fishing blog world. Nope, this blog is simply about posting flies, sharing thoughts on fly tying and fishing, including trials and tribulations, and of course, for learning. I have taken much from the internet world over the last few years in terms of fly patterns, fishing etc. It would be lovely for me to start sharing and contribute to the richness and diversity of fly tying and fishing.

I hope you enjoy the site.
Martin

A magic day!

2010-10-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

At the end of July, I returned home to Northern Ireland for a few days to catch up with family, friends and to fish. I never imagined, however, that a day of wonderful nymph fishing lay ahead - it was a day to remember and probably the best rise in a lough I have ever witnessed. As only a small lough of about 60 acres, we quickly observed consistent number of trout rising in a small corner of the lough. Many of the rises were very agressive. It appeared some they were taking croxia and rising midge pupae. Fishing a team of nymphs on a floating line and long leaders, including buzzers and daiwl bach we connected into fish with my buddy lifting several lovely full finned rainbows. My first fish was this beautiful brown on a cove pheasant tail with an olive thorax:

We proceeded to catch more fish, all exellent conditioned rainbows and several more browns. At this stage, the successful pattern was a daiwl bach vairant (red holographic tinsel).

The rise persisted into the evening and we therefore enjoyed an exciting evening rise demanding a change on tactics. Changing to emerges and dry flies, we added several more fish to our catch. All in all, a truely magical day.

Some of the fish: above.

A week in South Usit, Hebrides

2010-10-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

During mid August we visited the South Usit island of the Outer Hebrides for its wild brown trout fishing. It was a great week if not hard fishing. The weather was not the kindest, subjected to either bright days or force gale winds. Nevertheless, caught several decent fsh. The successful flies were the solider palmer, soilder palmer muddler, kate mc claren (jc cheeks) and the silver invicta. On Lough Fada, on the second day hunting for salmon and sea trout, we faced bright sunshine and little wind. Despite this, managed to catch a host of finnock and finally connected with a decent fish on a golden olive bumble. Overall a most delighful place to fish for wild brownies.

A must read!

2010-10-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

In a desire to know more about tying emergers inlcuding the use of CDC feathers, I recently acquired this book. What a truely excellent book. Schollmeyer and Lesson have produced a thoroughly researched, documented and presented book on the subject of tying emergers. 344 pages on tying emegers and 20 pages alone on tying shucks/tails. The book smartly clusters hundreds of emerger patterns into several emerger style types (tuff wings, hackle, downwing, para etc), allowing one to really understand how the fly tying style and material positioning (e.g. parawing) determines how the emerger is fished and tied. I agree with authors that "the virtue of this arrangement is that it roups together flies that are generally simialr in appearence, allowing tyers to become acquainted with variations of a basic design" (page 19). At the start of each emerger type, the authors clearly explains how the specific style of emerger, how it is positioned in the water and its contribution to emerger fishing. As you would expect therefore, you quickly learn the effect of materials on fly design and fishing style.

Full dressings are provided along with a short bio and then followed by a clear and easy to follow sequenced step by step instruction how to tie the fly. All the photographs are excellent. There are very informative insights at the start of the book on materials, hooks and tying techniques. This is very much about a book on tying techniques as well as emergers patterns and therefore simply not a pattern reference book. Many of the techniques learned from the book can be used to tie dries and nymphs.

Is this US biased? I am not sure. A large numbers are from the US; whether this reflects a bias or not, I am not sure. There are a few UK stillwater emergers that UK tyers will be familar with such as the Shuttlecock emerger and some CDC patterns but many of the patterns are US orgin. You will not find Shipmans buzzer or Bob's bits in this book. Thus, there will be greater familiarty by US tyers to the patterns and originators, obviously. The book therefore will expose the UK tyer to a wealth of unknown patterns associated with insects commonly found in British waters such as midge, sedge and mayfly.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. A joy to read, own and cherish. This has to be one of the most authoritative books in the area.