Leisenring on Stewart

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tie2fish
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by tie2fish » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:21 am

Choice thread. Thanks to JohnP and Lance.
Some of the same morons who throw their trash around in National parks also vote. That alone would explain the state of American politics. ~ John Gierach, "Still Life with Brook Trout"
DUBBN

Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by DUBBN » Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:38 am

Growing up, I noticed all of the heads on the patterns available to me were huge. All of the tiers that I was exposed to used half hitches and glue to finish their patterns. For me, the in "vogue" smaller heads were not a possibility until I learned to whip finish (35 years ago). The idea of leaving an eyes length of distance behind the eye seems silly to me now, but I would imagine it was sound advice at one time for wingless wets.
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by JohnP » Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:57 am

Leisenring does use the whip finish and his book has a good illustration of it. He is not keen on half-hitches for finishing flies. I too have noticed how many of the older flies had large heads. I doubt it makes much difference to the fish. ;)
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CM_Stewart
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by CM_Stewart » Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:27 pm

Lance,

The dun spider looks very different than the red and the black. Do you know if it was done at a much different time or if there is another reason that would explain the difference?
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by Mataura mayfly » Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:35 pm

gingerdun wrote:
Jeff, I'd bet that these hackles were tied at the butt behind the eye, and then wrapped down the shank, with the fibers getting shorter. Or so it appears, and would be consistent with his illustrations in the book. But you could be right. And the heads are a signature of Leisenring's as seems to be the case with many tiers. I grew up with flies like this, so seeing the minimal heads that are currently in vogue seems exotic to me.
Lance, thanks for the "brain shake". I seem to remember us discussing the hackle wrap direction a while ago...... now you mention it. ;)
Maybe I should get back to the pronounced "head" ties, might stop me crowding the eye....... on upturned eyes especially. :evil:
"Listen to the sound of the river and you will get a trout".... Irish proverb.
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hankaye
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by hankaye » Mon Aug 26, 2013 11:09 am

gingerdun, Howdy;

Lance, the more I look at the Right hand fly in the photo
it almost appears to have 2 different hackles, one (front),
slightly lighter than the other. Might just be me, the lighting
or the space between the (what appears to be), front hackle
and that which follows.

hank
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949...
"Every day I beat my own previous record for number
of consecutive days I've stayed alive." George Carlin
Jerry G
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by Jerry G » Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:35 pm

Hank I can only guess the different color that both you and I are seeing is the barbs closest to the butt end of the hackle used. In this case quite possibly a starling feather where many will drift from black to what I would call ash or light gray. The gape you mention I would think was simply a void brought about as barbs were trapped and distributed else where.

Regards, Jerry
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by gingerdun » Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:07 pm

Hey Chris and Hank and others, sorry I have been preoccupied and missed the activity here.
I don't have any insights into the construction of these three flies. All we can do is look at them and try to figure it out.
It is certainly possible that Leisenring used two hackles on the black fly, but Jerry might be right. I just don't know.
Leisenring did use two hackles on some flies when one was palmered and one a collar, which could be what is going on here.
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gingerdun
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by gingerdun » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:04 pm

Because of the interest in the Black Spider, here is a higher res shot for your examination.

Image
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hankaye
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Re: Leisenring on Stewart

Post by hankaye » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:30 pm

gingerdun, Howdy;

:shock: !!! My Gawd!!! Not so many secrets left when ya get that close!
Still looks like it could be 1.5 turns of one then the rest with another
or just an awkward space with just one hackle ...
Hope you are getting a good chuckle from this Lance. :D :lol:

hank
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949...
"Every day I beat my own previous record for number
of consecutive days I've stayed alive." George Carlin
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