You might be interested in an alternative tie of the The Black Leaper put forth in The Origins of Angling by John McDonald. It treats a possibility of a wingless palmered wet fly for the blacke louper cadis from The Treatise of Fishing with an Angle . The Black Leaper possibly identified as a caddis...

Steve, Thanks for the inspiration!! 8-) Here is my version of the SSE based on some materials I have on hand... https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7825/47372870021_9d9765314a_z.jpg IMGP5942 by William Lovelace , on Flickr I subbed out: mirage tinsel for the body, Hare's ear Haretron for the abdomen, a s...

Ray,

Great SBS!!

You should peg this at the top of the tutorials for visitors and beginners to find it easily in the future.

ronr, I agree with Carl that buttonhole twist might be a little bulky for my taste on the #18. Here is a #18 I just tied with Kinkame #50 that I get from Britex in San Francisco. https://www.britexfabrics.com/catalogsearch/result/?f=Kinkame+thread&q=thread This thread is larger than Pearsall's Gossa...

Nice buggy tie, should make a nice stonefly!

Dougsden,

Not doubt in my mind that your tie is a marvelous fish catcher as well. For the last 2 days, I had fun discussing the Bird's Nest at the NW Fly Tyer and Flyfishing Expo with both novice tyers and others like me who tied and fished these decades ago.

Bill

IMO what it represents is how you tie it and what it creates for an impression. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7832/46586757554_2e84bd1882_z.jpg IMGP5849 by William Lovelace , on Flickr I tied this for a tan/ginger caddis that I have encountered on many western waters. I think it could also be a sui...

Ron,

Here is my version of your Martini Soft Hackle that I will tie at the NW Expo on Friday...

IMGP5843 by William Lovelace, on Flickr

Here is my Bird's Nest tied on a 9672 #10...

IMGP5839 by William Lovelace, on Flickr

I tied it to use when the tan caddis are emerging.

The Spectral blend looks like a good sub for the tan UV2 scud/shrimp dubbing that I bought last week!