Chase, The classic method was to soak the gut snell to soften it and then using one's incisors, flatten said gut for about 1/8 inch to give a better hold on the hook. Well waxed silk was used to bind the gut to the hook, often in the same operation that formed the body of a North Country Spider. It ...

Hans, Your interpretations of the Cutcliffe flies are certainly up to your usual high standard of fly tying skill. However, I would like to respectfully point out that the traditional Devonshire style of wet fly is much more heavily dressed, especially with regard to the quantity of hackle, then you...

Although it looks like the solution has been hit upon, what I am sure Turton means is that the body is darker near the tail and lighter at the shoulder. It was a common practice in many of the older patterns to vary the shade of dubbing from tail to shoulder as many natural insects show variation in...

I've used the same 3 Tiemco Ceramic bobbins since they came out in about 1987, tied thousands of flies with them and still think they're the best value going. The very earliest model had a super slim tube that is the best I've ever used. It was changed to a slightly heaver tube that is still pretty ...

Nice fly!
Snipe Rump is the called for hackle in Edmond's and Lee's #8b March brown. It's a pretty feather with beautiful markings and much mobility. I have to concur that on your fly it could have been easily mistaken for Plover.

So how do you read the "light brown down under wing". An underwing or dubbing in the thorax area or something else? Turton’s writing style is very concise, especially his fly patterns. When he calls for “light brown down under wing”, he has just left out “the” between “under” and “wing”. H...

The Oak Fly, also called "Downlooker", was a very common pattern in the UK and dressings to suggest the natural go back at least as far as Thomas Barker, 1651. Spending a few minutes searching my book shelves, I found any number of patterns by numerous authors, far too many to list here. M...

Good question Hank! JL would most probably have only known and used oiled silk fly lines and silk worm gut leaders. Nylon leaders and tippets were introduced in the late 1930's but took quite a while to catch on. I think Lance could shed some light on his Dad's tackle but I'm sure PH made the transi...

"it leaves me wondering about something else. How does this reconcile with Leisenring's description of what we now call "the lift"?" Bob, in regard to your above question, I've wondered the same thing for a long time too! My efforts at getting an un-weighted fly or flies to fish ...

Until quite recently, fly fishing was pretty much a near surface game. With the tackle available before the mid 20 century it was too just hard to fish at real depth. Certainly, anglers did try different methods to get their flies to deeper levels and evidence that mentions these can be found in the...