Search found 226 matches

by Greenwell
Fri Nov 08, 2019 11:34 am
Forum: Soft Hackle Materials
Topic: Pearsalls Color Chart
Replies: 54
Views: 673725

Re: Pearsalls Color Chart

Interestingly enough, when I was in Yorkshire last month, Rob Smith took me by the building in the city of Bradford where the silk color charts were produced for well over a century. If you have or have seen a Pearsalls Silk Color Chart it was made in this building. IMG_0917 (3).JPG Sorry it's flipp...
by Greenwell
Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:32 pm
Forum: Fly Dressings - Wingless Wets
Topic: H,C. Cutcliffe Flies
Replies: 35
Views: 11352

H,C. Cutcliffe Flies

DSC01153.JPG DSC01165.JPG DSC01169.JPG Here are some shots of examples of H.C. Cutcliffe's flies from his book The Art of Trout Fishing in Rapid Streams , 1864. The flies were tied by Roger Woolley and are contained in one of his characteristic white card boxes. The box shows his earlier label stat...
by Greenwell
Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:29 am
Forum: Fly Dressings - Nymphs
Topic: Tups
Replies: 21
Views: 6957

Re: Tups

Substituting an easy to source material for a rare or hard to procure one is as as old as fly dressing itself. As far back as Aldam in 1875 fly dressers were substituting the inner covert feathers of the starling for the rare, even at that time, dotterel. I could find and cite many more examples fro...
by Greenwell
Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:36 am
Forum: Tying Wingless Wets
Topic: Saber Hooks?
Replies: 41
Views: 14536

Re: Saber Hooks?

Cheap hooks are precisely that, cheap. If you tot up the general cost of a single fishing trip it makes no sense to use a hook that cost 2.5 cents over one that cost 25 cents. I’ve had many a client loose what could be the fish of a lifetime because of a cheap broken hook. I tie many flies for my c...
by Greenwell
Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:25 am
Forum: Tying Wingless Wets
Topic: Saber Hooks?
Replies: 41
Views: 14536

Re: Saber Hooks?

Cheap hooks are precisely that, cheap. If you tot up the general cost of a single fishing trip it makes no sense to use a hook that cost 2.5 cents over one that cost 25 cents. I’ve had many a client loose what could be the fish of a lifetime because of a cheap broken hook. I tie many flies for my c...
by Greenwell
Sun May 12, 2019 9:34 pm
Forum: Wet Fly Literature and History
Topic: Fly Tying Tools
Replies: 12
Views: 8777

Re: Fly Tying Tools

John, I believe that the vise had a rather gradual acceptance into fly dressing, finally becoming common in the late 19th century. The illustration in Ogden on Fly Making appeared in 1879 and is considered to be the first. Frederic Halford used an early Thompson "Model A" vise and wrote ab...
by Greenwell
Fri May 10, 2019 8:39 pm
Forum: Wet Fly Literature and History
Topic: Fly Tying Tools
Replies: 12
Views: 8777

Re: Fly Tying Tools

I believe that Ogden was the first to illustrate a fly vise but the very fact that he called it "improved" leads one to the conclusion that the vise had been in use for at least a while and needed "improving."
by Greenwell
Fri Apr 26, 2019 8:16 pm
Forum: Fishing Wingless Wets
Topic: Presentation Methods
Replies: 12
Views: 7335

Re: Presentation Methods

I think that as an overview you could break down subsurface presentations into three categories and then add the various refinements of those presentations under each heading. For example: 1- Upstream A. True Upstream B. Upstream Nymph (Induced take) C. Etc........ 2 -Upstream and Across A. Escalato...
by Greenwell
Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:35 pm
Forum: Fishing Wingless Wets
Topic: Presentation Methods
Replies: 12
Views: 7335

Re: Presentation Methods

One of the very best and most succinct descriptions of the Upstream Wet Fly technique that I have found is in River Flyfishing by L. Baverstock. However, Rob Smith's chapter on techniques is unbeatable for both depth and clarity. The Crossfield Draw was described in Earnest Crossfield's chapter of t...
by Greenwell
Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:13 pm
Forum: Wet Fly Literature and History
Topic: Dating Mills Flies
Replies: 29
Views: 20970

Re: Dating Mills Flies

The hooks these flies are on are blued rather than lacquered as are modern hooks. Many older trout hooks show this blued finish which is similar to, but not the same as, the bluing used on firearms. The bluing finish wasn't as resistant to rust as is a lacquer finish but it persisted well into the 2...