FLYMPH FORUM

Here's some discussion on raffia from Sparse Grey Matter in 2011 ... http://www.sparsegreymatter.com/viewtop ... =17&t=2108

William Anderson wrote:Bob, that's interesting that Dette used raffia on a dry fly. I had a conversation with Lance once about how JL, who was so concerned with a durable body, would use grass. He thought there must be some connection to the English dry fly tradition although we never found an English pattern to support that. I don't recall looking very hard. But this week I sent a note to Catskilljohn (John Bonasera) asking the same question. That guy is a marvel. He didn't have any knowledge of a raffia bodied dry either. Joe Fox might know.

Do you recall the book you used that included the Dette fly?

William, page 247 in The Dette's, the raffia May. Size 10-14; 94840 white thread; mallard flank tail; brown embroidery rib; natural raffia; dark ginger hackle.

If I remember correctly I found a few more in my research.

As I mentioned in Bill's swap fly post, I appreciate all the information and background. Seems like a losing battle to use a material that is less than ideal. But we do odd things. Maybe this is just one of them.

w

William Anderson wrote: He thought there must be some connection to the English dry fly tradition although we never found an English pattern to support that.

English, via the French, perhaps. The Pont Audemer, derived from the Mole Fly, had a raffia body. It floats bend down, eye up, with conventional hackle acting like parachute hackle. I suspect the raffia is to add weight to the tail end.

Raffia is a venerable body material. It was commonly used on the bodies of Mayflies (read; Green Drakes) and I have incorporated it into my French Partridge Mayflies for many years with excellent results. It is light, floats well, is fairly durable, especially if varnished, dyes easily, and doesn't change color when wet if that's a concern. It's also cheap. It used to be available from E. Hille, no longer in business, in a range of colors. The best source today for the natural color is a craft shop like Michael's where a couple of bucks will get you enough to last several lifetimes even if you tie a lot of flies.

Wheat and oat straw were also used as Mayfly bodies but were lashed on rather than wound. Halford mentions straw for bodies and also "maize", corn husks, as a body material. Page 17, "Floating Flies and How to Dress Them".

McClelland gives detailed, illustrated instructions on using straw for bodies but I don't believe he mentions raffia in "How to Tie Flies for Trout and Grayling".

Roger Woolley gives patterns for mayflies using raffia, natural and dyed yellow and white, and also straw ribbed with silver wire. In my fly collection are a number of mayflies dressed by Wolley and several sport raffia bodies. I also have a couple of very old straw bodied mayflies from an unknown hand and they are beautiful indeed.

John, that is just the kind of information I was hoping to gain. It's not enough that it's printed somewhere in an older book, but to be able to synthesize all the information and form some thread between all these flies helps a great deal. Thank you. I'd love to see those Woolley flies sometime.

I hope you saw Bill Shuck's post of the flies he tied for this current swap. It's a beautiful version of Leisenring's PWDW with an added rib.

http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6840