Ke-He Squirrel Flymph

[Old Hat]

I posted an older picture of this fly in the other "favorite fly post". I tied up some more, so here is a better picture.
I named it the Ke-He Squirrel Flymph. Kelly thought it should have a name. I have not found water yet that this fly won't catch fish from. It may not always be the best fly for the situation but is almost always the first fly I tie on.

Hook: #10 to #16
Thread: brown
Tail: Golden pheasant tippets with orange z-lon, antron, wool tuft
Rib: fine silver braid or wire on larger patterns
Body: dark brown squirrel dubbing.
Hackle: well mottled dark partridge

[hankaye]

Old Hat, Howdy;

Good lookin' fly...
As one of your habitual 'first on's' thought ya might have
called it "The Prospecter".... or is there one already named that?????

hank

[Old Hat]

Thanks, much more creative name than mine....I like it, and I'm sure there is a fly with that name somewhere. However as I get older I need to name have a name that reminds me of the materials or ....what was I gonna say?

[Soft-hackle]

Wonderful, Carl .

Mark

[letumgo]

Another masterpiece, Carl. Superb...

PS - I have been loving the Eastern Oregon Partridge you sent me earlier this year. Thank you. Did the feather for this fly come off the same bird? Beautiful mottling.

[DNicolson]

Thought you might like a picture of the original Ke-He,

[Old Hat]

Ray - yes, same bird, well mottled, but lacking the red barring.

Thanks Donald, I always liked that pattern and it is what inspired this one. However, I never understood why the tippets were tied on top of the tuft in the original. Do you have any info on why it was tied that way?

[willowhead]

i like you version much better than the original.....specially the tail/tuft deal. That fly is buggingly cool.

[William Anderson]

Carl, when we talk about hot spots, my initial thoughts are usually the clearly intended very brightly contrasting spot, often incongruous to the rest of the pattern. An attempt to stand out from the overall composition, but this to me seems a more fitting hot spot, if you don't mind it being called that. The red tag fly falls somewhere inbetween as it is an addition, and wouldn't be necessary other than to act as an attraction trigger. Very effective. Your Ke-He pattern is more pleasing to my sensibilities which are fickle. Brilliant handling of the hackle and body work as expected from your flies. This one is just a wonderful composition all around. And a brilliant pic as well. Great post.

Donald, that Ke-He looks so classic. I would love to load some of these plump flies in my caddis box.

[Old Hat]

William,

I agree. That is what initially attracted me to the KeHe style. A hot spot it is, but more interactive with the pattern. To me it takes on the appearance of something attractive (doesn't really matter what) emerging/bursting from the insect which alludes to a more lively nature than just a "hot spot". When I first started tying this pattern I thought that the tail/tuft was too much, a bit overkill and would spook or turn fish away. I initially tied it large for steelhead on a curved shank hook with a nickel bead head. It was quite productive this way, so I began going smaller with the pattern and trying it out on trout and it gradually worked its way to the front line of my box.

This pattern also ties and looks very nice on a curved shank hook.