As Bill knows, I have been educated by his investigation into Pete's tying style and philosophy—much of which he has shared with me off-line. Leisenring tied the Tups fly in ATWF after the British model, with thread abdomen and fur thorax, same as the Half Stone. But Pete gradually moved away from thread abdomens, preferring fur bodies with careful blends of texture and color. The Tups is a good example. On some, he spun a two-tone body, orange and yellow, as Bill did here. Other times Pete mixed the yellow and red-orange uniformly the length of the hook, a true flymph, as in this example:
I probably have about a dozen Tups tied by Pete, and no two are alike. Hackles range from blue dun, to dark honey dun, to light ginger. Tying silks range from black, to hot orange, to primrose. Hooks go from size 10 to 16. Fur ranges from seal, to angora mohair, to sheep, to blends with fox or hare's cheek. When there was a rib, it was either of gold or silver wire or gold tinsel. And some have short tails or long tails, or no tail at all.
Of special interest in the fly above is the perfect cone of the head. In this instance, the shape has a double purpose. First to complete the cigar-shape, double taper that was a hallmark of his flies; and second, to flatten the barbs down over the body by making three full wraps of silk over the base of the hackle.
He fished these with great success in Oregon and Idaho. When he made gifts of flies to his fishing friends, a few of these Hidy Tups Flymphs were always included.
Bill, Thanks for helping me to see and understand this fly better than I ever had done before.
If lance need some new flies to put pictures in the book he really can ask you to tie them
