Yorkshire Spider (John Shaner's Collection)

[raven4ns]

Thank you, Ray, for the links it is certainly appreciated.

Tim - You may find the following links helpful, regarding the patterns.

ONLINE VERSION OF THE PRITT BOOK:
https://archive.org/stream/yorkshiretro ... 9/mode/2up <--- This link takes you to the recipe (Page 27/Pattern No. 18).
https://archive.org/stream/yorkshiretro ... 1/mode/2up <--- This link shows a painting of the fly.

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7180816 ... rout_flies <--- You can download a copy of the book, from this link.

[letumgo]

John - What can you tell us about this pattern?

[Old Hat]

I don't know what John will have to say but I have to say "that is surly a fish catching machine"

Ray - are you taking these photos? They have all been spectacular.

[letumgo]

Carl - No. I have simply been posting the images. All of the photos were taken by John's brother, who I believe is a professional photographer. I envy his skills at capturing such incredible detail.

[narcodog]

Ray, can I suggest that you break this subject up a little so we don't have a thread that is extremely long. I think it would be easier to go back and look at the different flies as they are posted.

[letumgo]

Bob - I know what you mean, but at this point I am a bit reluctant to break the thread into different sections. Initially I had wanted the photos and discussion to be contained in one ongoing thread. However, as the thread has grown in length, it requires greater effort to find particular patterns.

I do not have a way of "pinning" the threads, so they would eventually get separated on the forum. In the future I am planning to make a single post containing all twenty four photos, once they have all been posted.

General Question - Would it make sense to split this thread into parts (say "Yorkshire Spider (John Shaner's Collection) - Part 1")? If so, I guess I could rename this post and then start a second new thread.

[narcodog]

Ray, that is what I was thinking. One, two etc. Then do some sort of index.

[William Anderson]

Wow. That fly is maybe one of the fishiest flies I've ever, not to mention maybe one of the strongest precursors to what we know as flymphs. That fly is certainly something to aim for and helps put my focus back on the buggy spiders in a sparse way.

Thanks John for sharing this one and I'm enjoying watching this thread develop into one of the nicest publications I've seen concerning these historic and authentic spiders. This is a treasury. I would not want to see it disrupted or broken up. A publication like this is far stronger as a collection. I'm really looking forward to hearing more on this fly and very excited about the flies coming up. Thanks again.

[letumgo]

What can you tell us about this one John?



It kind of looks like a Pritt No. 7 (Dark Moor-Game), but the hackle doesn't look like red grouse to me.

[Greenwell]

I hope you all will excuse me for taking so long to comment on the last couple of flies that Ray has posted.

Many of the flies in this thread appear in Rob Smith's recent book, but even though the first fly in question is included, he doesn't name it. But here's the beauty of the book; I was able to find patterns that probably match these flies and so will give the names here. Of course Rob is the final authority and may have different ideas but I think we'll be pretty close.

The first fly looks to be a Hare's Lug & Plover. However, I don't see the gold wire called for in the dressing which appears on page 174. Also, the hackle, if it is indeed Plover, doesn't exhibit the characteristic gold tips. This may be due to fading over the past 130 or so years.

Fly number two is most likely a Dark Spanish Needle, page 173. The original was tied with Sandpiper Back Feather, but I've never seen this hackle so have no reference. Rob lists Snipe Breast Feather as the substitute.