FLYMPH FORUM

For me, the first one is my favorite. I like the double wrap of hackle and the waxed silk.

Hank,

Not sure where you're coming from. Perhaps its camera angle or perhaps the hackle are a bit long and that's what was intended for the tie. Just asking that's all. Not to wake a sleeping dog however in the Dr. Herd North Country ties he mentioned a couple times that the hackle were a bit long. In his case I didn't see that at all and thought they looked right on. Oh yes regarding the Iced Tea, I haven't touched the stuff in years.

Regards, Jerry

Jerry G, Howdy;

let's not get into a watchet watcher connundrum...
I was refering to wher you were calling the hooks 19's (color of the thread used),
an not 14's as mentioned in the recipe. that's all.

I common mistake when one partakes of to much "iced tea" ( ), in the summertime.

hank

My error Hank. Bill's exceptional macro photography had me thinking small hook. Then too earlier today I was checking in a midwest spring creek book by Ross Mueller for a pattern. Ross called for a TMC 102Y hook in size #19. Perhaps between the two I had the #19 on the brain. At any rate it certainly was an oversight on my part. Thanks for getting me on track.

Regards, Jerry

Very high standard of tying Bill.

If I was to test number three , I think I would tie a number 4 as well, no 3 with a fine wire rib.

Having difficulties deciding between no1 and no2, I would fish them as a team. If not allowed to do so, I would wet them and then decide. Beautiful material used in a masterful way.

(I use a scalpel but rarely - if ever - accomplish such impressive result. Good tool though).

dd

JerryG ~ Good question. I was (am) torn between hackle color/marking and length on this pattern. More than one person with knowledge of P & O dressings makes a point of specifying a hackle using brown feathers from the back of a male partridge, having a speckled apprearance but without bands or bars. Although I am fortunate to own several decent partridge skins, I am unable to consistently find this type of feather which also has the necessary number of shorter barbs of even lengths. Hence, the hackle collars that appear longish compared with the current Western ideal. On the other hand, many of the drawings/plates I have seen of older English soft hackle dressings show hackle lengths that are considerably longer than what is fashionable today, so perhaps mine are OK .
Donald ~ Very nice link -- thank you for adding it to the thread.

Here's my attempt at slimming down the body of a version using Alec Jackson orange flat silk floss. This time, instead of tying in the floss at the bend and wrapping it forward over two layers of tying silk, I tied it in at the thorax and then wrapped it down and back by itself. The tie-in thread wraps underneath resulted in the tapered effect.

PERFECT!

Very nice. Much sleeker.

I like the vibrancy of silk floss, but it can be tricky to use and doesn't last as well as thread bodies. A coat of superglue does wonders for fly longevity, but it can alter the colour significantly. This can be mitigated somewhat by putting a layer of silver flashabou under the floss or by painting a little whiteout on the shank before tying, but this gets away from the simplicity of these beautiful flies.

Aaron