FLYMPH FORUM

Nice version, Chris. Personally, I don't know that you need the tails at all, but these do add a bit more action to the fly. And on that note, that thorax is awesome. The more I tie with seal or snowshoe hare the more I like the results on the water. They do add something extra. You might want to more closely reproduce a documented fly for the swap, but for a fly to fish with, I wouldn't trim that thorax a bit. Nicely done.

I have had Leisenring's book for decades and always assumed that by hackle points the reference was to hackle fibers (proves you can insert what you want while you read). I have never seen a picture, drawing, or actual Tup's that used hackle points, and it appears from the first fly that Leisenring had something different in mind.

I second the suggestions of doubling up on Pearsall's Primrose Gossamer as a substitute for the button hole thread and have used it in the past. To be honest, I often just use floss for the body, and it seems to work as well as the thicker segmented thread. I also use a mix of dyed pink rabbit with a touch of smooth light brown hare's ear (no real course fibers) for the thorax.

I know that Mr. Jim refers to his pattern as a "nymph", but to me it represents more of a traditional soft-hackle or flymph struggling emerger. I guess after 40+ years of tying and fishing the fly I put aside Mr. Leisenring's recipe. But have fun duplicating the recipe and enjoy the fly swap - there is some great talent on this site and I hope to participate next time around to get a sample from members of this forum.

Fly and photo by Dave Hughes.

This is from Dave Hughes' new edition of Wet Flies pg 115. Not to belabor the point, on the hackle points.

For those who, like myself, thought the new updated version seemed unnecessary to purchase, I can tell you the extra 100 pages are fantastic and the improvements in the photos are worth every penny.

Further play.



Those hackle tips are no fun to tie in with unwaxed buttonhole thread, let me tell you. Tried a different hook, too - a Gaelic Supreme 7029T. I think I like the looks of the longer shank on the earlier Daiichi better (although the Gaelic would fish better locally for sulphurs, I suspect). I'm open to suggestions and critiques, though.

Chris, are you tying with the buttonhole silk? Kudos for moving forward and exploring all the possibilities. For myself, and this might be heretical, but it won't be my last time, I just use my tying thread, current favorite is still the 14/0 griffiths, Tye in a strand of the silk and wrap the body as you would a quill, build your thorax, wrap your hackle and whip finish. I tie lots of spiders with silk, but even my flymphs that are just filling the boxes are tied with small diameter tying thread. The silk and dubbing body is a separate operation and I like tying with modern thread. It runs counter to the spirit of doing authentic historic flies, but if it helps, I don't worry much. That said, I'll be tying my blue duns with silk, but it takes some practice. Why not run a bit of beeswax on the silk during portions of the tying operations? That can make all the difference.

Thanks for your reply, William.

If I'm tying silk-bodied soft hackles, I generally just use waxed Pearsall's Gossamer silk... mainly because it's faster, and not too much different from using tying thread, besides the diameter, of course. If I'm tying soft hackles with a body of something else - twisted pheasant tail, dubbing, flashabou, etc -- I use 8/0 tying thread, regularly waxed (I do the Davie McPhail thing, and keep a blob of tying wax on the inside of the first knuckle down on my index finger). The smaller diameter makes for smoother tie-in points, I have more color options, and it gives a lot more choice regarding the size of the head (I usually prefer a pretty small head, but smaller diameter gives one the choice to go larger if desired).

Having said that, I'm using the buttonhole silk for the abdomen on this fly (I switch to Pearsall's for the body) for a number of reasons: Leisenring called for it, at least in the written recipe, with the admonition that the unwaxed thread becomes somewhat translucent (so I don't want to use the wax on the abdomen). And because it's a chance to do something different, to learn other methods and ways of tying, maybe expand the repertoire a little. Were I to tie it for my own box, I might do stuff differently - I'd probably use a dubbing loop, for example -- I tie a lot of steelhead flies, so it's something I can do reasonably well and quickly. But for this swap I broke out a Clark's block (of your own manufacture, kindly gifted to me last year by Ray) because it was a chance to play with spun bodies.

I love tying -- but my boxes are filled with largely utilitarian flies, partially lots of them are tied the night before an outing ("Wait! The grey foxes are hatching already?! Ugh. All I have are these are the ones I tied last year, and they're terrible!"), partially because my mentor is a commercial tyer, and probably partially because of my own rather particular character. Tying in a swap like this is a chance to play, to explore, to expand, with time and thought and investigation. To engage other ways of tying. And I like the slow process of research, and trying a bunch of different options - It's relaxing, engaging, and fun.

I hope you don't mind the long answer to a non-question! But it kind of explains kind of the rationale for this thread. Make the process visible, and all that.

By the way, you've already cost me $25 this week, as I ordered the second edition of Hughes' book yesterday. Looks like you're going to cost me more, as I am intrigued by the 14/0 Griffiths thread!

And thanks to you, and to everyone, for the extremely useful feedback. Keep it coming!