FLYMPH FORUM

These are my top producers so far: Green butt skunk and Lady Caroline'ish

Gorgeous speys. I've always liked the Lady Caroline and fished one often out west, with good results. What hook size are those lovelies?

Ron,

Those are tied on a size 7 AJ hook.

Wow! These are gorgeous patterns! I'm kicking my chops over these! There is something about the spey style that is attractive to me! I really find them intriguing for sure! I need to look into the history of these patterns and the method of casting/fishing them! Any suggestions as to where to find this history?
Thanks everyone! It is a pleasure to see and experience these patterns!
Dougsden

Here is a little history on the Lady Caroline and Green Butt Skunk:

The fly is named after Caroline Elizabeth Gordon-Lennox who lived 1844-1934. Lady Caroline was most likely designed and tied by George Shanks who at the time served as the head ghillie at the Gordon Castle. The same Shanks whose flies were featured in A.E. Knox’s Autumns on the Spey.

There are many ways to tie the Mallard wings on a Spey fly but most widely used in the vintage flies is the “reversed wing” where strips from the left side of the feather are tied on the far side and vice versa. This way the shorter fibers are on the top of the wing. I decided to do it the other way because with the tail and all I think it flows nicely as a sort of a mix between Spey and a strip wing Salmon fly. The wing length is also crucial. On a typical Spey fly you’d want the wing to be the length of the body or even slightly shorter.

Green Butt Skunk:

The fly was developed by Dan Callaghan, date unknown, but sometime after 1950. He took the original Skunk steelhead fly and added the green butt. Just that minor change made a big difference for many steelhead fly fishers!

Hook: Alec Jackson 2050 #3
Tail: Golden Pheasant dyed red
Body: Rear quarter: Hareline Micro Polar Chenille chartreuse, rest of body is black seals fur
Rib: Uni Mylar in silver #14
Hackles: 3 turns of black hen hackle
Wing: White Calf tail


I did modify both flies slightly to suit my needs and since, I did not have calf tail, I substituted the mallard flank to the green butt skunk and also added a 1 1/2 turns of pheasant rump

All of this is sooo cool! Thank you one and all and especially Newriverspey for the fascinating history of these classic patterns! I appreciate all who kicked in some histories!
You guys are so kind and so graceful with your talents and your knowledge! Thanks!
Dougsden