olive_dabbler

3 hours ago, flymanaj said:

More 9 mm poppers

Nice ties.

Been tying a lot of Minkies, a common UK lake streamer pattern, but what to do with all the little offcuts of fur. Step in the Mink Hog, a Rob Denson variant on a popular Scottish loch pattern.

Hook: Fulling Mill 5105 #10 
Tail: White mink
Body: White and silver micro UV straggle
Wing: Several bunches of mink tied in Hog-style
Hackle: Silver bager rooster
Cheeks: Split jungle cock
Thread: Danville’s 70 denier black

…and the Minkie.

Hook: Fulling Mill 5085 #10
Rib: Silver wire
Body: UV Straggle Fritz
Wing: Brown Mink Zonker
Head: Fish Skull mask and eyes
Thread: Danville’s 70 denier black

Might be of interest that in his book American Fly Fishing - A History Paul Schullery has a wonderful chapter entitled Imitation's Forgotten Prophets one of whom was Louis Rhead, though Schullery notes that it is difficult to assess his contribution to the development of American fly fishing, in part because he was not particularly successful at some of his commercial attempts to market his flies. In some 6 pages on Rhead he notes the following:

Quote

We have often been told that the nymph was introduced to America by Hewitt in the 1930s, yet here was Rhead, writing in Forest and Stream in the late teens and early 1920s on nymphs and how to fish them. A brief note in August of 1922 reported that his nymph fishing was very successful that year. In May he presented a remarkable essay on "Fishing from Bottom to Surface", in which he outlined what later became known as the "Leisenring lift" technique.

Quote

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Schullery, Paul. (1987) American Fly Fishing - A History. Lyons Press.

3 hours ago, SBPatt said:

Glad you got your lens problem solved; that’s a beautiful fly. I ordered that book from a shop in the U.K. last year but they ended up being out of stock; need to look again because I love his work. Can’t wait to see more of yours.

Regards,
Scott

Hi Scott, George's first book was self published, not sure how easy it is to get a copy these days. Could try emailing him: [email protected]. His second book "A fine Line" is still available.

Iain

55 minutes ago, Squeezy said:

 

No problem, there's a full res version on flickr - https://flic.kr/p/2o3cvXT

Hook: Ahrex FW580 #8
Rib: Gold wire
Body: Black and gold micro straggle fritz
Tail/Back: Matched pair of jungle cock shoulder feathers, tied in Matuka style
Hackle: Furnace hen
Cheeks: Jungle Cock
Thread: Uni thread 8/0 black

When you get to the end of George Barron’s excellent book ‘At the end of the line’ on classic loch style wet flies there are a couple of pages of flies that don’t really fall into the category of traditional wet flies. These are his ‘Newt Streamers’ based on the old Ace of Spades style with a Matuka style wing and refined over a number of years. Not posted in a while as, until this summer been without a decent macro lens after changing camera systems. 

Hot Orange Muddlers

Hook: Hayabusa 761 #10

Tail: Orange hen
Rib: Gold wire
Body: UTC Mirage Opal
Body hackle: Grizzly hen dyed orange
Shoulder hackle: Orange hen
Head: Deer hair
Thread: Danville 6/0 black

Corixa

Hook: Hayabusa 761 #12
Rib: Silver wire
Wing case and legs: Pheasant tail
Body: Madeira metallic Col. 300
Thread: Danville 6/0 black

This Corixa (lesser water boatman) pattern has its roots in a pattern attributed to Dr Bell of Blagdon, a pioneer of Stillwater fly fishing in the UK in the early 20th century. John Veniard, who wrote several seminal books on fly tying in the 1960s and 70s, cites an article in the Fishing Gazette of April 1958 where this and several other of Dr Bell’s flies are described by a Col. Esmond Drury. Dr Bell’s original pattern uses a body of white or cream floss and a wing case of woodcock wing fibres using a cream throat hackle to imitate the legs. The body on this pattern is tied with Madeira metallic thread, which gives it a rather nice transparency, simulating the air bubble that these insects use to breath underwater.

Has the characteristics of a generic imitative soft hackle pattern. We use one in the UK called 'The Cruncher' (no idea how it got its name but it started life as a PTN derivative with a soft hackle) but it has many, many, variants like the ginger hackled one below. Very effective style of fly.

 

 

Not what I would deem a "distracting view".

 

No offence taken, 500 year old buildings are a right pain to have to look at and don't get me started on thatched cottages.

 

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not.

In my opinion, nothing built by man is worth looking at. Those 500 year old buildings, thatched roofs, the Pyramids, etc. ... all just blisters on the landscape.

 

Maybe this will help!

You guys have better eyesight than me, I guess. I used to have my bench in front of a window like that. The back-lighting from the window was a pain in the eyes. I needed a bright light source to offset it, or I had to wait until evening to tie.

I moved it.

 

And no offense, Olive_Dabbler ... I can't see enough of the "view" out that window ... but it looks like a couple of trees and another building. Not what I would deem a "distracting view".

 

I do like the rest of your set-up, though.

No offence taken, 500 year old buildings are a right pain to have to look at and don't get me started on thatched cottages.

Very nice/ simple Corixa Cruncher pattern olive dabbler.

Rather curious, what is the OH's embroidery cabinet?

OH=Other Half=wife!

Corixa Cruncher

Hook: Tiemco 3769 or 9300 #10-14

Tail: Brown rooster hackle fibres
Back: Hen pheasant
Rib: Silver wire
Body: Madeira metallic Col. 300 (Pearl)
Hackle: Brown rooster, kept to around 1/2 a shank's length
Thread: Uni 8/0 white, switched for brown for head. Head tied large.

I first discovered Madeira metallic threads by raiding the OH's embroidery cabinet! The pearl version has become a staple for corixa patterns - makes superb bodies and to adjust the thickness all it takes is more wraps. A more suggestive pattern than other corixa patterns I've tied, based on a similar pattern from Davie McPhail, but it is so quick to tie in a range of sizes.

Thanks for looking.

Here's mine. In return for the view over the village green and its medieval church, I'm under strict orders to keep the study tidy! The Gerstners, which house much of my material, are a very special and deeply personal gift I received many years back.

Welcome to the site, Olive. Nice looking first post.

 

Retro, your flies, and your pictures are top notch. But your gum nuts gotta go !!!

Afraid you've lost me - I do hope gum nuts means something different than it does this side of the pond !

Hook: Tiemco TMC 9300 #10-12
Tail: Golden Pheasant tippet
Rib: Oval silver tinsel
Body: Rear red, front black, seals fur
Body hackle: Furnace hen
Wing: Fox squirrel
Hackle: Furnace hen
Thread: Danville 6/0 black

First post here! Striving to improve my fly tying, so I can take on more ambitious projects - using close up photos of my efforts to reveal all my mistakes. This is a pattern inspired by Rob Denson’s Red Arrow cruncher. Tied on a slightly lighter hook and with the hairwing for some added buoyancy. Not actually planned any trips as yet to lochs or loughs, but have the feeling this is a pattern well suited as a bob fly for wild browns.

Thanks for looking.