Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
salmobytes

Hewitt Hardbody Nymph

Recommended Posts

Ray Bergman mentions an Edward Ringwood Hewitt Hardbody Nymph.

Does anybody know what that is? 

Recipe?

url to a photograph?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't have any resource to back up but I remember reading that he used cut outs on pliers to do oval and triangle shapes.   I remember that it was acetate floss,  soaked with a solvent and squeezed into shape.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bergmans book lists 3 hewitt nymphs, plate 10 and recipes on page 452 and a description on page 52

@billj60 isnt that "collins nymph"? athertons book shows the pliers with the cutouts and dipping in lacquer

 

the fly is also listed in herters books

hewitt.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Acetate floss?The type you soak with acetone and it becomes plastic like?Still have some i used years ago to make ants and some other crude bugs.The fumes alone made these unpleasant to to tie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a bit of an old school material.  I recently used golden yellow and red for the body of my Cortaca Jug fly for the Sports Swap.  Also, I didn't soak the acetate in the acetone - any more than a 2 second soak and the acetate simply would end up coloring the acetone with none left on the hook!  Get a set of cheap, small sized paint brushes from a dollar store and simply just run it over the acetate once.  It may look too dry after a few seconds but come back in a minute and the acetate will have softened.  Also, it limits the exposure to the acetone for those with breathing issues and ALWAYS have good ventilation!

Kim

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 11/19/2022 at 10:42 AM, flytire said:

Bergmans book lists 3 hewitt nymphs, plate 10 and recipes on page 452 and a description on page 52

@billj60 isnt that "collins nymph"? athertons book shows the pliers with the cutouts and dipping in lacquer

 

the fly is also listed in herters books

hewitt.jpg

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Pretty sure that Herter's and Bergman was where I saw it, I don't think I read Atherton's book but may have seen it excerpted. I was thinking it was Herter's! That was a long time ago, lol.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really enjoy stuff like this.Folks in previous eras had a much better understanding of the written word and drawings.We all,even those of us who are older and learned to tie,fix our cars etc with books and manuals.Now if i get stuck on something,a fly pattern brake job home repair i can just google it and watch a detailed video or several sometimes.I think taking a file and cutting those shaped grooves in a cheap pair of pliers would be doable.There are members here,you know who you are,that have advanced metal working skills.Pretty obvious that fly tyers have always taken some  complicated processes to fool a fish.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ill bet some kind of electrical crimping plier would work just fine in forming the bodies

fish wont even care what was used

crimping plier.jpg

i know for sure that i'm not wasting my time filing a hardened jaw on a plier to shape

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My first assignment in metal shop was to make a hammer head using files,the old guy who taught us was like a wise grandfather..Patient strict and really wanted us to be prepared.You only filed in one direction obviously and the stroke had to be perfect.I still have that little hammer somewhere,It looks perfect to me .I got a C on it.I would have no problem making a special tool by hand if i could not find an existing tool to repurpose.I am a tinkerer by nature and i tie very few flies that are not of my own design.Of course all my bugs are made using techniques and styles i did not invent.That would be true for 99.9% of all flies and tyers.I am surprised how many modern flies have are not new at all,just materials that were not around when some one came up with them.And when i do find a pattern i like and use i tie it as close to the originators as possible.If i give such a fly to someone i always give them the name of the fly and the person who came up with it.Since flies and their recipes are pretty much freely shared there is a lot of plagiarism on the commercial side of this sport/hobby.The lure companies are always suing each other over infringements.Road Runner jigs is a case study in this and is quite interesting.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 11/25/2022 at 11:26 AM, jcozzz said:

lot of plagiarism on the commercial side of this sport/hobby

Yes, they are always looking for the new or next "hot" fly to market. Fly fishing has a history of an elitest existence that I also find interesting along with the patent and pattern infringements or trade secrets of prior generations. Today information and techniques are more openly shared across the internet or in books, good for us common folk. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Black & Yellow Hard-back Nymph

hewitt-nymph.jpg

 

Hook: Mustad 7957B, 7957BX, 3906, or an equivalent, size 12 or 10.

Thread: Tan, brown, or black 6/0 (140 denier).

Tail: Black hen hackle fibers.

Body: Yellow dubbing saturated with clear lacquer, pinched flat with needle-nose pliers. Paint the dorsal area with black lacquer.

Hackle: Black, trimmed on the top and bottom.

EDWARD RINGWOOD HEWITT (1867–1957) OWNED FOUR-and-a-half miles on the Neversink River in the Catskill Mountains. Hewitt used this amazing stretch of water as his laboratory for testing the large-hackled style of dry fly that would become known as the Hewitt Skater, and is sometimes called Hewitt’s Neversink Skater or just the Neversink Skater. In 1933, Hewitt’s friend, John Alden Knight, who is primarily known for popularizing the Mickey Finn bucktail streamer and his Solunar Tables, used these waters to test a new flat-bodied nymph. Hewitt wanted a pattern that better matched the shape and color of natural insects found in the Neversink. Knight tied the new nymph using reddish-tan fox fur for the body, narrow oval, gold tinsel for the rib, and Rhode Island red rooster hackle for the tails and legs. Knight soaked the body in clear lacquer, allowed it to partially dry, and then squeezed it flat with pliers. He darkened the dorsal surface with some reddish-brown lacquer; today you can use a permanent marker. The flat-bodied nymph fly is crude but effective, and has proved its worth. According to Catskill fly-tying historian Mike Valla, “The newfangled design gained acceptance by other fly anglers after Knight took seventy-four trout on the nymph during a Neversink red quill hatch.” You can easily use this tying method to create patterns to match other nymphs. This Black & Yellow Hard-back Nymph, for example, is a good fly for matching a smaller stonefly nymph.

 

101 Favorite Nymphs and Wet Flies: History, Tying Tips, and Fishing Strategies – David Klausmeyer

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...