October Flies From the Vise

[cphubert 0]

Birthday Pin

My Golden Girl (wife) is having her 70th Birthday, after flytire's challenge reply I decided that was the pattern for her- a winter fly for the winter solstice she shares with her birthday. 

[flytire 0]

👍👍

[flytire 0]

Dorset

Tail - Furnace hackle tips *
Body - Green floss
Hackle - Light brown furnace
Wing - Teal

Trout - Ray Bergman

Don Bastian Note

* Dr. Burke’s detail-oriented paintings reveal that the tail ingredient of ‘furnace hackle’ on the Dorset in the original written recipe listing (normally fibers) is clearly represented as hackle tips on the painting. See the Adirondack, where the tail recipe actually specifies hackle tips, even though Dr. Burke’s painting of that fly shows a tail of hackle fibers. The hackle tip tail adds a unique element and character to both the Adirondack and the Dorset.

[flytire 0]

Yellow Dun

Ribbing - Yellow silk
Body - Gray fur
Hackle -Yellow
Wings - Brown mallard

Trout - Ray Bergman

[flytire 0]

Wren

Tail - Gray mallard
Tip - Yellow silk
Ribbing -Yellow silk
Body - Light gray floss
Hackle - Brown
Wing - Brown mallard

Trout - Ray Bergman

[SalarMan 0]

On 10/27/2023 at 10:05 AM, flytire said:

@BobHRAH

I try to find for 2 feathers that look similar in shape and size and pair them up, dull side to dull side and tips to tips

I then strip away the fluffy junk at the bottom of the feathers

Then I measure the feathers to be about a hook shank long and strip away more fibers to get that length

I position the feathers on top of the hook shank and while holding with a firm grip, I do a soft loop with the tying thread around the butt ends of the feathers and pull up with the thread to tighten around the feathers. I then do 3-5 tight wraps of thread, take a deep breath 😁 and then I’ll remove my finger to see how the wing is positioned. If satisfied, I’ll regrip the feathers and come in with scissors and trim the butts off. (if I’m not satisfied, then I’ll unwrap the thread and start all over)

Then I’ll build a small head with tight wraps of tying thread. I start to build the head directly behind the hook eye and wrap back towards the wing in touching turns of thread to cover all of the trimmed ends of the feather. (I’ll spin the bobbin holder counterclockwise to get a ribbon of thread in lieu of a rope of thread) Whip finish and coat with uv resin.

In other words, the standard operating procedure that's been used for the last 100+ years. Something I'd add to this is never use more wraps than needed to hold the material in place. If 2 wraps work, don't use a 3rd. Use the finest thread you can...example...I use Veevus 10/0 on my classic salmon flies. One little trick is to moisten the feathers at the tie in point slightly. I use an eye dropper and plain old water. This enables you to compress the fibers to the max whether duck flank fibers, or wing quills from any other birds like duck, goose, swan or turkey.

Hope this also helps a bit.

 

 

 

[BobHRAH 0]

Gentlemen,

Thanks so much for your detailed responses. If I understand correctly, you don't remove any part of the center stems? Do you lie the feathers flat when starting to tie in, or set on edges (like  quill slips)?  Again, thanks very much for your responses.

Bob H

 

[Mark Knapp 0]

I've been playing with dragon fly patterns for Lake Havasu and other places. I tried three different patterns. They all have blue died Lady Amherst tail feathers for a tail, legs and bodies with wrapped blue deer hair under bodies for floatation. The only differences are in the wings. The ones I like the most have dun CDC feathers for wings, I also tried wood duck flank feathers which I didn't care for as much and then I tried Antron yarn wings for durability.

Two shots of the fly with Dun CDC wings. I like the effect of this very much.

The three patterns I tried. CDC wings, top right, Wood duck flank feather wings, top left and the one I settled for, the Antron yarn wings bottum. Antron Yarn is easy to get, Inexpensive and much more durable than CDC so that's what I'm settling on.

[SilverCreek 0]

Those could double for a blue damsel fly as well.

[DarrellP 0]

If they have dragonflies, I would recommend some Carey Specials for subsurface.  

[flytire 0]

Bloody Mary

Hook - Single salmon
Thread - Black
Tag - Oval gold tinsel
Tail - Amherst pheasant crest
Body - Black wool
Ribbing - Oval gold tinsel
Throat - Red hackle
Wing - Red dyed calf tail
Cheeks - Jungle cock (optional)

[flytire 0]

Night Beauty

Variant

Mario Dussault

Hook - Single or double salmon
Thread - White
Tip - Copper wire
Tail - Peacock sword
Butt - Green uni stretch
Ribbing - Copper wire
Body - 3/4 Rear: White uni glo floss*; 1/4 Front: Peacock herl
Hackle - Heron feather or Spey-like substitute**
Underwing - White uni glo floss***
Wing - Squirrel tail hair dyed green.
Throat - Peacock sword
Head - White glow-in-the-dark thread

*I Substituted white uni glo floss with uni stretch

**I used pheasant rump

***I used pearl krystal flash

[Mark Knapp 0]

14 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

Those could double for a blue damsel fly as well.

Yes you are correct sir. I tied smaller versions for them thanks, I also put the wing up on them. Not that the fish care.😁

[Mark Knapp 0]

6 hours ago, DarrellP said:

If they have dragonflies, I would recommend some Carey Specials for subsurface.  

Thank you, I'll look that up.

[SilverCreek 0]

2 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

Yes you are correct sir. I tied smaller versions for them thanks, I also put the wing up on them. Not that the fish care.😁

My favorite pattern for the Blue Damsel is the Gary Borger braided butt damsel pattern using Cortland braided butt mono for the body. Color the mono with blue art marker and use a black sharpie for the black stripes.

I think you can adapt your pattern to use the wing as tied on the Boger pattern below. He uses hackle and ties it parachute style around a blue synthetic post and then fold the post over as in the pattern listed below. 

http://www.garyborger.com/flies-and-fly-tying/braided-butt-damsel/

You can buy the Cortland 50 LB braided butt material at Trident

https://www.tridentflyfishing.com/cortland-braided-mono-looping-material.html