George Harvey fly

[SS-280 0]

Does any one have any experence tieing Goerge Harvey patterns specifically his night fly pattern. I have only seen an illustration of this fly and wonder what it looks like and how to tie it.

[Redwings1 0]

Read about them but never seen pictures. I will see if I can dig up a few when I get home if they are not already posted.

[beadhead 0]

I have a fly tyed by Geo.Harvey when he was at fly tying symposium abuot 3-4 yrs ago

I will try to take a picture of it and post it

 

beadhead

[sirrom 0]

Exerpt from George Harvey's book "George Harvey: Memories, Patterns and Tactics"

Harvey's Night Fly

"I've tried several variations of the Night Fly-with and without tails and with different colors of palmered hackle. Some flies have "kickers" fore and aft, with the aft kickers smaller than the fore kickers. I don't think the variations make any difference as long as the wings are mounted correctly and the body is heavy. I don't weight the body. I just fish it until it gets wet enough to sink. If it doesn'tsink quickly enough, I hold it under water until it gets soaked through. If I know where there is a big fish, I use big flies. If not , I use smaller sizes.

Make sure you tie the cupped side of the kickers toward the eye of the hook, so you achieve maximum "pusher" effect. To enhance this effect, build the body up heavily towards the eye, and then end the body abruptly. That way the body will brace the wings in place. Then, tie in the wings tight against the end of the body so they stick out. I must admit I didn't give much thought to any particular proportion for the wings, but most of my Night Flies ended up with wings as long, or a little longer than the hook shank."

 

Hook: #2/0-8

Thread: Black

Tail: The material is optional, unless you want to add a couple of small kickers for the tail, in which case feathers with stiff enough stems to kick well must be used.

Palmered Hackle: Black or Dark Blue Dun

Body: Black dubbing or chenille

Wings(original): Loon back feathers (These are now illegal to use, but you can use any stiff quilled feather like goose. The quills have to be stiff enough to pulsate well and spring back into position).

 

The above is a direct quote from the book. There is a picture in the book of the fly and I will try to post it. By looking at the fly, Mr. Harvey's desrciption above makes more sense. Sorry for my poor photography skills.

[beadhead 0]

 

Here is the fly George Harvey tyed at the symposium 3-4 yrs ago :headbang:

[Customtyer 0]

Did he say what this one was called?  I saw this pattern somewhere before, I think it was referred to as "The Pusher" but, I'm not sure.  I'm on the look out for 2 of his original patterns.  One is called "Spruce Creek Fly" another is called "Harvey's Favorite"  I found a rendition of the "Night Pusher"  There are step by step pictures on this web site: http://flyfishingcts.blogspot.com/2020/03/simple-but-deadly-george-harveys-pusher.html

Here is the recipe.

Materials:

sz6-4 2xl-3xl streamer hook

any ol' black thread

golden pheasant neck feathers

black dubbing

grizzly rooster saddle

black hen hackle

pheasant neck feathers