xvigauge 0 Report post Posted January 7, 2019 I can recall seeing this old wet fly pattern in print when I was a kid. I ran across it again recently when looking up classic wet fly patterns. I thought I would go ahead and tie some. In a few weeks, when the Smoky Mountain streams are a little more fishable, I'll try them out on trout. I read that originally it was called the "Bread Basket," because you could easily catch enough trout to "fill your basket." That is one heck of a good recommendation for a fly; too good to pass up. But, I think that like many classic wet flies, it has been overlooked in favor of flies that are currently more in vogue. The original pattern calls for a ruffed grouse tail feather, preferably of the red color phase, to be split down the middle and then clipped so that about 1/16" remains. This feather then is wrapped around a base of black yarn (or other color) to form a buggy rustic looking body. A partridge hackle (soft hackle) is then wrapped on at the head. I didn't have any ruffed grouse tail feathers so I used hun partridge and it seemed to work fine. Can't wait to give these a try. Anyone else use them or is anyone familiar with them? Simple, straight forward, quick to tie, what could be better? Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted January 7, 2019 the ruffed grouse in the red phase is what charlie craven used in your photo above but any wing feather can be used as a substitute http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=86 i tied a few with ruffed grouse wings but in a gray phase. i dint think the trout will care Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjm 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 I did a similar fly using just India hen a long time ago, don't recall if it was a pattern or just my messing about, but it looked similar and it caught fish. Any feather gets a grubby look when the fibers are trimmed short before winding I think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xvigauge 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 Here are 3 that I recently tied. All were tied with a hun partridge tail feather. One with a green under body, one with yellow and one with red. Joe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites