Madsen's Barber Pole Recipe?

[Jock Scott 0]

Hi, This is my first post. I'm new to fly lishing and even newer to tying. Started tying in November and have tied maybe my first fifty so far. I'm having a great time and can't wait to hit the river in spring and put my flies to the test.

 

Anyway, I'm interested in traditional Michigan flies and I have an Eric Sharp article from last spring where he suggests an attractor pattern called a barber pole, but I can't find any info on this fly online.

 

I'm especially curious because from his description it sounds like the fly that I watched Jerry Regan tie at the Mason show last month. Unfortunatley I was a bit overwhelmed with all that was going on at the show and I didn't quite absorb all the details.

 

The basic description is a cream colored yarn body with a red rib and parachute style grizzly and brown hackle. Also there are grizzly wings somehow tied in horizontaly. Eric Sharp described them as "delta" wings. Of course this description is a combination of the description from the article and what I saw at the show and they may not be same fly so this description might not be exact.

 

Does anyone have any expierience with this fly, and a recipe they would be willing to share?

 

I'd also be interested to know if there are any books available that are specific to Michigan flies form the frst half of the 1900's.

[Alex C. 0]

I saw an article by Bob Linenman online somewhere(can't find it now) that talked about the top 10 flies from Michigan. most were from the early/mid 1900s. Send KRC a PM about the barber pole, i sold him some MI books when I moved to New York, the one on the Au Sable had the recipe in it.

 

 

[Ribs1 0]

Hey Jock Scott,

I have been tying the Madsen's Barber Pole for a few years now. I learned to tie this fly from Jerry Regan. Jerry usually ties the parachute version but the original is traditionally hackled. Anyway, here is the recipe

Hook: Mustad 94831 usually size 8 10 12.

Thread: Danville 3/0 monochord yellow

Tail: Grey squirrel not sparse.

Body: Light Yellow polypropylene floating yarn (Wapsi, Phentex, etc)

Ribbing: Maroon embroidery floss (Jerry is very specific about the color. This stuff has a numbered color code, I'll check my skein later)

Wing Post: Deer belly hair from an old doe shot during archery season (This is actually important). The post should be tied in like a fan with a slim profile looking at it from the front.

Hackle: Dark brown and grizzly like an adams. I like hackle a size or 2 too big for this fly.

 

This picture is the parachute version which I have tied. It is exactly the same materials that Jerry uses, but his looks a little better. That fan wing he achieves with deer hair is tough.

I'll try to find some of the traditionally hackled versions or tie some and post a picture later.

 

I really love those old Au Sable flies. They are very distinctive and not very well known outside of Michigan. I'm pretty sure that Jerry Regan is the only commercial tyer that still ties the Madsen's Barber Pole.

Thanks

[Ribs1 0]

Jock Scott,

I just re read your post. I was also at the Mason show and I was watching Jerry tie about half the time I was there. I think the fly he was tying that day was the Madsen's Game Warden. I requested that he tie that fly. The game warden is a similar fly to the Barber Pole, but it is a Stonefly imitation with grizzly hackle tip wings tied in a downwing fashion. I also tie this fly and I'll post a picture with instructions later.

Thanks

Paul Christensen

[Bruce Derington 0]

Paul, he will be tying at our MFFC show , march 10th and 11th. You can see it done again. Hope to see you there

[Ribs1 0]

I will be there.

Thanks

 

[Jock Scott 0]

Thanks a lot!!

 

And thanks for clearing up my confusion, I remember you from the Mason show as I believe we were sitting next to each other watching Jerry tie. I didn't catch the name of the pattern that you had requested. I was only guessing that it was a barber pole since I remembered you asking if it was a Madsen pattern, and the barber pole sounded similar.

 

If you get the time I would appreciate the game warden recipe as well. I'm still new to this and some of the detail he was showing us that day just didn't completely register at the time. And as I said I'm interested in learning and trying these classic Michigan patterns.

 

Also, I'm going to be in Ontario all next week and have a bit of time to kill while I'm there. I thought I would try to hunt down the yarn he was using that day. I suspect it makes little difference to the fish but if you're interested I would be more than willing to let you have some of what I find or pick you up some if you want. You can let me know here, I'm taking my laptop and I check this forum most days.

 

Thanks again.

[Ribs1 0]

Hi Jock Scott,

Here's the recipe for the Madsen's game warden

Hook: Mustad 94831 usually size 10

Thread: Danville 3/0 Monocord

Tail: None

Body: Light Yellow polypropylene floating yarn (Wapsi, Phentex, etc)

Ribbing: Maroon embroidery floss (Jerry is very specific about the color. This color code is DMC color number 815

Underwing: Deer hair tied down wing style. Do not clip the butts as this will become the wing post

Overwing: 2 hen hackle or rooster tips. I actually prefer rooster, but Jerry ties it with whatever he has.

Hackle: Dark brown and grizzly like an adams. I like hackle a size or 2 too big for this fly.

 

Here's a picture of the Game Warden. I tied this one, but it is the same as Jerry's just not quite as nice.

 

 

I use this fly sometimes when those big yellow stones are around, or as a searching fly. It works good dead drifted or twitched and skated.

 

The yarn you are looking for is called Phentex slipper and craft yarn. I don't know if you heard us talking about it but phentex had changed a little and now it is not as nice. The fibers are more coarse and more slippery than before. It also does not stretch at all. If you could find a skein of the older stuff that would be great. You can tell because the older stuff has very fine fibers and it stretches just a little which makes a very nice and smooth body. The old stuff is exactly the same as Wapsi Polypropylene floating yarn.

 

Thanks

Paul Christensen

[Jock Scott 0]

Thanks again Paul for "de-confusing" this newbie.

 

I don't have much experience with these AuSable patterns but I love the history and tradition and suspect that since the fish haven't seen them much in like 30 or 40 years that they will also be very effective.

 

I'm impressed with the detail in your post, especially the comments about the specific type of deer belly hair to use. I don't hunt myself but have a number of friends that do and I'm pretty sure I can come up with the right stuff. Thanks for getting me started in the right direction.

 

 

Jim

[Ribs1 0]

The fish sure have seen these flies recently. Many of the shops in Grayling still carry almost all of the old patterns. The Game Warden and Barber Pole can be found at the Fly Factory. (tied by Jerry). Most of the other shops including Gates carry many of these patterns as well. The Borcher's Special, and Robert's Yellow Drake are a staple everywhere up there.

 

If you talk to Chris Helm, he can set you up with any deer hair you want. Before this year, I got all of my hair from him. This year I got a good hide from one of my buddies who shot it late in the archery season. I took it down to Chris' place and he showed me how to process it. I just cut it up today and sorted it, now I've got enough hair for a few years.

 

Thanks

[Jock Scott 0]

Doh!!

 

I should have guessed that patterns Eric Sharp was reccomending would be readily available.

 

I was aware that Borchers Specials and Roberts Yellow Drakes were fairly common. In fact those are the patterns that originally piqued my interest in the old michigan patterns. I was introduced to them by Todd Fuller on a trip my brother and I took with him last June, that was one of my best days ever. Those patterns were right on, I can't imagine catching any more fish than what we did that day!

 

Thanks for the tip on where to get the right hair, I have heard alot about Chris and will give him a call when I get back from my busineess trip next week.

 

 

Jim