Silver Doctor - Bucktail Hairwing

[eide 0]

Thread: UNI 6/0
Tag: UNI-French, Lagartun French Silk
Butt: Sealwool dubbing from Eivind Berulfsen
Tail: PT Crest
Body: UNI-Mylar
Rib: UNI-French
Wing: Red, Yellow, Blue Bucktail
Throat Hackle: Veniard Cock Neck Doctor Blue

 

http://dryfly.me/2014/11/silver-doctor-hairwing/

[RCFetter 0]

Another very impressive tie. Thanks for posting the pic!

[Cannonx4 0]

Pardon my ignorance but what is a fly like that used to catch? Very pretty and well tied fly.

[eide 0]

Pardon my ignorance but what is a fly like that used to catch? Very pretty and well tied fly.

This is a I'll swing this one in front of Salmon here in Norway

[FlaFly 0]

But Cannon brings up a good point... I note that salmon flies are all exceedingly beautiful, and mostly very colorful.... We don't fish for salmon here in Florida (except at a fish market), so the question is, why? Do salmon go for bright colors only? Are those colors supposed to simulate something they feed on in nature? Or are they colorful just because the tier wants it that way?

[Piker20 0]

Atlantic salmon don't feed in freshwater. They are just there to breed. So Victorians tied elaborate flies from exotic feathers they took from birds shot all over the world. But at the same time your more common and garden victorian was tying flies with regular materials like stoat tail or wool which are just as productive but vastly more plain.

 

Todays flies are partly a hangover from the elaborate victorian flies. Partly to show up well in coloured water.

The rivers around me flow from peat moors and carry varying tinges of brown. Red, orange yellow and black show up well in these waters.

Places like Iceland tend to be running off snow melt and carry green tinges. Whites greens and blues show up well.

 

In slow summer low water, black and very sparse flies work well.

 

We are really trying to target the aggression of the salmonoid species to take our flies. Many folk believe that any pattern will take running fish, that is fish coming in from the sea and moving up river to spawning grounds.

[mikechell 0]

I read that in early fly fishing times, when it was the sport of royalty, salmon were held an a much higher plane. It was believed they only ate butterflies, hence the tying of ever more colorful flies. Those who could afford it required the prettiest, most elaborate flies.

But then, that might have just been the marketing strategy of the tiers who would get paid more for those elaborate flies.

[Piker20 0]

Yep, the butterfly thing is out there but I agree, rich folk tying flies with feathers only rich folk ever had and making the whole salmon fishing more and more elite. Something that still has effects on access to fishing today in UK.

[mybadhabit 0]

Piker, do you mean the exorbitant prices that they charge to fish certain waterways for salmon?

[Harold Ray 0]

But, those flies, the Classic Salmons, will catch anything, depending on the size hook on which they are tied; they only need fishable water added.

[Piker20 0]

Blane, yes. The price of some rivers is very high. There is a review of fishing going on here at present and there could be some changes for the better and some not so good over the next 18months.

 

Harold, you are of course correct. The traditional fully dressed fly will still catch. The time it takes to tie one, plus the cost of some correct materials means they tend to be tied for frames now.

[Harold Ray 0]

Piker,

 

Several years ago I was talking to Bud Guidry on the Classic Salmon side about a fly he tied. It was SPECTACULAR!! But, he ties many that are. There were many feathers of course, and the cost came up. He had ten small feathers included in the many that were worth $400.00 on the market, and they made up only a small portion of the fly.

 

I have several flies tied by Davy McPhail and Dave Carnes hanging on my walls; I love their ties.

 

Ray

[FlaFly 0]

That was why I asked my original question. I wondered whether people actually fish with some of those fantastic flies, or just hang them up and look at them. Or whether salmon were so picky they wouldn't want, say, a plain marabou streamer.... OK make it yellow so it's flashy.

[Harold Ray 0]

Yes, some people fish with them, but most substitute other feathers for the expensive ones once used, and some people hang them on the wall. A few here tie 12 or whatever number, half for fishing and half for selling or giving away.

 

Trout aren't that picky; humans are. Usually flies and lures are tied or painted to suit the fisherman and not the fish.

 

Ray

[eide 0]

Piker explains it good there: the aggressive response is what you are after, but they don't have to be elaborate, one the patterns that is used a lot over here is the sunray shadow

 

The original silver doctor is a very elaborate pattern, that is why you can create variants like this that have bucktail instead of the married wing. I do, however, enjoy the creativity and challenge it is to tie the fully dressed classic fly! They teach you a lot about handling materials and they are a sight to look at for inspiration!