The Brown Owl

[niveker 0]

13 hours ago, Moshup said:

watch out for niveker as he is an apparent heretic

Lol - so said the Nuns back in grade school, too. And I've got the scarred knuckles for proof. 

[DarrellP 0]

23 hours ago, Baron said:

It is easy for me to get confused and I want to sort of get to the bottom of original designs. I see Bart Lombardo is mentioned somewhere in these articles and since he resides locally I rather follow his work and joined Panfish on the fly. That is where I copied the Stayner Ducktail. Lots of versions of everything it seems. I like the Grizzly King but through my Leary old eyes it looks Salmony and not Bassy ( the spelling is also my version, lol). I'm such a novice that I still have trouble not crowding the hook, pinching maraboo tails and flat trimming the top  of a hackle that just spent to much time getting right. I like the sparseness of the version you all shared. To show you where I was at until now I've attached my only attempt (size 2x - #2) at tying this as I'm awaiting more hooks in the mail. Looks like I could have made two flies out of the same materials spent on this one. I'll get there. 

What size would you recommend tying the Grizzly King in?

I like this fly.  Use it in stillwater 

[Baron 0]

On 5/7/2021 at 4:36 PM, Moshup said:

Looks like a piece of Bazooka bubble gum that was sliced with a razor and stuck on a hook! 😊 The Brown owl flies

submitted by everyone are very nice. I have heard a lot about this fly and wondered if owl was part of the original dressing.

Thanks 
 

[DFoster 0]

There is a traditional English fly called a "Brown Owl" that was actually tied with Hackle from a brown owl (now illegal).   

 

[Baron 0]

That is a gorgeous fly.

[niveker 0]

6 hours ago, DFoster said:

Hackle from a brown owl (now illegal)

That feather is so beautiful, its a good thing its illegal.  

[DFoster 0]

From the way Robert describes it it sounds like it is a hackle but with qualities like Marabou.  He usually recommends specific substitutes to replace now illegal feathers but It sounds like he hasn't found one for the Brown Owl hackle.

[Baron 0]

I raised Barn owls as a kid. They make awesome pets but are best left wild. 

I am mesmerized by this class of soft flys. What are they called, spiders? No gobs of glue, no UV light needed, simple thread body. perfect assuming it catches fish. 

[Baron 0]

On 5/8/2021 at 8:27 AM, DarrellP said:

I like this fly.  Use it in stillwater 

This will indeed catch SMb and Pickerel, the latter is my target. But because it is so off the mark it doesn't have a name......perhaps....."Blunder" Or "NYMinute"

[DFoster 0]

3 hours ago, Baron said:

I raised Barn owls as a kid. They make awesome pets but are best left wild. 

I am mesmerized by this class of soft flys. What are they called, spiders? No gobs of glue, no UV light needed, simple thread body. perfect assuming it catches fish. 

They are known as North Country Spiders in the UK, in the U.S. we tend to call them Soft Hackles.  Pretty much the same thing.  They are really effective because all those legs come alive and move in the water.  Traditionally the body is silk thread, simple in their design but they can be tough to master.

[Baron 0]

I have tied very very poor versions I call PMD and yet they fish well enough. below is one I tied for crappie. I fish it like a streamer in calm water and it is pretty effective. 

[Philly 0]

 

1 hour ago, Baron said:

I have tied very very poor versions I call PMD and yet they fish well enough. below is one I tied for crappie. I fish it like a streamer in calm water and it is pretty effective

I guess I'm going to have to tie up a couple pink soft hackles for the Poconos next week and see if they'll catch a few crappie for the frying pan. 

[Baron 0]

..........And Perch

[flytire 0]

[Baron 0]

How Ironic. That has been my screen saver for two weeks or more since our earlier discussion.