Vulnerable Dun

I have been tying a few Vulnerable Duns (a Chris Watson creation) in preparation for the new season. The fly has been tied on various sizes from 14 down to 22 using Aero Dry Wing with a few strands of Krystal Flash UV Pearl for the wing, a body dubbed with Superfine and ribbed with thread (ropped and coloured with permanant marker), a shuck of white McFlylon with a few strands of Krystal Flash UV Pearl and a hackle, in this instance, from a Metz Grizzly Hackle.

FF and FT League Round 4

Round 4 of the League required three Quill Dries. Dressing as follows:

Hook: Partridge Surehold Dry Barbless

Thread: Black 8/0

Wing: Mallard Feather Slips

Tail: Cock Hackle Fibres

Body: Stripped Peacock Quill

Hackle: Whiting Brown Saddle Hackle

This fly proved more troublesome that at first glance. I tried several methods of stripping the peacock quill satisfactorily including hair remover which seem to weaken the quill itself and make it impossible to tie. I eventually opted to soak the quills in water for 24 hours and strip using a very good quality rubber. The slip wings were not easy, are they ever, and after a couple of weeks of tearing my hair out, I tied them in as I usually do with the wings lying along the hook and after one loop of thread moving the waste end in a seesaw motion to create a valley in the slip.

I am third after Round 3 so have high hope of a good finish.

Back to tying some flies for the new season.

Wally Wing Mayfly

At the Fly Fair last year I was impressed by the Wally Wing Mayfly tied by Chris Watson. I have been trying to master the technique on and off since then and contacted Chris who was kind enough to help. The picture is of my latest effort. On this particular fly I have used Fly Rite dubbing, #38 Pale Watery Yellow, from Niche and a Dark Smokey Dun Hackle from Collins in the US.

Fly Tying League Round 3

My second fly for round 3 was a The Green Nymph Variation. This was tied on a size 14 wet fly hook. The body is flourescent green floss overlaid with monofilament, the hackle brown Partridge and the head Peacock herl. The hackle was very difficult to get as full as the fly in the magazine even if it was doubled using conventional tying. I decided to cut hackles from the feather and tie them in forward over the eye and then stroke them back once I had formed the body. The picture shows more of the thread at the end of the body than I would have liked but the hackle looks nice.

Fly Tying League Round 3

After round 2 of the league I am equal 2nd, can't quite believe it!

The 3rd round flies are Czech Nymphs. These were tied using the following materials.

Hook: Partridge Fine Wire Czech Nymph, size 12

Underbody: 0.015 Round Lead Wire

Outer Rib: Monofilament

Shellback: Clear Thin Skin

Inner Rib: Sulky Gold Holoshimmer (from sewing shop)

Body: Rabbit Dubbing in Olive and Rusty Brown

Head: Thread colour with marker and varnished

Not totally happy with these flies, I should have paid more attention to the number of ribs on each fly to be more consistent and the head can be difficult due to the bulk of materials to tie in. The lead underbody has the thread ramped up at either end to give a smoother outline prior to adding any other materials. The shellback is coloured using Stazon Timber Brown ink from a craft shop. I have also started to paint the head with a small brush and several coats of head cement to get a better finish, particularly on flies similar to this

The Floating Fly by Malcolm Greenhalgh

This is a great book that cleverly combines the development of the floating fly, as Malcolm describes it, with examples of the latest ideas working in practice.

The book follows the history of the dry fly and refers to earlier writing on the subject, where significant developments have taken place. This is particularly useful, if like myself you are fairly new to fly fishing. Malcolm brings each thread up to date with the most recent thinking. Each subject is supported by stories from Malcolm's own experiences, either rejecting or supporting various ideas.

The latter part of the book provides details of some of the patterns that Malcolm uses, how they were developed and situations where they might be used. They are described as "Dry flies that catch fish" and give the impression that is what they do, they are not flashy flies for the angler, but in the most part very simply flies. The book does not give tying instruction, there are plenty of others to give you the infomation you need to tie the patterns.

A book well worth reading, written as though you were just chatting at the bar, very readable.

Fly Tying League Round 2

Round 2 of the Fly Tying League required three CDC Loopwing Emergers to be tied. The fly is very straight forward to tie, however I found that the CDC loopwing either worked first time or not at all and it was pointless messing about trying to make it look good.

Hook - size 14

Thread - brown

Tail - brown partridge fibres

Abdomen - Arizona dubbing

Wing - Natural CDC

Thorax - Arizona dubbing

The results of Round 1 have just been announced, I am equal 30th, a very pleasing start.

Fly Tying League Round 2

For the additional fly in Round 2 of the Fly Tying League I have tied John Goddard's Poly May Spinner.

Hook - size 12

Thread - black

Tails - 3 or 4 black microfibetts

Wings - black and white calfs tail

Body - white poly yarn

Hackle - 3 turns of black cock

Pheasant Tail Spider

The Pheasant Tail Spider.

The body is pheasant tail fibre, I used two fibres, and the hackle is Grey Partridge.

Partridge and Yellow

The Partridge and Yellow Spider

The body is yellow thread and the hackle Grey Partridge.

The hackle is a little heavy in this example.