ayout 1 - Fly Dressers` Guild

Transcription

Flydresser-WINTER-2011_Layout 1 02/03/2012 15:47 Page 1
T H E
J O U R N A L
O F
T H E
F L Y D R E S S E R S ’
WINTER 2011
G U I L D
Branch Line
and Mono Rail
... hooking up
with Members
The 44th AGM of the FDG took place at
Blithfield Boathouse, Abbots Bromley,
Staffordshire, on Sunday 27th November. It
was decided to move the AGM out of London in order to enable regional members to
attend more easily resulting in an impressive
attendance of 34. In his address, our Chairman, Charles Jardine, underlined the financial challenges facing the Guild and the
Executive Committee in these unpredictable
times. A root-and-branch investigation into
all aspects of the FDG’s finance is underway.
The main expenditure is the Flydresser and
the EC have been actively looking at ways of
reducing the considerable costs without
reducing its high quality. Terry Griffiths,
under whose editorship the magazine has
gone from strength to strength, stepped
down at the meeting and a full appreciation
of him will appear in the Spring issue. Terry
is not an easy act to follow and, as no one
person can replace him, for the time being,
future issues will overseen by an editorial
team. While acknowledging that not everyone has access to the internet, Charles also
pointed to more effective use of the FDG
website as a tool for communicating with
members and as a potential means of reducing our high postage costs.
A number of motions had been proposed. It
was agreed that a set date for the collection
of subscriptions would be re-introduced (1st
September 2012 - which then allows the
Treasurer to budget more easily and accurately), that membership would rise by £2 to
£20 (it has been pegged for the last 3 years)
and that Junior Membership should be revived at £10.
Malcolm Price, our Membership Secretary,
will be in contact with you to let you know
how the subscription changeover is going to
work. There were also some constitutional
changes which will be on view when the
Minutes are posted on the website.
Paul Davis, who has done sterling work as
Secretary over the last year (thank you!),
stood down to concentrate on Accreditation
and his post has been taken over by Chris
Reeves (bravo!) who is already beavering
away. John Watkins stood down as a Member
without Portfolio and Caroline Emmet takes
his place (welcome!). Chris Knowles was reelected (no comment!). Chris Reeves can be
contacted on [email protected].
One of the initiatives to come out of the
AGM is a questionnaire which will be sent
out with the Flydresser, so that the EC can
get a sense of what the membership really
wants in connection with the magazine,
branches and activities. Don’t worry – it’s
multiple choice and not very long!
In order to help the editorial team with their
first issue, I am acting as temporary Editor
and will be very happy to receive articles and
contributions from members. Please e-mail
them as Word documents if possible. All articles will be acknowledged, but clearly we
cannot guarantee to use every one. In the
first instance, photographs should not be included. If we decide to go ahead with your
article, then photographs can be e-mailed
and/or items/flies sent by post to be photographed. We have many skilled photographers in the Guild. If you are one of them,
please make yourself known to me to swell
the photography pool. Equally, if you have
never written an article before, now is your
chance!! Go for it!
It would also be very helpful to know what
you would like to see in Flydresser in future.
Is there a particular subject you would like to
be explored, an aspect of technique you
would like help with or a fly you would like
to see tied in stages? Should there be greater
variety, less variety? We welcome your views!
It is your magazine.
Chris Knowles
[email protected]
Stop Press
The FGG now has a presence on
www.flyforums.co.uk where members can
leave messages.
OF REDDITCH
KLINKHAMER 15BN
The original hook for
tying ‘Klinks’
& emergers
Sizes : #10 - #20
Black Nickel & Gold finish
Available from :
Sportfish • Glasgow Angling • Lakeland • John Norris
Anglers Lodge • Albury • Lathkill
Lyttles of Dunchurch • Walker’s of Trowell
2
3
CONTENTS
WINTER 2011
Branch Lines .................. Christopher Knowles 2
Editorial ................................. Terry Griffiths 5
Information
The Flydressers Guild exists to promote
an interest in fly tying and bring together
fly-tyers worldwide.
• Anyone can join.
• New members are most welcome this especially includes those new to
fly-tying.
• There is no joining fee and no
qualifications are required.
• You do not have to join a branch to be
a member of the Guild.
Flydresser Magazine
Published quarterly by the Flydressers’
Guild, and sent, post paid to current
subscribers.
Editor:
Terry Griffiths
Email: [email protected]
Advertising Contact Pat Camber
Publisher
The Flydressers’ Guild
Printing
Cambrian Press
Copyright © Copyright of articles,
images, drawings and items appearing in FLYDRESSER reside with the
contributors. Items may not be
reproduced by any means whatsoever
without the written permission of
the Editor.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed via items
appearing in FLYDRESSER are
those of the authors concerned and
are not necessarily shared by the
Editor or the Executive Committee
of the Flydressers’ Guild.
The Fly Dressers’ Guild and members of the Executive Committee
accept no responsibility for the
accuracy of advertisements in this
magazine. No guarantee is offered for
the quality of services or products.
Complaints should be directed to the
advertiser concerned and not Officers
of the Flydressers’ Guild.
©
2011 The Flydressers’ Guild
I SS N 0 9 5 1 - 0 41 9
The fly has changed, but ................................. 6
Colour of thread .............................................. 8
Some thoughts on the famous five ........
Ian McKenzie ...... 14
The Paraloop Method ............................. TG 18
The Birth of the Dry Fly .................. H.S. Hall 24
FDG Competition winners ............................. 28
Mr. Pawnbush ........................................ BAZ 30
The flies of Marjin Fratnik .............................. 32
Furled Leaders .............................................. 38
The Golden Olive ......................................TG 40
JOIN ON-LINE @
www.flydressersguild.org
SPECIAL NOTICE
If, for whatever reason you do not receive your
Flydresser magazine at or about the due time, those dates being
the first week of March, June, September & December,
please do not hesitate to contact us.
Copy deadlines for articles are ONE month prior to these dates.
W
Editorial
hen the dye is cast, and the
shouting stops, and all of the fuss
dies down, it is time to go . . .
It is with deep regret that I have to stand
down as editor of this glorious little
magazine, after what seems like a short
period of time, but in fact, has been
thirteen plus years.
Over that period I have made many new
friends, some are friends forever, but
enough of that. The likes of Paul Little
and Barry Salter have been with this
edition of the magazine, as a whole,
almost from the start, others pop in and
out as the mood takes them, or as they see
fit, all are welcome.
The emphasis for the magazine has always
been on fly-dressing, fly-tying as I prefer
to call it, and on some of the finer points,
often missed by the High Street copies of
magazines. It has been something of a
luxury for me to dig out an article and put
points to right, not major points but those
that will make a difference. But that will
go on I’m sure, long after I’m gone.
By and large, thanks are due to too many
people for their help with this little
magazine, too many to list here, but you
know who you are, and all are thanked,
sincerely.
I have a number of projects to get finished
over the next little while, and if this last
issue of mine is a little late I hope you will
forgive, not only am I going, but the
printer decided that enough was enough
for him too, nothing to do with Flydresser,
just the way of things.
Again, thanks so much to all those who
have given their time, it was very much
appreciated, always.
TG
4
5
The fly has changed ...
but ...
Eddie J. Wilkinson
t doesn’t seem too important that
the fly in question is the correct
one in any sense that matters. The
way things are developing especially in
terms of fly choice, more flies today are
designed to cover more than one option,
in lots of cases.
I
Some, many years ago I fished this piece
of water, the River Alyn, almost every
day almost every day. It is situated between the town of Wrexham and the
city of Chester where I used to fish. It
was a far busier place then than it is
nowadays, with lots of traffic wending
its way between the two places, this was
the main road in those days. A ‘new’ road
opened through the area quite some time
ago, and my, how the river has benefitted.
The river looks better than ever from
the surface, better than it ever did in the
late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The day I
saw it, it was flowing well, with a good
growth of runuculus weed everywhere.
This was not the case in the 1960’s.
I was delighted to meet with Mr.
Wilkinson, by letter, right out of the
blue, I’m not sure that he even knew that
I had ever fished that particular piece of
water. But fish it I did, and for many
years, almost every day. Like many
rivers, seeing it in the circumstances I
did is not necessarily ideal, but it suited
my day perfectly. Here was a river which
looked and seemed better than it ever
had in all of those many years ago.
The River Alyn is a fast flow river, with
trout, grayling and dace in abundance.
The dace were there all the way
through, but back in the 1960’s there
was for sure a record weight to be taken,
but it wasn’t an important factor in those
days, but the big ones were quite numerous at one time. Trout were the
order of the day. Grayling were not in
the river at the time I fished, although
the River Dee had a very good head of
fish, and that is only a few miles away, so
not too much of a trial to get into the
River Alyn.
The trout were very much the quarry,
and a season on the River Alyn would be
deemed a good one if one took thirty to
forty fish in a summer.
The fishing hasn’t changed much in all
of the years in between - this is a supposition rather than a known fact - judging by the look of it. If anything it
appears to have improved.
But the fishing has changed for sure. In
my day it was a rarity to fish a nymph,
although we knew about them, the dry
fly was the call of the day, and it is here
that we see the difference, it killed
enough fish in its’ own right.
6
7
Colour of thread?
How much does it matter ... ???
A whole lot if you are to catch fish on a consistent level.
N
ot all flies are as they seem.
The two flies above appear the same, and
in fact outwardly they are, but the tying
thread in one is black, but on the other it
is closer to the horsehair ribbed body, a
pale red in fact.
And there lies the difference, quite subtle you might say, but it makes a huge
difference to the fish. Many of these flies
are tested on the dace of the rivers Dee
and Alyn in North Wales, where the
dace can be far more selective than the
trout by quite a stretch.
The two flies you see above are identical
except for the tying silk underbody, but
the difference could not be more pronounced. It may seem like a very minor
detail to work through, but as with any
of these things it is often the difference
that matters.
Having said that there is a difference, it
is also a fact, in my book, that here are
two very different flies, the difference almost unknown to the unknowing eye.
What difference does it make, I hear you
ask? Well, in terms of fishing it matters
greatly,
It is not just the colours, subtle as they
are and that matters, often the weight of
a fly can give similar results ... the flies at
below are to all intents and purposes,
the same, except that they are tied with
a different weight consideration. This is
a considered move on my part, and that
can be the difference.
A small difference will often make a
huge difference to the success rate. Of
course much of this could be put down
to speculation on my part, but, I do
change with nothing more in the difference, and it works, so why am I going to
change this?
The truth is that at times the fishes eyesight is far more sensitive than our own,
and the whole reason that you are in the
Guild is to pick up precisely these kind
of ‘tricks’.
This little trick, small and as uncompromising as you may feel, works extremely well, give it a try, you might get
a very pleasant surprise!!
8
9
When is a Classic not a Classic?
To say that one dresses classics and then attach
material to an authentic hook of the period
with a modern fly dressing thread immediately
throws into question the initial assertion. Can
one also be said to dress classics if the materials one is using are dyed with modern day
dyes? The modern substitute for swan is a
feather from the domestic turkey (more readily
available) is this classed as “breaking the classic rules”? Should we use gloves to lay the floss
on the body of the fly, I’m sure this was not
done in the past; these flies were designed for
fishing. The list is endless and the subject a
minefield. Not to have met those who dressed
these beauties in the past is the biggest gap in
our knowledge and will never be filled; time
travel has not yet been perfected; Mr Kelson
et al, you have left us in a conundrum and that
is great part, we can impose our own styles and
enjoy creating our own works of art.
. . . and so to the Grey Turkey, a lovely fly designed for the river Eden in Cumberland (the
classic name for the county!). Classed as a simple strip wing, it has all the hall marks of a
All fly article photographs by Paul Little - 2011
T
here is a wry smile appears on my face
every time the word “classic” is mentioned in terms of salmon flies of a
bygone era. I am sure that there are many definitions out there used by those who wish to
give what is perceived to be the “correct” description. For my part, the definition has many
facets and is quite complex, with many pitfalls
along the way. I read books on the subject and
where possible obtain the materials for the pattern. Where it is not possible, substitutes are
used if they do not detract too much from the
original dressing. There are so many patterns
out there to attempt, both simple and complex.
I strive for neatness and proportion and occasionally allow a little artistic licence in the
dressing. I can hear the fly police knocking at
the door already.
by Paul Little
true classic; the body has sections of increasing length, using the artistic licence referred
to above instead of equal sections. The hook
is a modern Bartleet by Partridge, size 2. One
has to be careful here in that the bend on the
hook is long and hence I have added the silver
tag just beyond the hook point. Using size 16
Mylar, the tag is formed by touching turns
round the bend and then returns to the tie in
point. My preference for a tippet tail is to tie in
by the first black bar; a large tippet is needed
here to obtain the correct length for the tail.
Binding down the waste ends towards the eye,
the rib is then secured with thread wraps returning to the tail. My preference for dressing
most flies is to use Danville’s primrose thread
so that one can easily see where the thread is in
relation to the hook reference points.
One of the most interesting parts of the fly is
the Jay throat. With a thick pithy rachis, the
wing covert as it stands is not user friendly. To
make the feather useable, the rachis has to be
split. The method I use has been around for a
very long time and is worth perfecting. The
success rate is not always good and depends on
the age of the feather. Firstly, select the correct feather for the throat in terms of length
(two thirds of the body length looks good).
The coverts with the longest fibres are those
with the rounded top, those with the shorter
fibres have a pointed top. If winding the hackle
clockwise, choose the feather with the blue
part on the right hand side as one looks at it.
Select a fine Seals fur dubbing in yellow, red
and blue and apply with the “little and often”
technique, this method always works well, it is
important to have a really thin dubbing rope
at the start of the body otherwise the body
will look too thick. Thickness of the body is
up to the dresser, if the pattern description
calls for a body “well picked out” one can be
more generous with the dubbing. For a body
dressed to look like a hackle, the dubbing is
best applied using a dubbing loop. Now wind
the rib in even turns towards the eye and secure underneath the hook shank.
Grip the base of the rachis in the vice with the
good side facing you. Take hold (if right
handed), of the tip of the feather, blue part and
rachis in the right thumb and first finger, and
fibres of the left side of the feather in the left
first finger and thumb. Now pull each apart in
a horizontal direction, not downwards. If all
goes well the rachis will be split with the
thinnest part attached to the blue fibres
10
11
holder drop (but not the thread). Take hold of
the butt ends of the wing in the right hand
and, releasing the grip with the left hand, let
the two loops of thread drop onto the top of
the wing. Now pushing the butt ends of the
wing down with the right hand, let the thread
wraps fall down the “valley” from the left hand.
Now take a black felt tip marker and colour the
inside of the stem. This will prevent the stem
looking white when wound. Attach the hackle
by the tip, good side facing forward and wind
the hackle. Remember, the hackle will eat space
up in a hurry and hence careful consideration
must be given to how much space to leave after
creating the body. Wind the hackle and then
form the throat by pull down the fibres below
the hook shank, whip finish and change to
black tying thread.
Select a pair of slips of grey turkey, the ones I
have selected have a black tip, not called for in
the dressing but it looks nice. Measure them
for length and commence the mounting
process. As explained in previous articles, the
fewer feather fibres that are compressed with
the thread, the smaller the probability of collapsing (creasing) the wing. As a guide, 20 to
22 fibres are ideal for this size of fly. Holding
the wing in the left hand on top of the shank,
take two loose loops of thread between the finger and thumb of the left hand, let the bobbin
When wing compression can no longer be performed with the hands, pull the thread tight
and take a couple of extra turns on the butts
(remember do not take the wraps to the wing
side of the initial mount, this will definitely
crease the wing). Also note do not perform the
mounting process with waxed thread, it will
pull the top of the wing, shortening the top fibres. Trim the waste ends with fine scissors a
little at a time and then brush the butt ends
with a soft artists brush to get rid of any
“feather dust”. Now with flattened waxed
thread complete the head. Two or three coats
of varnish completes the fly.
In dressing the Grey turkey, I have used my
own tying techniques, which I am sure are different to what some would call the “Classic
techniques”.
The question must be asked: “So what?” The
fly looks nice, no wing crease, nice small head
(albeit with the use of modern tying silks),
nice Jay throat. I am sure that Messer’s Kelson,
Hale and Tannatt would approve.
Unfortunately we will never know, these
dressers of the bygone era cannot be consulted, a shame I know, but we will just have
to live with that fact.
Last but not least, it’s my fly and one to be
proud of, so lets forget the ‘classic fly police’
and just create these little beauties in what ever
style we want.
Derek Bradbury
1937 - 2011
It is sad to report that Derek died on the
19th November, 2011. He was a founder
member of the North West Branch of the
Flydressers’ Guild, a very talented man.
After training in the graphic arts he was employed in designing publicity for a well
known firm. His love of fly-fishing led him
to open a tackle shop, first in Altrincham, and
later in Hale Barns.
He produced sets of carded stillwater patterns, many of his own design.
His preferred method was to fish a Pheasant
Tail nymph on a greased nylon leader.
On selling his business he had time to dedicate himself to painting at which he excelled,
exhibiting at galleries and selling many pictures.
In the last few years Derek was in and out of
hospital, and suffered a lot of pain.
He will be missed greatly by all who knew
him, both friends and former customers.
Geoff Hill
12
13
Some thoughts on the Famous Five
(Autumn/Winter FlyDresser magazine )
by Ian McKenzie
I
hate to question a couple of Paul
Little’s Famous five dressings but
for the sake of accuracy here goes:
Bobs Bits ...
Paul credited Bob Barden with the development of this pattern when in fact
it’s Bob Worts, of Grafham fame whose
pattern this is.
The original was tied with a dubbed
green wool body picked from Bob’s
jumper and ribbed with fine gold oval
tinsel. The body is picked out along the
back of the fly and all fibres underneath
should be trimmed flush. I don’t have a
suitable jumper for my dubbing and always use Seal’s Fur. A sparse wing of
white cock hackle fibres is added, mainly
as a ’sighter’, followed by 3 - 4 turns of
a red game cock hackle. All fibres below
the shank should be trimmed flush.
My own experience has been that Claret,
Olive, Fiery Brown, Red, & Black cover
most situations, generally tied on Size 12
Kamasan B400, Fulling Mill All Purpose Light or TMC 100 hooks. A few
size 10 & 14s can be useful. I have enjoyed success with patterns ribbed with
stretched Pearl Mylar or Mirage rather
than using Oval tinsel but Bob lists
Globrite floss No 4 on his claret version
in an article published in Stillwater
Trout Angler November 1995.
14
15
Bob also developed a Rough Water Bits, only differing from the original by
the addition of a palmered body hackle, again trimmed flush under the shank.
Shipman’s Buzzer ...
Some years ago, whilst employed as
Technical Manager of Fulling Mill,
Dave Shipman questioned our tying of
his buzzer. We were using a similar
dressing to the version detailed in Paul’s
item but Dave had been developing the
pattern and latterly, whilst still using 3
turns of flat Gold tinsel, didn’t spread
these over the entire shank but stopped
approximately ¾ along the shank and
finished the body with a small thorax of
similar material to the body.
Having checked with Dave today I can
confirm the original was as per Paul’s
piece but was later changed to include
the small thorax. He also feels that Seals
fur is still far and away the best body
material, picked out along the back of
the fly.
Treat only the breathers and the picked
out dubbing with floatant and the pattern will sit right in the film. Even
when the pattern sinks it still catches a
remarkable number of fish.
My most successful colours are Fiery
Brown, & Claret but take your pick and
make them any colour you choose.
Having got those details of my chest
can I add to Paul’s Famous Five, all good
patterns, with my own most successful
stillwater dry. Not original but an amalgamation of our Editors Emerger and a
Klinkhammer.
Hook:
Fulling Mill Grub , Kamasan
B100 , Tiemco 2487 etc.
Thread: Colour to suit but preferably
Unithread 8/0 or better still
Veniard’s Sheer.
Wing post: Polypropylene yarn,
Tiemco Aero Dry Wing or if
preferred, calf body or tail
hair.
Body: Feather fibre, cock pheasant,
swan, condor substitute etc.
3 - 4 fibres will produce a nice
slim body..
Rib:
Fine mono 3 - 4 lb
Hackle: Cock hackle to match colour of
the fly.
Thorax: Fine synthetic dubbing or dyed
Hare’s fur.
Olive and Claret are most often used but
again, the pattern is generic and can be
any colour you choose. Whilst the wing
post is generally white I always carry a
few with black posts which show up on
those days when white can’t be seen.
The fish don’t seem to mind ...
16
17
the
Paraloop
method ...
M
ost flies that will take trout
are pretty simple to tie - but
there are exceptions. Fortunately, although it looks difficult, this is a
variation on a theme, no more.
this purpose. Once the principle is mastered it is quite simple to move onto other
styles of paraloop, but having said that,
the basic one shown here is more than
adequate for most purposes.
The Paraloop fly in one such fly which, although it looks to be a problem, is nothing
of the kind, once a few simple rules are
applied. The basis is a good qualty loop
holder, the one seen here is only used for
Let us first tie a fly, then take a final look
at the rig or jig. Once you have set up the
jig as shown let us begin ...
Tie in a tail of grizzle hackle fibres, and
once everything is secured, take the thread
back towards the rear of the fly, to the
halfway point on the shank.
Then select
whichever
body you
prefer. We
have used
hare body
fur here.
Once you
have
reached the
hanging thread, make the first stop.
Then add a double loop of thread, at-
tached to the loop jig above, you can if you
wish add a different stronger thread, but
the tying thread should be okay.
18
19
Select a hackle ... the variety of sizes is
much greater than for normal flies, so
there is quite an advantage here.
With the
hackle tied
in at the
base of the
wing ...
... the hackle is
wrapped up along the
tying thread and then
back to the base, and
anchor here.
Draw back
the hackle
out of the
way ...
while you
finish the
body.
Bring the hackle forward and tie down at
the front of the eye.
To make
sure every
thing is secure, make a
couple of
locking
turns of
thread at
the eye.
20
21
While we have only shown only the one
method of applying the hackle here, there are
many other ways to guild the lily, BUT, this
one works very well, so why change it?
Let us just look at the overall appearance of
the fly, since it does give a way to offer the fly
which is quite different to the way we are
used to.
There are some notes with regard to tying
which are worthy of further note, which are
worthy of learning. The turns of hackle up
and down the post should not be in close
touching turns. If a denser hackle is required
it should be wrapped longer and then compressed. The hackle will always start at the
base, and work up and down the tying thread
tag.
One of the more obvious
points is that the wrapped
hackle rests only on top of
the shank. The only hackle fibres
extending below the level of the
hook shank are the tips at the lowest
part of the hackle brush.
The fly sits far lower, and, more naturally
than in more conventional patterns. The
hackle is uller than normal, and as a result
hold the fly up onto the surface with greater
ease.
Many of these points will be common to
many tyers, but nonetheless pertinant, and
relevant to mention again.
This is a fly well worth the effort of learning
to tie, and unlike many others it will offer
good success when all else has failed. As with
many of the flies I use, I have opted for this
Hare’s Ear body, because it is simple, but
very effective. It also gives the duality of
mixture. Reality which halves with practicality is the name of the game.
One point which I have not seen mentioned
in the Moutter book, and this is not a criticism of the book , is that the hackle needs to
be well tied in, to the point where I nowadays will lock the thread back toward the
back end of the fly. This small detail will save
you lots of
grief, once the
going gets
tough. It is far
better to be safe rather than sorry.
For more work to do with the Paraloop
method, have a good read through the Moutter book.
I have been using this fly, and a couple of
similar ones on my bit of river for about
three years, I’m a slow learner ... and it has
accounted for a number of very good fish,
fish which would otherwise have remained in
the river to this day, if you know what I
mean.
22
23
The Birth of the Dry Fly
from the Fishing Gazette - March 17, 1883
“Fly-fishing on some of the Southern Chalk Streams”.
Part II
S
by H. S. Hall.
‘Behoves you then, to ply your finest art.’
o far I have dealt only with the
broad general principles of chalkstream fishing. I now proceed to
enter a little into the minutiae of the system. I have mentioned how wonderfully
prolific in insect life these rivers are, but,
besides the numberless flies which come
under the anglers’ notice, there is always
an abundant store of larvae, shrimps,
ewater snails, and other food to be found
in the weeds, to say nothing of minnows
and small fry on the gravelly shallows. So
that, with a large choice in their feeding,
the fish soon wax fat, strong, and lusty,
while a trout in a moorland stream has to
be on the look-out all day long for anything edible which comes within his ken
and, even then, has hard work at times to
keep himself in respectable condition, a
chalk-stream fish is always picksome and
hard to please, and will only take the fly
when the naturals are sailing down in
goodly numbers.
At other times he is either sheltering
under the weeds, or else busy with bottom
or mid-water food. This is obviously the
reason why fly-fishing for chance fish is so
seldom productive of sport in the streams
I am describing. But when there is a heavy
rise, and every trout is busy engaged in
taking flies (not larvae), it will be noticed
that the fish take up a favourable position
just beneath the surface of the stream, and
feed more steadily and persisently in the
most quiet and deliberate manner possible. A movement of a few inches, a careful
scrutiny, and a gentle unobtrusive suck
describes exactly the usual manner in
which a chalk-stream trout takes his surface food. It is quite unlike the rush and
the splash with which a Scotch or Devonshire trout leaves the shelter of a submerged rock to secure a passing fly, and
everything combines to make it difficult
for the angler to keep out of sight as well
as to put the fly over the fish in an effective
and natural manner.
Seeing the difficulties I had to contend
against, it soon became my special pleasure to spend time and trouble in tying
very neat and delicate imitations of the
natural insects. But the constant whipping
necessary in dry-fly fishing frequently
cracks the gut at the head of the fly and
makes it untrustworthy. Many times I
have known a stubborn fish resist all my
efforts until the gut has “necked off ”, and
then, of course, he would rise to the fly
boldly, and keep it, while I was left lamenting the loss of my ‘chef d’oeuvre’.
I was always being reminded of the
Scotchman caricatured in Punch some
years ago, and to this day there is one class
of flies which I call my ‘taw-and-sixpennies’ (N.B. The flies Hall refers to here
were the more costly detached-bodied
flies, described in his letter to the Fishing
Gazette of March 3rd, 1883). It was then
that my acquaintance with Mr. Aldam and
his book first led to the notion of eyed
hooks. How I followed up the original idea
has been fully described in The Field of
July 3rd, 1880, and to this account I must
refer any angler interested in the question.
I merely take this opportunity of saying
that I never have, either then or since,
claimed any invention in this business.
I have freely made use of advice and suggestions from many experienced amateurs, and, if the hooks are sold by my
24
25
name, it is only because the makers have
received all their instructions from me,
and all the trouble and expense connected
with trial of differenet shapes and patterns has been undertaken by myself.
This is not the place to enter into a full
discussion about the merits of any particular class of hooks, but, by a happy combination of circumstances, the eyed hooks
now sold by Messrs. Hutchinson and Son
are peculiarly suited for fishing the dryfly, and I now find that even as much as
half an hour spent over an extra choice
“twa-and-sixpenny” is by no means labour
wasted, for the delicate fly on fine gut is
no longer subject to the risk I had to put
up with before I got eyed hooks made to
my liking.
It is not generally known how much depends on the eye being neatly turned and
finished; a faulty eye will cut the gut and
cause endless disappointments, so I warn
anglers against cheap and inferior imitations. I have thousands of patterns by me
now which were finally discarded because
experience has shown that the eye is made
on a faulty principle; but some of my recent patterns have been so well made, that
I have been able to use a big fourteen foot
rod in a rough wind and whip a tiny
midge for an hour without risk to the fine
gut. All chalk-stream fishers will admit
that this is a very great point gained, and
therefore hope I may be pardoned for
making this digression about hooks.
To return to our rising trout. From what
I have said already, I think it will generally
be admitted that the entomologist will al-
ways have some advantage over the man
who knows nothing and cares nothing
about the natural histroy of the flies on
the water. To use an olive dun, or iron
blue, when fish are taking a black gnat or
an alder, is to make your fishing a certain
failure, though, on the other hand, the
greater the angler’s experience the more
readily will he confess that at times all his
skill and entomological knowledge seem
to no avail. At the best of times chalkstream trout are not creeled by the dozen,
and anyone who has followed me thus far
must see that a fish which is picking and
choosing only a few of the many flies
which sail cockily over him will never be
enticed to his doom by the unskillful imitation which cannot be persuaded to float
with any resemblance to the natural insects. Therefore, it is essential, first of all,
for the angler to get the right fly, and then
use some judgement in the selection of
the water he fishes. Rapid streams, where
the surface current is constantly changing, are always difficult to fish with a dry
fly; but, after a few days’ acquaintance
with a new river, an experienced angler
will know exactly what water it is worth
his while to stop over, and he will not
waste time over streams where every cast
is sure to drag, or where the light is so bad
that he cannot see his fly.
Beginners often find it difficult to ‘spotthe-rise’, especially when they happen to
be wading up-stream. The rise itself is a
very unobtrusive affair, but it comes circling down on the stream in widening
rings, and the exact position of the fish is
easily missed. When a fish first comes on
to rise, it is always well to watch him take
three or four flies before making a cast.
This not only gives the fish a little confidence in his feeding, but it enables one to
put the first fly over him with some degree of precision. Some fish take a fly and
move on a yard or two, then take another
fly, and so on. These ‘travellers’ are very
difficult to kill, as it is almost impossible
to judge the distance accurately. If by a
lucky shot the fly is pitched neatly just a
few inches ahead of the fish’s nose, a bold
rise sometimes follows; but such cases
must be looked upon as flukes, and a travelling fish is oftener than not a restless
beast - hardly worth the angler’s attention. If, however, he be allowed to continue his journey, it will often be found
that, after moving up-stream twenty or
thirty yards, he gets into position and settles down to feed quietly, and may probably be induced to enter into negotions
with the angler, who has followed at a respectful distance.
But if the ‘travellers’ are a nuisance and a
trial to one’s temper, there are always
other fish which are to be found rising in
the same spot day after day - perhaps at
the tail of some weed, or close under an
overhanging bank, or, oftener still, close
to the edge of some accumulated sticks
and rubbish clinging around the submerged trunk of an old willow. Very cunning are these old stay-at-homes, but they
always have a peculiar fascination for me.
I look out especially for them, and take
more pleasure in the capture of one such
fish than in basketing half-a-dozen which
rise openly in mid-stream. They are
nearly always good fish - the best in the
neighbourhood probably, and frequently
they rise steadily when no other fish are
on the move at all. Every fly that comes
down comes in exactly the same way, hugging the bank, bumping along the edge of
floating rubbish till it reaches a certain invariable spot, when it disappears in a
scarcely percetible bubble, which is frequently unnoticed by the inexperienced
eye. It often happens that a fish like this
has a feeding spot so admirably chosen
that the artificial fly can hardly be put over
him in a natural way; so he goes on from
day to day, undisturbed by storm or flood,
feeding boldly in fancied security on every
insect the stream brings down. But if the
task of securing a fish be difficult, there is
this to encourage the persevering angler:
in the first place, as a rule, nothing edible
is allowed to pass; and secondly, an artificial fly is so rarely seen in such a place, and
the very first good cast which floats naturally without drag is extremely likely to
be effective.
26
27
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28
29
R. Flood - Prizewinners Trout
S. Bowdin - Prizewinners Salmon
R. Leeds - Saltwater/Pike
R. Flood - Dry Fly
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31
Not necessarily the neatest ...
BUT ... they work very well!
The flies of Marjan Fratnik ...
I
t is not always the finite fly that matters. This is brought home to me
time and again it is not as though
I’m any kind of ‘perfectioninst’, but the
flies that follow in this article are certainly not the ‘best’ tyings you will ever
have seen, BUT, they work because they
carry all of the ‘fine detail’ that matters.
It is not the place, I don’t believe, for me
to judge flies, unless they do not do what
is supposed to happen, i.e. catch fish. The
flies we have here were tied by an 86 year
old gentleman, who has spent his whole
life fishing, observing, and making the
flies as he sees fit. These flies are a conglomeration of many factors, with the
one end result, they will catch fish, and
by the dozen. There will be some of you,
like me, who, at first do not like the look
of them, what a mistake that would be. I
have looked at them many times before I
tied up some of my own, and let them
loose, on both stillwater and river fish.
The effect was startling, they caught
many, many fish. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but in fact it was more a complete
shock to me that they worked so well.
Of course you may think you will tie
them better, but why do you need to?
They work perfectly well without any of
the fine work we might put into them.
This very broad way of working is a lesson to all of us about the what and why
of what we do, and why we do it. You
may need to take a couple of steps back
from the river edge before attempting to
tie any one of these flies, you can tidy
them up, but you will not improve them,
I don’t believe you will anyway.
I will be fishing some of these flies well
into my old age, such is my faith in the
overall view of them.
32
33
Some flies in this small series defy
many of the fine fly tying techniques we know so well ... just to
show that if we are sure about our
technique, nothing else matters
very much.
The wings are cut short, and very
crudely, making not one jot of difference to the efficacy of the fly.
The colour choice is also something we are not - usually - used
to.
Another of the flies
which doesn’t bear
much resemblance to
one specific fly, but
actually several.
Just a wing on a
hook. Try it. It works
quite brilliantly, especially in smaller sizes,
as this is.
34
35
Probably more tying
than we are used to
with many of these
flies, but a superb
demonstration of the
use of proportion,
yet again.
The choice of tying
thread is no accident
with this fly, as with
many of the others
before it.
Another of the flies
from the same wallet,
this time in sequence,
albeit very abbreviated,
such is the nature of
these flies.
Note that they are all,
or nearly all, tied using
Pearsall’s Gossamer.
This one certainly is.
There is nothing very
difficult about the fly,
just the minor matter
of getting it tied, as
closely to the original
as possible.
As with all of the flies
the size is important.
This one is only a size
16 and nothing has
been made of the
weight of the hook.
Just that, as with all the
hooks in this series, it is
not a lightweight hook.
Obviously meant to
hang on to the fish, unlike many hooks we
currently see available.
It is a theme I cannot
agree with personally.
This style I like.
36
37
Furled leaders
N
othing matters more in fly-fishing
than presentation, and everything
we do should be geared towards
that. It makes no sense, to me, whatsoever
that people will buy all the right gear, and
then foul up the whole issue with a badly presented fly.
Why would we do this? It isn’t as though
there isn’t enough written about it, essays of
such detail that it is hard to see how such
things happen, or that it should be ignored.
Not just that, but watching a good fly-fisherman deliver his fly precisely to a fish is a moment of sheer joy.
Why would I enjoy these things so much?
They are not that different are they?
Well, it’s been a long road, I owned some of
these leaders for quite a while before I tried
them. It was a very windy day, the first time,
and had proved difficult all the morning. I
had a bite to eat, and went out in the afternoon, not with any bigger hope at first, but
by the end of that afternoon, all my doubts
were over, some driven to another very distant place. It isn’t easy to own up to some of
this, it was at the time quite a lesson to learn,
but one which I won’t forget, especially since
my best fish was taken using one the same as
the one above. That fish went 10lbs 8ozs, and
is the one you see very often on the editorial
page as a dresser. That year, I took three
more very big fish, all using the furled leader,
but none quite as good as that first one.
There are a number of very good furled
leader makers, all are good, and all have
something to offer. Above all else, they will
offer fishing, when otherwise it would not
seem possible.
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35
A latter day favourite ...
The Golden Olive ...
one that kills on the quietest
of days ...
Terry Griffiths
40
41
Let us start with the hook. It should
be heavy enough to carry the dressing, not a simple matter with many
flies. This one was not quite so difficult.
This is a complex looking fly for
trout and sea-trout, in sizes from
#14 to #8, and salmon in sizes #4
or #6.
As a variation the hackle can be tied
palmer style, but this version works
really well as both a still or river
pattern.
Set the hook in the vice and begin by
laying a solid base of tying thread
along the shank, to the start of the
bend of the hook ...
Take a length of orange floss and tie
itin, leaving a trailing end beyond the
bend, this excess will be used to ‘capture’ the tag when it is wrapped ...
Bring the loose end of floss across the
top of the tag, just like a hump back,
and tie down. This will help prevent
the annoyance of the floss dropping
down around the bend of the hook ...
Select a small Golden Pheasant topping and tie in, it should extend just
beyond the bend of the hook, but not
too far ....
Select a small Golden Pheasant topping and tie in, it should extend just
beyond the bend of the hook, but not
too far ...
A length of fine oval gold tinsel is
now caught in, immediately in front
of the tag ...
Form a dubbed body of Golden Olive
seal fur or substitute, allow the dub to
be quite spikey for best results ...
Bring the rib forward, in even open
turns, and tie off just short of the eye
of the hook ... it may be necessary to
pick out the dubbing to give it some
spike ...
42
43
Select a soft, henny golden Olive
hackle, and tie in by the tip, if possible ‘double’ the hackle by folding the
fibres back before wrapping ...
Wrap the hackle, coaxing it into a
backwards sweep as you wrap. This
will happen naturally if you double
the hackle prior to wrapping it ...
Secure the hackle and form a neat base
onto which the wing can be set ... if
necessary, wet your fingers and coax
the hackle to the underside of the
shank ...
Tear off a bunch of Golden Pheasant
tippet fibres - select from a medium
length feather, to maintain the intensity of colour by showing both black
barrs of the fibres ... tie in on top of
the hook ...
A bunch of Bronze Mallard are
now selected and folded flat, then
offered over the tippet fibbres. As
they are offered up, they will fold
to form a roof over the tippet underwing, this is perfect ...
Secure the mallard overwing and
form a head with the tying thread,
finish with a whip finish, or
whichever is your method ...
The head should be varnished, either with clear varnish, or for a
touch of authenticity with brown
shellac varnish ... job done!
.
44
45
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Transcription

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