NWSJ 3-47.indd
Transcription
NWSJ 3-47.indd
Northwoods Sporting Journal Page 26 The Tyer’s Corner July 2015 The Pink Lady Streamer by Hugh Kelly, Detroit, ME This month’s fly happens to be the last streamer tied by Carrie Stevens; she tied it to demonstrate her technique to the man who bought her fly tying business. The fly can be seen at the Rangeley Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc, ME along with other famous flies of the region. This fly gets confused often with the Pink Ghost which is a different fly entirely. You see pink versions of many streamers out there and in the fly fishing literature; pink in a fly has worked for me in the past. I’ll caution you that there are several versions of this fly and some folks take exception to substitutions; I’ll suggest a substitution or two in a few paragraphs. Recipe for the Pink Lady Streamer Hook – Standard streamer hook, 8x long Thread – Black Rib – Silver Mylar Body – Pink floss Belly—White bucktail Throat—Pink saddle hackle fibers Wing – Peacock herls between grizzly saddle hackle feathers Shoulder – Mallard flank Eyes—Jungle cock I use the old Mustad 94720 hook because I still have some, you can use the newer version of the hook. There is no tail, tie in the Mylar first for the rib to come later. I use silver but many recipes for this fly call for a gold rib. The body is pink floss. On smaller wet flies I usually start with white thread when I use a light colored floss body so the black color doesn’t show through when it gets wet. Since I use several layers of floss on streamers and I don’t get any bleed through, I feel it doesn’t seem to be a problem with this fly. Wrap a floss body and wind a rib forward, five to seven wraps. The belly is white bucktail like many Rangeley style streamers; a small bunch selected from the tip of the tail will flare a lot less. Tie in the belly and add a small bunch of pink hackle fibers for a throat. The wing is four or five peacock herls between two grizzly saddle hackles. I prefer to tie in the herls first and then each wing after that. Carrie’s wing method was to cement the shoulder to the wing and the eye onto the shoulder. These preassembled wings were then paired up and put onto hooks with completed bodies. There is a great blog about this technique at http://donbastianwetflies.com/ that I really recommend reading if you want to tie Rangeley streamers or wet flies. Use mallard flank feathers for shoulders and then add the eyes. The eyes on this fly are Jungle cock which is more available than it was years ago. The Ultimate Fishing Experience Substitutions. I usually hear thunder at this point. I often will tie flies in gold and silver Mylar because you never know which color will work better in the water you’re fishing, likely because of tannin in the water or position of the sun. Carrie sometimes would wind her rib slanted toward the rear of the hook, I’m not sure that landlocks can tell the difference. An orange feather between the two grizzly saddle hackles in the wing is an addition that came later and this particular version has given me some very hard hitting strikes and break offs. Hugh Kelly has fly fished and tied his own flies for over 40 years. He and his family live in Detroit where he ties flies, drinks Moxie and plans fishing trips. He can be reached at hkellymaine@ gmail.com and he writes a fly tying blog at puckerbrushflies.com Platinum Dealer BRANCH POND MARINE Mercury • Mercruiser Northern Lights Docks • Lund 269 High Street, Ellsworth, ME 04605 Pat Jude ~ (207) 667-2268 Boat Storage ~ Winterization BRING YOUR BOAT IN TO BE SERVICED www.branchpondmarine.com All Your Fly Tying Needs Renzetti and Dyna-king Vises Collins Dry Fly Hackle [email protected] 864-5615 www.rangeleysportshop.com 2529 Main St., Rangeley More than 50 years supplying area sportsmen!