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Green Highlander- #3/0

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh

Hook: Partridge Bartleet Blind-Eye #3/0
Thread: UNI 17/0 Trico White, Sheer 14/0 Black
Tag: Lagartun Oval X-Strong Fine French Tinsel, Lagartun French Silk Floss
Tail: GP topping, Wood Duck
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: Lagartun French Silk Floss, Seals fur Green Highlander
Rib: Lagartun French Tinsel
Hackle: Green Highlander Cock Saddle
Underwing: GP tippet
Wing: Dyed Turkey Yellow/Orange/Green, Wood Duck, Mallard Duck
Throat: Rooster Neck Yellow
Cheek: Red Crow Substitute

This one has been a long time in the making: I started last year with some married wings but it went on and off for a while and I didn’t have material that I needed for this pattern. I still don’t have everything I would like to have: the wing should have some GP/Bustard/Mottled turkey, a good JC and horns. But: step by step I’ll add more to this pattern, this time it was all about getting the 18 strands of wing to stay together and tie them in without the fibers going in every direction, and I did! Next time I’ll increase the wing to 21/24 strands and manage to tie that in properly, but I don’t mind doing more variants on this pattern (as long as I get some more silk gut soon….).

There are some adjustments on this (there always is!), but the parts I’m happy with on this fly: the GP that meets up in the back, the GP underwing that aligns (and the fact that I figured out how to do it), the fact that the wing stayed in one place when I tied it in (“Tying the classic salmon fly” helped me out there) and the mallard duck roof.

I’m also quite happy with the start of the fly: the silk was nice and (almost) even, together with the tinsel it was a good starting point:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_tail

The underbody of white UNI-Floss before I started to add silk and seals fur. This makes for a better profile on the final fly:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_body

Up until this point the fly is flowing nicely: the hackle could be better and the yellow throat should be thicker:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_body_done

The colors of the green highlander is what pulled me in the first time:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_close

Rear-view of the green highlander:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_rear

The topping is forming a nice veil on top of the fly and packs it in:

2014.11.25.dryfly.me.gh_front

 

If I were to save one fly I have ever created it must be this! I know that if I come back to this in a couple of years time I will find a lot of things to point out, but this is the process: tie up, learn, repeat. And for me part of that process is to put these patterns out here, together with a macro shot that shows all the little flaws it have, but that is one of the things that drive me to become better!

To give you a idea of how big this fly is:

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Spey Style #3/0

2014.10.26.dryfly.me.spey

Hook: Partridge Bartleet Blind-Eye #3/0
Gut: Feathers MC Twisted Silk Gut Medium
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Body: UNI-Floss White underbody, UNI-Floss Black
Rib: UNI-Mylar Silver #10, UNI-French Gold Oval Small, Lagartun Varnished French Tinsel Oval X-Strong Fine, UNI-Mylar #16 reverse to support hackle
Hackle: Spirit River Spey Hackle
Wing: Veniard Mallard Duck Bronze Large
Throat: Strung Guinea Natural

The Spey and Dee style flies have a look that attract me when it comes to style and execution, this one is a freestyle over a general spey based on the materials I have available. It turned out to be a exercise in rib and layering of the body that I haven’t done before.

I had to stretch the mallard duck to find something that would fit a hook this size, it didn’t come together perfectly: there are some strands that didn’t sit together perfectly, but I got the overall flow of the wing this time.

2014.10.26.dryfly.me.spey_top

The ribbing: 3 strands going over the body and one reverse over the hackle to keep it in place. Really pleased with how this came out in the end.

2014.10.26.dryfly.me.spey_rib

The front-view of this spey fly:

2014.10.26.dryfly.me.spey_front

2/0 10xl red & black streamers

2014.10.25.dryfly.me.red_black_streamer

Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens Streamer #2/0 10xl
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Tag: Uni-Mylar
Tail: Golden Pheasant
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: 3 layers of UNI-Floss White, Red/Black UNI-Floss
Rib: UNI-French, UNI Red/Black Floss
Wing: Whiting Cape – Black, Foxtail Cock Neck – Red
Shoulder: Harline Strung Guinea Natural, Jungle Cock feather, Veniard Red Crow Substitute, Jungle Cock

I really enjoy pushing the boundaries when it comes to tying flies, and this one is one of the bigger ones that I’ve tied! The 10xl Carrie Stevens streamer hook is massive to tie on and can give some challenges when it comes to planning the layout and finding the material that will stretch all the way to the end. The plan from the start was to mount these in a frame and put them on the wall, I didn’t have a pattern to go from, but was rather inspired from various images on google and some Carrie Stevens patterns to draw some knowledge from, besides that these two are a creation from my own mind, so what should I call them?

2014.10.25.dryfly.me.red_black_streamer2

I wanted to create something that popped out and had clean lines to look at, that’s where the two main feathers came from, the original plan was to have a read feather as the first feather on the second one but I didn’t have large enough to stretch to the end of the hook so I ended up with just changing the colors on the body for the second one. I like the lines it has and mounted together in a frame these two will be a good match to each other

2014.10.25.dryfly.me.red_black_streamer_togetherI do see some issues with the execution: the body floss is not as smooth as I would like, the guinea should have been pulled a little bit further towards the hook and the lines from the JC to the black feather is not in line. But this will be a exercise for the winter to get better on, I just need to get some more of these hooks since I’m almost out.

 

Green Guinea Streamer #2/0

dryfly.me.2013.10.27.green_guinea_streamerHook: Partridge Carrie Stevens Streamer #2/0 10xlong
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black, UNI 6/0 Black
Tail: Pair of green Guinea feathers
Butt: Black Ostrich
Underbody: UNI-Floss White
Body: UNI-Floss Green, UNI-Mylar #10 Gold/Silver, UNI-French Oval Md Silver
Wing: Pair of Green Guinea feathers, Red feather from Golden Pheasant tail
Cheek: Pair of Purple Golden Pheasant, pair of green Guinea feathers
Throat: Green guinea

Winter is coming and with that I have started to tie up fully dressed salmon flies, but in a order from taimen.com I added a pack of 10xlong streamer hooks just for to see what I could do with them. Today I put one in my vice, and it was big! I normally tie up on #10-#18 dryfly/nymphs, so it was a daunting task. I browsed streamers365.com for inspiration for a while and pulled out what feathers I had that could match up with a hook on this size. I ended up with a green freestyle streamer based on what I had in my box (I realized I didn’t have much that could be put on a hook this size).

I’m quite pleased since this is the first attempt ever at anything remotely near this size. The one thing I am annoyed with is the French Oval: the top one right next to the ostrich herl ended up with a small gap between it and the Mylar.

Not quite sure what I should call this though: any input? Or is there a existing pattern that resembles this?

To compare what I normally would tie: here with a #12 white cdc & deer hair caddis:

dryfly.me.2013.10.27.green_guinea_streamer_w_dryfly