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Black Goldfinch

2014.12.02.kvitre.no.black_goldfinch

Hook: TMC 7999 #1/0
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Tag: UTC Oval Silver Medium, UNI-Floss Red
Tail: GP, Veniard Red Crow Substitute
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: UNI-Floss Black
Rib: UNI-Mylar #10
Hackle: Whiting Black Rooster Cape
Throat: Harline Strung Guinea Natural
Wing: Turkey Yellow/Red, 3 GP toppings

The “Classic Salmon Fly Patterns” by Michael D. Radencich lists 5 variants of the Black Goldfinch. What I had closest material for was the Black Goldfinch No.1 and tied these two up for my salmon box. Still have some issues with mounting, but the real interesting exercise here was the mounting of 3 toppings over the wing. The GP toppings needed to sit correctly together and not flare out to the sides, to tell you: I spent some toppings to get these to sit ok, but a good exercise indeed!

 

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:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Mickey Streamer

2014.10.24.dryfly.me.mickey_streamer

Hook: TMC777SP #6
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tail: Turkey
Body: UNI-Mylar
Rib: Lagartun Varnished French Tinsel
Wing: Turkey
Throat: The Fly Co. Rooster Neck
Sides: JC

After doing the hairwing mickey finn the other day I browsed alternative versions to see how this pattern has been interpreted in different versions (I enjoy exploring a pattern to see how it turns out in different versions, not just the original). The Mickey Streamer I found over at globalflyfisher.com together with some other variants that I will tie up later. The mickey streamer version is a married wing wet-fly style pattern in the color scheme of the original mickey finn, tied on a longer streamer hook than a classic wet would be done on.

Governor #8

2014.08.29.dryfly.me.wet

Hook: Kamasan B170 #8
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tip: UNI-Mylar Gold/Silver #16
Tag: UNI-Floss Dark Red
Body: Peacock Herl
Wing: Mottled Turkey
Throat: Brown

Ray Bergmans “Trout” is a classic that you quickly hear about when it comes to classic flytying. I still haven’t got a copy, but I got some inspiration from the globalflytyer.com bergman collection and have plans to tie up some over winter to get a feel of these classic wet-flies. The bergman collection calls for a lot of material (in many colors) if you want to be true to the original, but I’m going to substitute some as I see fit and what I have available.

Red Buzzer with yellow Turkey Biot Cheeks

dryfly.me.2014.01.13.red_buzzer_yellow_cheekHook: Kamasan B100 #12
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Brown
Resin: Bug-Bond LITE
Body: UNI Floss Red, UNI-Mylar peacock
Thorax: UNI Floss Black
Cheek: Hareline Turkey Biot Quills Yellow

The previous bug-bond bottle I had was too thick for the small buzzers so I got myself a new bottle with the LITE version that is much more appropriate when creating small bodies like this. The red floss soaks up a lot of the bug-bond and gets a lot darker, so I will continue to see what material will be best for these kinds of flies. The other thing I wanted to test out was to use Turkey Biot Quills for cheeks on the buzzer, and I think that worked out fine: the bug-bond doesn’t discolor it and it is easy to work with.

The other new thing with this fly was the hook: a Kamasan B100 Shrimp/Buzzer hook that I haven’t tied on before. My initial feel for it is good: it is thin but strong and it has a nice big gap that will make this hook perfect for emergers and buzzers.

dryfly.me.2014.01.13.hook