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Month: December 2016

Black Creeper Grub

Posted on by Håvard Eide

Hook: Mustad 80500-npbl #1/0
Thread: Semperfli 18/0
Tag: Silver and light blue silk
Tail: swan & macaw
Rear hackle: Black, cheeked with kingfisher
Body: Black chenille with a black hackle in the center, cheeked with kingfisher
Front hackle: Black, cheeked with kingfisher

Continuing the grub series, here a pattern from George Kelson “The salmon fly” from 1895. I substituted ibis with swan, powdered blue macaw with blue/yellow macaw and chatterer with kingfisher. The look and feel is the what is important here (plus the fact that I don’t have 6 chatterer feathers around for testing out new patterns). Will try to tie this one up with light blue hackle tips to see how that can work: the kingfisher is not maintaining that clear colour once it is in water, so for fishing purposes it would be good to have something that will last a bit longer.

A pattern that can be tied up with both shorter (and more sparse) hackle and one with longer hackle, depending on the movement you want in the water. A heron hackle in front of either the rear or front hackle could also be something to explore.

Mar Lodge Grub

Posted on by Håvard Eide

Hook: Partridge M2 #1/0
Thread: Semperfli 18/0
Tag: Veevus Small
Tail: JC back to back
Rear hackle: Grey
Body: Silver with black band
Rib: Veevus Medium
Wing: JC back to back
Front hackle: Grey

Continuing my research on the grub patterns I came across a low-water Mar Lodge Grub version on a picture over at feathersfliesandphantoms.co.uk that had a interesting look: the minimalist flow, the grey hackle that will flow over the silver body and the JC that pops out. Would like to see this with the orange-colored JC that I have, but I’ll leave that for another time. The pattern should work for sea-trout as well, so I might tie up a version on a saltwater hook later on.

A friend of mine had a good input for this pattern: put a heron hackle over the rear hackle. I tied it in sparsely to follow the general feel of the pattern, this is one to bring for the sea-trout and salmon on those late summer days.

Tippet Grub

Posted on by Håvard Eide

Hook: Partridge M2 #1/0
Thread: Semperfli 18/0 Black
Tag: Veevus French Tinsel M, Seals Fur orange
Rear Hackle: Tippet wound as hackle and furnace hackle
Rear Body: Olive berlin wool
Centre Hackle: Tippet wound as hackle and furnace hackle
Front Body: Olive berlin wool
Front Hackle: Tippet wound as hackle and furnace hackle
Head: Shellac

Going through the old salmon patterns you find the standard classics that most will recognise as a “classic” salmon fly: the gaudy pattern with married or mixed wing that have a lot of color and flare. But you also have the grub – a pattern that you can follow up to the shrimp patterns of today, the “Ullsokken” salmon fly or various sea-trout patterns that we use here in scandinavia.

Going back through the history of salmon patterns I have come over some grubs from time to time and have wanted to start tying some up to carry with me in the box. The first is here: the tippet grub, tied it up in slightly different hackle length to start testing it out in the water once the season starts. This is a pattern I can see working good in this color, but also with oter color combinations – I will try with both black and orange colored tippet later on for variations over this pattern.

Sunturn Sunrise

Posted on by Håvard Eide

Hook: Partridge M2 #2/0
Thread: Semperfli 18/0
Tag: Silver, black silk
Tail: GP, red & yellow swan
Butt: Ostrich
Body: black, yellow, orange and red sealsfur
Rib: Silver
Throat: Red and black
Underwing: Black GP tippet
Wing: Kori, yellow, orange and red swan
Topping: GP
Head: Shellac

Another winter solstice and the third sunturn fly I have made: each year I grab a bottle of Nøgne Ø “Sunturn Brew” and create a pattern based on the fact that we are on the darkest day of the year. I still have some bottles left of this beer that Nøgne Ø brew only on this shortest day of the year, and this year it had been stored for just over 2 years before the winter solstice.

The past years I have created a pattern that, looking back at it, reflect the state of my progression in fly tying: the first year it was a spey, last year it was a ranger. This year I have done a lot of married wings and getting into the classic salmon patterns, so it was obvious what I had to do this year! With the dark days and the focus on the sun turning to brighter days it was again the focus on black/yellow/red colors that dominated the pattern, maybe more yellow/orange/red this year than the years before. This one will go into my collection as the blueprint, but I’ll create some more for fishing.

The beer is everything I want in a winter beer: dark with sweet malts and a long full aftertaste. The balance and complexity is great, so it goes very well together with flytying on a dark winter night!

 

https://flytyer.org/eide/pattern/sunturn-sunrise

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