Tail: Mallard, three fibers
Body: Rat’s back fur, mixed with yellow mohair
Hackle: Grey
Wing: Grey mallard
Head: Peacock herl

Grey Drake from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

I have neither mouse or rat in my material-stash, but I chose some grey mole that should be close enough (without me knowing the exact qualities of rat).

Tail: Black bear, three hairs
Body: Yellow-green mohair
Hackle: Yellow
Wing: Yellow mallard
Head: Black

The Green Drake from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

The tail can be substituted with any dark, relatively stiff, material. For this one I’m actually not sure what I chose, but it was a piece of fur with stiff material. This comes down to my philosphoy of choosing what could be the best approximate if I don’t have the exact match in material.

Body: Mole or water-rat’s fur, mixed with yellow mohair
Tail: Mouse’s whiskers
Hackle: Dun
Wing: Tomtit’s tail feather

Blue Blow Fly from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

One with a couple of subsititutes: mouse whiskers is not something I’ve got in my stash, so I chose some of the thinnest whiskers from a Hare. The wing was also substituted with Grouse

Body: Hare’s ear fur, mixed with a little yellow mohair
Wing: Starling, bunting, or woodcock

Hare’s Ear Fly from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

The darkes ones suffered during a lack of long enough starling to cover the hook-length (and a bit too much hare’s ear in the mix compared to the other two. A buggy pattern indeed!

Body: Gold  mohair or floss
Hackle: Small black-red
Wing: Starling and partridge tail, mixed

The Little Soldier Fly from The Art of Angling by William Blacker. The one above is tied in hand on a vintage blind-eye hook, while the three below all are tied for fishing on Ahrex FW580 #10.

A little bit of partridge above the starling wing gives the wing on this pattern a interesting look and should provide that little extra movement for the fly. A technique I should add to some other wets as well.