A double-winged Akroyd tied on a massive #8/0 (close to #9/0) hook that I got the other day. To tie married wing patterns, or single-wing dee/spey on these massive hooks warrants the very largest of toppings and materials, so I didn’t start out with that, but I’d rather start with double-winged version of the Akroyd. The fly is tied with gut-sub, and is fully gutted, so I *could* take it for a swing next year…. I’ll just have to remember a helmet before I do so.
Akroyd on Flypattern.org:
One author that I hadn’t tied anything from was Traherne: the gaudy patterns, the massive amounts of (rare) feathers and colors everywhere made me stop shy of actually sitting down to tie anything. But: I needed something fresh to tie, something to tie up that I hadn’t done before, and when I stumbled upon a post in Chasing Silver Magazine I figured I was up for the challenge today.
Learning patterns and styles is important, so to get cracking on Traherne I got out a #5/0 iron and got out some substitute feathers to tie a fishing version of the Nepenthian. There are things to pick on, but it is a fly that I’ll use for fishing, so that is the focus when I tie these. Until 2019 though… I’ll get out the splitcane and put it on the end of a long floating line!
Jock Scott: one of the patterns that got me interested in classic salmon tying in the first place, and one that i have tied a few times since then, but mostly for fishing, and never once for just tying it properly. Now that autumn is on us and I needed to get back to tying again I picked up a Yasuhiro hook that I’ve been saving for a fly like this, got some coffee on started tying this. It has been in the vise for a couple of weeks, slowly getting all the parts together.
The problem with sizes like this, a #6/0, is always finding long enough material, but it came together, and now it’s time for framing.
Earlier this year I got a order for some Jock Scott with heron hackle instead of the normal body hackle, they turned out great, so before the last big trip of the season I tied up a Green Highlander with a similar approach. The fly turned out great – the movement in the water, the profile it had in the river left something to explore more! Sadly no takers, and the last day I fished a new pool with sinking line: the line & hook snagged deep down, so it was pulled so hard the partridge M2 #1/0 hook got bent (that hook can take a lot of beating….). Back to tie up a few more for next season!
Tied up some The Major for fishing on a fair last weekend – large #5/0 Mustad hooks that will get to swim early in the season
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