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Durham Ranger

2014.12.62.kvitre.no.durham_ranger_single

Hook: TMC7999 #1/0
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Tag: Lagartun Oval X-Strong Fine, Lagartun French Silk Floss
Tail: GP, Veniard Red Crow Substitute
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: Yellow/Claret/Black Seals Fur
Rib: UNI-Mylar #10, Lagartun Oval X-Strong Large
Hackle: The Fly. Co Rooster Neck
Throat: Veniard Chinese Cock Doctor Blue
Wing:Pair of Jungle Cock, 2 pair of GP tippets, 2 GP toppings
Sides: Jungle Cock
Head: Black Ostrich

Another classic salmon for my fishing box: the Durham Ranger. I have a JC that really isn’t that good for display flies, but for these fishing flies they are great! The durham ranger is one that I haven’t tied before but is in almost every book about the classics, and it shows up on many sites describing this pattern that was made by William Henderson in the 1840’s. I didn’t have all the material to be true to the original pattern, but I made due with what I had.

I always tie up a couple of each when I start a pattern to get a feel on how the pattern is, this time the second time around did come out better:

2014.12.62.kvitre.no.durham_ranger

The seals fur body in three different colors:

2014.12.62.kvitre.no.durham_ranger_close

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’s Ghost Variant

2014.10.30.dryfly.me.mickey_ghost_red

Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens Streamer #2/0 10xl
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tag: UNI-Mylar
Body: UNI-Floss White underbody, UNI-Floss red
Rib: UNI-Mylar
Belly: Red bucktail, yellow bucktail
Throat: Red Schlappen
Underwing: Peacock Herl, Golden Pheasant Crest
Wing: The Fly Co Yellow Rooster Neck, Foxtail Red Hen Neck
Shoulder: Silver Pheasant
Cheek: Jungle Cock

A variant of yesterdays Mickey’s Ghost, but this time with red body. A little bit cleaner this time, and the silver pheasant sits better. A fun pattern to experiment with!

2014.10.30.dryfly.me.mickey_ghost_red_body

The two ghosts together:

2014.10.30.dryfly.me.mickey_ghost_together

Bergman: Abbey

2014.09.22.dryfly.me.bergman_abbey

Hook: Mustad S60-3399A #6
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tail: Golden Pheasant Tail Tippet
Body: UNI Dark Red
Ribbing: UNI-Mylar
Wing: Bronze Mallard (not grey as in the original pattern)
Pattern: Ray Bergman “Trout” Plate 1

I got some Mustad S60-3399A (the new edition of 3399) this weekend and I started looking through “Trout” to see which patterns I have material for. The Abbey is the first one, and I have the material for it (except I have bronze mallard compared to the grey mallard that the pattern say), so I got around to making this version based on the original description. There are some issues with the floss, and the head is not very pretty (it bleads over into the wing a bit, this I need to practice more). But: all in all a ok effort for this one, will add a couple of more versions of this for practice before I move on.