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Sunturn Sunrise

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

Sunturn Spey

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_speyHook: Alec Jackson Spey #1 1/2 Heavy Wire
Body: 1/3 Lagartun Black Silk Floss, 1/3 The Fly Co. Yellow Seals Fur, 1/3 The Fly Co. Red Seals Fur
Rib: UNI-Mylar Silver #10, UNI-French Oval Small Gold, UNI-Mylar #16 tied reverse over the hackle
Hackle: Foxtail Hen Neck Red, The Fly Co. Yellow Rooster Neck, Black Heron. Order: red, yellow and finally black in front
Wing: Veniard Mallard Duck Bronze Large

Today is winter solstice, and here in Norway this marks the coming of more daylight and the start of a journey towards the spring where we once again will get to go out and flyfish for trout and salmon. One of my favorite beer breweries here in Norway is Nøgne Ø, and they have a tradition to brew a batch of Sunturnbrew on this very day. It is dark, has lots of flavor, fits perfectly with my tastebuds and is a massive 11% alcohol!

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_bottle

Some years back I bought some bottles to see how it matures, and I open one bottle every year, on winter solstice, the very day it was created. This batch was brewed back on 2010.21.12 and is batch number #573. Today I was inspired when I saw that the brewers are at it again and are creating another batch of this great beer! I sat down and thought about the taste, the label, the winter solstice and created this spey fly that I call “Sunturn Spey”, a homage to Nøgne Ø and their Sunturnbrew.

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_back

The main idea came from the white to yellow to red writing on the label, I also wanted to convey the darkness of both the beer and the time of the year that we have.

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_frontThe flow of the hackle together with the seals fur dubbing represents the sun coming out of the darkness. I would like to get some clean Sunturnbrew labels and mount this fly in a frame together with it and send it to Grimstad to the brewers!

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_sideDetail from the body: the counter-wrap will ensure that the hackle stays in place

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_back_detailA double mallard wing on top:

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_topI’m very happy with how this fly came out, and I could frame it, but the colors and shape of this fly makes it one that I will tie up a few of to have in my salmon box for when the summer comes!