Hook: Partridge Bomber #2
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tail: Calf Body
Body: Wapsi Premo Deer Hair Bleached
Hackle: Whiting Bronze
Wing: Calf Body
Got a shipment of different size (#2-#8) Partridge Bomber hooks the other day and starting with the largest hook I’ll start tying up a box of these in different colors. The smaller ones will work well for trout as well, not only salmon, so this will be something to test out just as the sun is setting and the trout goes hunting after mice.
Hook: Kamasan B280 #4, Partridge Patriot #8
Thread: UNI 6/0 Red
Tag: UNI-French Medium Oval
Tail: GP
Body: underbody of UNI-Floss, UNI-Mylar #16
Rib: UNI-French Medium Oval
Wing: Squirrel
Hackle: Whiting Dryfly neck, Rooster Saddle Grizzly (depending on size)
A pattern on facebook got me in the direction of this fly, a grey&silver some might call it, but I used what I had to create this double on different hook sizes.
The all-silver body combined with a thin wing and trying to have a sparse hackle will make this sink quickly in the current and give a lot of visual feedback. I’ll tie this one up on singles and on tube as well, but I’ll do that later, for now I’m on a double rush!
The head on the smallest one did not come out very good, but it will catch some fish anyway:
Hook: Partridge Patriot #8
Thread: UNI 6/0 Red
Tag: UTC French Tinsel
Tail: Red & Yellow bucktail, Gold flash
Body: UNI Floss Black
Rib: UTC French Tinsel
Wing: Black Hair
Hackle: Yellow & Red
I got 50 Partridge Patriot yesterday and had to test it out by tying up some cascade. I haven’t tied on this hook before or fished this pattern, but the hook looks and feels solid and the pattern should be good for both salmon and seatrout.
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:
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:
Up until this point the fly is flowing nicely: the hackle could be better and the yellow throat should be thicker:
The colors of the green highlander is what pulled me in the first time:
Rear-view of the green highlander:
The topping is forming a nice veil on top of the fly and packs it in:
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:
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!
The two ghosts together:
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