Red Claret Spey

Hook: Daiichi 2052 #1.5
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Body: Underbody UNI-Floss white, Lagartun Red Claret French Silk Floss
Rib: No-brand gold
Hackle: Heron
Wing: Veniard Mallard Bronze Large

A freestyle spey where I wanted to have as few materials as possible, work on the body profile and try to not overload the fly with too much of the materials I used.

The lagartun silk floss with the gold rib really stands out on this one, the taper of the body is also one that I’m very happy with – it goes smoothly from start to finish. The one thing I could work on is the wing, I did it high over the body (and not really low-set) with purpose, and I’m quite happy with that, but the smoothness of the wing from some angles are not the best, so I’ll put another version up later.

Rusty Rat: 10 different sizes and types

Posted on 14 February, 2015 by Håvard Eide lagartun rat red rusty spey tube uni veniard

Repetition is the key for many things in life, so also with fly tying! When getting into a pattern that I want to explore, or get some new material that I need to get familiar with I tend to sit down and tie up the same pattern in different sizes and on different hooks to see how it comes together.

This week I have focused on the rusty rat: I have tied it up in 10 different variations on singles, doubles and on tube. The pattern itself is a classic one that should need not much introduction (and there are other sites that can describe the background for this pattern much better than I can).

Of all the variations here there is one first for me: slipstream tubes. I have tied a lot of tubes the last year, but this week I got a good offer on some slipstream tubes from Veniard in different sizes, so when I got into the rusty rat I had to tie some up on that as well.

This a very good exercise that I can recommend for anyone: you get to know the pattern, and at the end of the session you know how the pattern is and behaves in different sizes and on different hooks.

TMC7999 #1/0

TMC7999 #4

TMC7999 #8

Mustad S60-3399A #6

Alec Jackson Spey #1.5

Kamasan B280 #4

Kamasan B280 #8

Partridge Patriot #8

Tube

Veniard Slipstream Tube

Sunturn Spey

Posted on 21 December, 201421 December, 2014 by Håvard Eide alec jackson dubbing duck fly co foxtail french fur hen heron lagartun mallard mylar nøgne ø oval rooster seal spey uni veniard

Hook: 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!

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.

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.

The 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!

Detail from the body: the counter-wrap will ensure that the hackle stays in place

A double mallard wing on top:

I’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!

Black Goldfinch

Posted on 2 December, 2014 by Håvard Eide 7999 cape floss gp guinea hareline mylar ostrich red crow rooster sheer tmc turkey utc veniard whiting

Hook: TMC 7999 #1/0
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Tag: UTC Oval Silver Medium, UNI-Floss Red
Tail: GP, Veniard Red Crow Substitute
Butt: Black Ostrich
Body: UNI-Floss Black
Rib: UNI-Mylar #10
Hackle: Whiting Black Rooster Cape
Throat: Harline Strung Guinea Natural
Wing: Turkey Yellow/Red, 3 GP toppings

The “Classic Salmon Fly Patterns” by Michael D. Radencich lists 5 variants of the Black Goldfinch. What I had closest material for was the Black Goldfinch No.1 and tied these two up for my salmon box. Still have some issues with mounting, but the real interesting exercise here was the mounting of 3 toppings over the wing. The GP toppings needed to sit correctly together and not flare out to the sides, to tell you: I spent some toppings to get these to sit ok, but a good exercise indeed!

Silver Doctor Hairwing

Posted on 15 November, 2014 by Håvard Eide bucktail crest doctor blue french lagartun mylar pheasant pt sealwool uni veniard

Thread: UNI 6/0
Tag: UNI-French, Lagartun French Silk
Butt: Sealwool dubbing from Eivind Berulfsen
Tail: PT Crest
Body: UNI-Mylar
Rib: UNI-French
Wing: Red, Yellow, Blue Bucktail
Throat Hackle: Veniard Cock Neck Doctor Blue

After yesterdays Nova Scotia Classic it was time for this bucktail wing version of the silver doctor.

veniard

Red Claret Spey

Rusty Rat: 10 different sizes and types

Sunturn Spey

Black Goldfinch

Silver Doctor Hairwing

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