This one is tied for fishing, so I’m not that worried about the rather large head, or the fact that the GP doesn’t sit 100%, but tying these variants up for fishing is a very good exercise for tying up presentation-class flies later on, so I’ll just keep at it until I get it right. I tied this one up with red sealwool and orange tippet in the wing instead of the original pattern, but I think the colors came together well for this fly.
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tag: UTC French Tinsel Medium, Lagartun Silk Floss
Tail: GP
Body: Lagartun French Silk Floss
Rib: UTC French Tinsel Medium
Throat: Keough Hen Saddle Blue
Wing: Wapsi Squirrel Tail Blue/Tan
The blue charm with squirrel tail is one that shows up a lot of places when you start looking at salmon patterns, I have done some of them earlier, but then with a rather stiff cock hackle. This week I got some hen saddle and two different colors of squirrel tail, so I tied up these to go in my salmon box.
The blue charm is a great pattern that can work for both salmon and seatrout, it is not a very hard pattern to tackle, but make sure that the squirrel is tied in well: it has quite the slick surface on the hairs – use a waxed thread or ensure that it is well locked in before tying off!
I have been searching for some good spey hooks for a while, the flow and look of a good spey pattern is something that really appeals to me. This weekend I was out shopping for something else at www.midgarflyfish.com when I found a package of good heron and then Alec Jackson’s Spey fly hooks size 1 1/2 heavy! I had to tie up a couple on this hook straight away to get a feel on how they are to work on. The hook itself is very solid and have that profile you are after when tying spey patterns, these are for fishing and looking back at them they was a bit rushed, but overall I’m very happy with getting these hooks (and knowing that I have a steady supply here in town). Now I need to swing these to see how they behave – I have a feeling they are a bit overdressed so I will tie them slimmer next time.
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.
A couple of GH on Kamasan B280 #4 tied for fishing. As you can see there are some differences in the two: I omitted some in one and added some in the other to see how the overall impression turns out in the end. I’ll post more on this when I have tested it out in a river to see how it behaves.
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