The Rangers are a group of flies said to be derived at least in part from the Parson family of flies. The relationship can be seen in the use of whole golden pheasant tippets as the basis of the wing. In the Rangers however, there are two pairs, one slightly shorter then the other, arranged so that the outside pair has its black tip on the lower black bar of the slightly longer inside pair. These two pairs are enveloping an elongated pair of Jungle cock neck feathers. This arrangement is known as the Ranger wing and is characteristic of Ranger family flies.
This family comprises the Durham and Black Rangers, each pattern having multiple variations, the Blue, Red, Silver, Gold, Green, Irish and Erne, though the last two do not have a Ranger wing. Flies sharing the Ranger wing but not called Rangers include the Stevenson group of flies and the Lady Amherst, which is essentially a Ranger except using Lady Amherst tippets instead of golden pheasant tippets in the wing. I shall discuss those flies in a later entry. In this article we shall deal mainly with the Durham Ranger, which, while not the oldest, is arguably the most popular of the Ranger family.
According to Francis Francis, the Durham Ranger was a favourite on the Tweed, but also good anywhere else. It is the earliest Durham Ranger pattern I could find, from “A Book on Angling” publishing in 1867. Mikael Frodin gives credit to William Henderson, for this fly and a date of 1840-1845. I note however, that Francis Francis himself says of the list of flies he gives for the Tweed, including the Durham Ranger, “The above patterns are all from the repertoire of my old acquaintance, James Wright of Sprouston, a first rate artist.” He does not say when however or state whether or not James Wright actually invented these flies, most specifically the Durham Ranger. George M. Kelson however does give Wright the credit, and is most certainly wrong, though it may have been Wright who tied the first ones commercially.
A web search online for William Henderson revealed he had written a book “My Life as and Angler” published in in 1879 by W. Satchell, Peyton & Co. London. On page 131, in an entry there in for February 20, 1846, he states that the Durham Ranger was invented by a Mr. Scruton, and on that day caught a 30 ½ lb salmon. This is repeated again in a table on page 308 giving himself as the lucky angler. On page 219 we see an entry dated Nov. 10, 1860, for a Ranger (black body) that brought in two salmon, of 18 and 23lbs respectively, and could deduce from that (if we didn't already know) that by then the Black Ranger had already been invented as well. Page 310 shows a November 26, 1866 entry for a blue bodied Ranger, fished by William Henderson at Sprouston, for a salmon of 26lbs.
So, on examination of the flies, many similarities can be seen in the Parsons and Rangers, and their later derivations. That one derived from the other however, is an interesting question. There was an air of creative energy on the Erne in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s. Likewise, it seems that at Sprouston, on the Tweed similar energy was in play. Given the distance between Ireland and England at the time, and the difficulty of travel for all but the better off, on the surface it would seem an unlikely derivation. The speed and efficiency of the postal and other communications systems was decent however, and the fishing fraternity was a relatively small and closed set of folks. It is highly likely that something seen on the Erne that appealed to the English salmon angler might be taken home to be copied and altered to suit the salmon of the home rivers.
I could find no actual pattern for the Durham, or the Black bodied or Blue bodied Rangers in Henderson’s book, so list the pattern from Francis Francis as follows:
The Durham RangerTip: silver twist
Tag: golden silk
Tail: topping
Butt: Black herl
Body: 2 turns orange floss, 2 of dark orange, claret and black pigs wool, black wool picked out at breast
Ribbing: ?
Hackle: red-orange stained coch y bondu on the wool
Throat: two turns black then light blue
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Cheeks: Kingfisher
Shoulder: none
Horns: Blue Macaw
You will note that in the original pattern, he does not actually list a ribbing, It is implied from later patterns. Also, the jungle cock shoulder we are used to seeing in today’s version is absent.
George M. Kelson credits James Wright with the Durham Ranger, at least with the pattern he includes for it in his book. It is rather different in some details from the original, but is still a close cousin. The pattern is listed below:
Tip: silver twist
Tag: yellow floss
Tail: topping and Indian crow
Butt: Black herl
Body: 2 turns orange silk, 2 turns dark orange seal, rest black seal
Ribbing: silver lace and silver tinsel
Hackle: orange dyed white coch-a-bonddu along the fur,
Throat: light blue throat
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Cheeks: chatterer
Shoulder: none
Horns: blue macaw
Head: black Berlin wool
Next in line is the pattern as listed by Sir Herbert Maxwell. It's similarity to the previous patterns is obvious, with the usual Maxwell touches, the black chenille butt and head.
Tip: silver wire
Tag: gold floss
Tail: topping
Butt: black chenille
Body: 1/5 orange floss, orange, claret and black pig’s wool picked out
Ribbing: silver tinsel
Hackle: coch y bondu dyed orange
Throat: black and sky blue over
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Cheeks: chatterer
Shoulder: none
Horns: blue macaw
Head: black chenille
Another lovely pattern, probably also the most popular one today is the pattern by Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt. This is the earliest version I have seen where the shoulder of jungle cock feathers was used. The pattern is as follows:
Tip: silver tinsel
Tag: none
Tail: topping and Indian crow
Butt: black herl
Body: lemon floss, orange, fiery brown and black seal in equal portions
Ribbing: flat silver and twist
Hackle: badger dyed yellow
Throat: light blue
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Shoulder: jungle cock
Cheeks: chatterer
Horns: blue and yellow macaw
Eric Taverner, writing in “Fly Tying for Salmon,” 1942 lists this same pattern as does Poul Jorgensen, “Salmon Flies,” 1978, and Joseph Bates, “Fishing Atlantic Salmon, the Flies and the Patterns,” 1996.
J. Edson Leonard, a more modern author, listed in "Flies," 1950 three versions of the Durham Ranger, a “Scotch," a “Welsh” and an undesignated one, along with his Black Ranger, which we shall discuss later. The patterns are listed below, and the reader should note that despite being markedly different in the materials used in the bodies, the wings are still Ranger wings. I am curious as to where these patterns actually came from, and why they are so different from the usual Durham Rangers.
Tip: silver
Tag: yellow floss
Tail: topping and short silver pheasant crest
Butt: Black herl
Body: claret dubbing
Ribbing: gold
Hackle: claret palmer,
Throat: pale blue throat
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Cheeks: light blue
Shoulder:
Durham Ranger #2 (Welsh) Tip:
Tag: gold
Tail: topping and sparse red fibers
Butt: Black herl
Body: ½ aft yellow floss, ½ fore red floss
Ribbing: gold
Hackle: scarlet palmer,
Throat: pale blue front
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, 2 toppings over
Cheeks: narrow blue
Shoulder:
Durham Ranger #3 (Scotch) Tip: silver wire
Tag: yellow floss
Tail: short topping and red fibers
Butt: Black herl
Body: 1/3 aft plain silver tinsel, 2/3 fore oval silver tinsel rib
Ribbing: oval silver tinsel 2/3 fore
Hackle: scarlet palmer following rib
Throat:
Wing: double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over
Cheeks: chatterer
Shoulder:
Horns: blue and yellow macaw
Head:
