tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166537542023-11-16T05:35:50.879-08:00Atlanticsalmonflyguys blogRuminations and musings on the history and evolution of the Atlantic salmon fly, as well as showing off my own creations and featuring those tiers whose works I like.atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-5956590977217046052013-12-06T00:47:00.002-08:002013-12-06T00:49:18.021-08:00Samuel Taylor's Salmon Flies. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Published in 1800, Samuel Taylor's <i>"Angling in all its Branches" </i>contains a wealth of interesting angling advice, including some rather interesting trout flies. It is also notable for the three salmon flies that it contains. These simple, yet elegant patterns seem plain and perhaps even a bit ugly compared to the fully dressed salmon flies that were soon to appear on the rivers and streams, but they were fully functional and deadly in their day. The only question that I have of them is, how long were these patterns in service before they were published in Taylor's book? Between the two listed in Bowlker and these three is a span of only fifty-three years. Considering the speed with which the salmon fly was to change in the 1800's, that is a long time between the two, and Bowlker's patterns are far more gaudy by comparison than these three. I would not be surprised if these three were very old patterns, older than Bowlker's even. That however, is mere speculation. <br />
I present the three salmon flies from Samuel Taylor's <i>"Angling in all its Branches," </i> which would be repeated also in the Rural Sports book, published by <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bunny and Gold, Shoelane, London, the second edition of which came out in 1802, though I have no data on when it was originally printed. The patterns are as follows: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkWB6Dn1hkcV_sInabic-5Sr-U2XMVQSUSx_Ccpr2_fCygmbv3WX8cmLonmVtrDGR8VewM4juYAWdcjJooXRZaizWHBqa4_oU067h9YE5hGhFwSRhniGeUd6KVhaRpqB5XE4tW/s1600/Taylor+salmon+fly+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkWB6Dn1hkcV_sInabic-5Sr-U2XMVQSUSx_Ccpr2_fCygmbv3WX8cmLonmVtrDGR8VewM4juYAWdcjJooXRZaizWHBqa4_oU067h9YE5hGhFwSRhniGeUd6KVhaRpqB5XE4tW/s320/Taylor+salmon+fly+1.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Salmon fly No.1</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hook</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:
1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Silk:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tail:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
two strands bittern’s wing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Body:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
Reddish brown hare and copper coloured mohair equally mixed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ribbing:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
none<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hackle:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
bittern’s hackle palmered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wing:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
two strips of bittern’s wing quill upright not divided<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Head:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
same as body<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl3J3q_JNcPTS9sE19xao0cvBOZPa8jxlYMhGprcfleKM9c8YW15M99E2WNS1nd4hBWoIr8Oo7GPrDPEmJt7aFN92w6CJsiSiHkQ-UGbN-HAeSi3CfFIHbLkRh1B9jQ9X6sct/s1600/Taylor+salmon+fly+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl3J3q_JNcPTS9sE19xao0cvBOZPa8jxlYMhGprcfleKM9c8YW15M99E2WNS1nd4hBWoIr8Oo7GPrDPEmJt7aFN92w6CJsiSiHkQ-UGbN-HAeSi3CfFIHbLkRh1B9jQ9X6sct/s320/Taylor+salmon+fly+2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="303" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPdD7n5xDBxwOnp5O7pThM24mBlRzy5ZVAopxqePNGyySuEOPvXxj_YJSogsv0SJArPWsMTzBOUNfbu6-ICrxJuUg3YxsDbXOk9iU2re_UhquwO_P1SCqX0S6Zl168xlxOmu4/s1600/Taylor+salmon+fly+2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Salmon fly No.2</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hook:
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Silk:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
probably red or black<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tail:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
none<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Body:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
light brown bear’s dun, sable fur and gold coloured mohair equally mixed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ribbing:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
gold twist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hackle:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
black cock’s with a red cock’s a little larger above it.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wing:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
mottled peacock strips intermixed with plain dusky red anything<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Head:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
deep red mohair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_33V0czpuq55n49Kpwq_LcOfnxAL1m01Ll5yCtsWSqmyNtnSGucPUd_rycAmDR8sHzrjNcxph1DxbHgXuDi_rOWSM2lThBtD5XXkvAB6wLb0iYBR43DZ65bfygSQ033CkfYCS/s1600/Taylor+salmon+fly+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_33V0czpuq55n49Kpwq_LcOfnxAL1m01Ll5yCtsWSqmyNtnSGucPUd_rycAmDR8sHzrjNcxph1DxbHgXuDi_rOWSM2lThBtD5XXkvAB6wLb0iYBR43DZ65bfygSQ033CkfYCS/s320/Taylor+salmon+fly+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Salmon fly<i> </i>No.<i>3<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hook:
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Silk:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
lead coloured<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tail:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
blue heron’s wing intermixed with bronze mallard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Body:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
lead coloured mohair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ribbing:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
fine gold twist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hackle:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
a large white hackle dyed deep blue<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wing:
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">blue
heron’s wing intermixed with bronze mallard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Head:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> same as body</span></div>
atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-86020603500679155582013-03-01T12:42:00.001-08:002013-03-01T12:42:50.227-08:00Bowlker's Dragonfly <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In 1747, Charles and Richard Bowlker published <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>“Bowlker’s Art of
Angling” </i>In this book are two salmon fly patterns.<i> </i>The first is the </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Dragon Fly, Libella, or Libellula<i>.</i></span></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">with one variation. </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The second is the </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">King's Fisher or Peacock Fly. It also has a variation. These two patterns are important as they are possibly the first salmon fly patterns given in the English fly literature. In this posting, I present the first of the pair with its variation. Both ate tied in hand, true to materials as much as I could, following as much as I understood, the directions given by the Bowlkers. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The Dragonfly, Libella or Libellula The pattern, from the original: The wings are</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaEMha5hVG9cZsxQUIHp7Kvhi-EObHL7IvFvP2p5LukUj9ekuMRKukWDePLCelLkqQIK_FM6AU7HvwykTDHUoeESYldy5TuB5M5CgGtXMmk3xwt6e8K9OrH-600mJBXMB5qyJ/s1600/Bowlkers+dragonfly+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaEMha5hVG9cZsxQUIHp7Kvhi-EObHL7IvFvP2p5LukUj9ekuMRKukWDePLCelLkqQIK_FM6AU7HvwykTDHUoeESYldy5TuB5M5CgGtXMmk3xwt6e8K9OrH-600mJBXMB5qyJ/s320/Bowlkers+dragonfly+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">made of a reddish-brown feather from the wing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">of a cock turkey ; the body of auburn-coloured</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">mohair warped with yellow silk ; and a ginger</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">cock's hackle wrapt under the wings ; the hook</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">No, 2 or 3.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">The Dragonfly, Libella or Libellula variation: </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The wings are</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFC2QREyFqVhuRcqXPrOOvYFYWvJHtKO-xdbHjAtJsWqQV1AtX6MDFOxWP-S2toqWGOridp68DrItF1wwUrxMuWwM0W7X-4jZ9Q9zeFQGzceSK2M4rJ-RTbLfJo36DGZzCOd9/s1600/Bowlkers+dragonfly+variation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFC2QREyFqVhuRcqXPrOOvYFYWvJHtKO-xdbHjAtJsWqQV1AtX6MDFOxWP-S2toqWGOridp68DrItF1wwUrxMuWwM0W7X-4jZ9Q9zeFQGzceSK2M4rJ-RTbLfJo36DGZzCOd9/s320/Bowlkers+dragonfly+variation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">made of a reddish-brown feather from the wing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">of a cock turkey ; the body of auburn-coloured</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">mohair warped with yellow silk ; and a ginger</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">cock's hackle wrapt under the wings ; the hook</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">No, 2 or 3. Or it may be varied thus ; the</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">wings of a rich brown feather from a heron's</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">wing ; the body drab, or olive-coloured mohair;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">a bittern's hackle under the wings, and a forked</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">tail. This fly is about two inches in length.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In the first fly, the wing feathers from the turkey are coppery reddish brown, metallic and very nice to work with but not very long in the fibre. In the second fly I used rich brown turkey tail instead of heron, and the bittern is from a chicken skin I have that is a dead ringer for bittern, especially when used as a hackle. In both of these flies I have deliberately picked through the wings to disrupt the fibers and prevent them looking too modern. Both of these flies are just under 2 inches long from eye to bend. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-77782405527345908362011-05-04T10:15:00.000-07:002011-05-04T10:15:53.161-07:00The Forest Ranger<div class="MsoNormal">Salmon flies continue to evolve, with new patterns and styles being produced all the time. One of the more beautiful, and still functional salmon flies I have been introduced to in a very long time is the Forest Ranger, invented by Dave Burns. Here is the history of the fly in his own words. </div><div class="MsoNormal">"I started tying a fly that I called the Forest Ranger in August 1994 as a going away gift for a Forest Service employee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did one again in November 2007 as a contribution to a Payette Employees Association fund raiser for scholarships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That triggered a lot of popularity for the pattern and I've tied somewhere around a dozen since, mostly for moving rangers or retiring rangers or such.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have varied the materials some but here's the pattern from my logs:" </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEmMmmMitOocpErea-vmjFlzTk1Ty6WwVKZR5EOAj1Tu69zfem5oKJyvGhyDTUjfD4qcEbtdiUmrNa0OM0oH13nMmQkOjhealVe0MvK9GmtvEpSKcxzZckn3_O3Ao3j4X0okK/s1600/The_Forest_Ranger_112008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEmMmmMitOocpErea-vmjFlzTk1Ty6WwVKZR5EOAj1Tu69zfem5oKJyvGhyDTUjfD4qcEbtdiUmrNa0OM0oH13nMmQkOjhealVe0MvK9GmtvEpSKcxzZckn3_O3Ao3j4X0okK/s320/The_Forest_Ranger_112008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hook:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6/0-8/0 Harrison Bartleet; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Tag: copper tinsel, or copper wire and pale green silk; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Tail: golden pheasant crest (gpc) with veil of cardinal, red bishop, or red golden pheasant neck feather; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Butt: black ostrich herl, or bronze peacock herl; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Body: 1/4 orange silk, then orange (sometimes omitted), fiery brown, green and maybe black mohair, or seal; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Ribs: copper tinsel and copper (or gold) twist; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Hackle: brown, or furnace from the silk body section; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Throat: guinea dyed green; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Wing: two back to back jungle cock with two pair of tippets over as in the Durham Ranger, gpc over; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Sides: jungle cock; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Cheeks: green parrot or pita; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Horns: green parrot; </div><div class="MsoNormal">Head: black lacquer or herl to match the butt.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Naturally I also wanted to give this fly a shot, so, here is my rendition, with slight changes due to shortage of certain materials. I fully plan to fish this pattern over steelhead this fall. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid65-fsNE0PvcCIqx_lAyldu5fxS5CA64gh3S9n5gLqqlOl5ZQjNbC6COp4vlfn3z8qF7z_wl3CQnUGFVpMATikR5WhLU9T2hIUbMsWegV_BwycrhFQVLpdIlWGpgXlzK0eVuE/s1600/The+Forest+Ranger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid65-fsNE0PvcCIqx_lAyldu5fxS5CA64gh3S9n5gLqqlOl5ZQjNbC6COp4vlfn3z8qF7z_wl3CQnUGFVpMATikR5WhLU9T2hIUbMsWegV_BwycrhFQVLpdIlWGpgXlzK0eVuE/s320/The+Forest+Ranger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In this version I have used Impyan pheasant for the cheeks, and scarlet macaw for the tail. Hook is a Partridge 3/0 CS 10/3, body is seal. I love the Pryce-Tannatt look of a well picked out seal body, and usually will incorporate this feature into my seal bodied patterns. Underwater the sparkle and liveliness of the fur adds to it's killer ability. </div>atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-32017560191274624162010-03-17T10:47:00.000-07:002010-04-09T06:53:25.366-07:00The DandyAccording to George Mortimer Kelson, the credit for inventing the Dandy goes to James Wright, with a time frame, according to Mikael Frodin of “middle of 19th century.”<br />
<br />
The first fly that I could find called the Dandy is a gorgeous ‘mixed wing’ I found in the 1848 book by Frederick Tolfrey, <i>“The Jones Guide to Norway.”</i> Looking nothing like any subsequent Dandy, it is in my opinion however the prettiest of the lot. The pattern is listed as follows: <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oIB0s1OQXg3e0esKIO7WbyXktMbY0LtoiV9hNnZnzVCXL0bxPlYOTgQvBJgd6IYrwowfiN1Or7MmCEg5fkqpx9A1P5IT2ejLZjK0qRG8LEi3_CHM8v3NCOPMTU02kqhlvDGz/s1600-h/Dandytolfrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oIB0s1OQXg3e0esKIO7WbyXktMbY0LtoiV9hNnZnzVCXL0bxPlYOTgQvBJgd6IYrwowfiN1Or7MmCEg5fkqpx9A1P5IT2ejLZjK0qRG8LEi3_CHM8v3NCOPMTU02kqhlvDGz/s320/Dandytolfrey.jpg" /></a><i>Hook:</i> no 8 or 9<br />
<i>Tail:</i> golden pheasant topping<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Body:</i> pale green and silver twist, three turns of black ostrich, dark blue mohair and two turns of jay hackle. scarlet mohair and silver twist, three turns of a dyed scarlet hackle, deepest claret pig’s wool on the shoulder and silver twist.<br />
<i>Throat:</i> black hackle dyed blue<br />
<i>Wing:</i> (mixed in strands) Peacock herl and wing, golden pheasant tail, light mottled turkey tail, and one blue feather from the right and left wing of the jay.<br />
<i>Head:</i> brown mohair<br />
<br />
Some thoughts while tying this fly. Over-dying the black hackle with blue, even a deep blue did not do a whole lot. Fiery brown mohair looks great on the head, especially since Tolfrey doesn't specify any particular brown. The wing on this one was tied in as per instructions from the time period about how to separate out and mix the strands when building a mixed wing. Having tied this now, I would combine this body, with the other Dandy wing, and add the jay from this one over that as a shoulder. I wonder how that would look? <br />
<br />
<br />
What I want to know now is why did fly tiers make such a radical departure in form from this lovely fly to the “whole feather wing” to be described when tying the later Dandys? Since George Kelson was the next author in line, so to speak, why did he not simply marry the strands in the wing instead of the radical departure to a much simpler pattern?<br />
<br />
Having posed that question, the first example that I will describe is directly from George Kelson’s <i>“The Salmon Fly”</i> 1895, and is as follows: <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdUWcMwfcUC2TMPWvzAGW3-nkX8ddEXBQ598bsTZhdvRSETTU9jjg5dpuRKZQHnMAvA1IieFUpgGn-_T0yTF10xSDWRw_01FMxKeqvYJhRXkkM02_afysnAUcyobTjPnWUACc/s1600-h/The+Dandykel2better.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdUWcMwfcUC2TMPWvzAGW3-nkX8ddEXBQ598bsTZhdvRSETTU9jjg5dpuRKZQHnMAvA1IieFUpgGn-_T0yTF10xSDWRw_01FMxKeqvYJhRXkkM02_afysnAUcyobTjPnWUACc/s320/The+Dandykel2better.jpg" /></a><b>The Dandy</b> as per G. M. Kelson, 1895<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping, summer duck, chatterer<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich<br />
<i>Body:</i> silver tinsel nearly 2/3 finished off with light blue floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue and guinea fowl<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets enveloping two projecting jungle fowl, <br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> summer duck covering lower part of tippets<br />
<i>Cheek:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black Berlin wool<br />
<br />
Kelson makes the following comments; "RIVERS : Tweed, etc.<br />
(NOTE. This fly occasionally -kills under general conditions of weather and water, but is frequently found useful as a special standard for moving sulky fish)"<br />
<br />
Writing in 1907, John James Hardy describes a Dandy that is exactly the same as George Kelson's with one exception. Where-as Kelson lists a black Berlin wool head, Hardy omits this detail, to a better result I feel. His pattern is listed as follows: <br />
<br />
<b>The Dandy</b> as per John James Hardy, 1907<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping, summer duck, chatterer<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich<br />
<i>Body:</i> silver tinsel nearly 2/3 finished off with light blue floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue and guinea fowl<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets enveloping two projecting jungle fowl, <br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> summer duck covering lower part of tippets<br />
<i>Cheek:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
Note, as I said, Hardy and Kelson are pretty similar except for the head. Note also, in Kelson’s book, the fly is shown with at least one topping over the wing, though neither Kelson nor later, Hardy mentions it in the description. I have tied is as per the picture and the flies I have seen. This is the reason behind my departure from my usual habit of listing the patterns in chronological order. Even though there were authors published between the two publication dates for these patterns, the two share these two obvious connections; one being they are almost identical, the second in the presence or lack of a topping. <br />
<br />
Published in 1898, Sir Herbert Maxwell’s pattern is the first I could find to explicitly describe the wing with a topping over. While it is basically the same as the patterns already mentioned, this is it’s one major difference. The other differences are minor, such as the use of Indian Crow in the tail instead of Summer duck and chatterer, and of course the use of chenille as head and butt adornments. Translating his pattern from the table to standard format, it reads as follows: <br />
<br />
<b>The Dandy</b> as per Sir Herbert Maxwell, 1898<br />
<i>Tag:</i> silver wire and citron floss.<br />
<i>Tail:</i> a topping and Indian crow.<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black chenille.<br />
<i>Body:</i> lower half, silver tinsel; upper half, sky-blue floss. <br />
<i>Ribs:</i> silver twist over.<br />
<i>Hackle: </i>sky-blue cock's over the floss, gallina at shoulder.<br />
<i>Wing:</i> a pair of long jungle fowl, over them a pair of tippet feathers, not so long, and the tops of a pair of barred wood duck feathers, still shorter, over the last; topping over all, blue macaw horns.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> blue chatterer <br />
<i>Head:</i> black chenille.<br />
<br />
He adds the following comments: “My favourite fly in all this class. It was named after the late Lord Alexander Paget. It is an expensive fly to dress, but it is extremely pretty, and very effective in the sizes from 16 to 12.”<br />
In this I agree with him. It is a very pretty fly, and thanks to the need for chatterer, is still an expensive fly to dress correctly.<br />
<br />
Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt, in 1914, describes a pattern that is substantially the same as the three preceding patterns, the only difference being the use of jungle cock in the tail to replace the wood duck used in Kelson and Hardy. His pattern is as follows: <br />
<br />
<b>Dandy </b>(hook, 11/2 to 2 inches).<br />
<i>Tag:</i> Silver thread and lemon floss.<br />
<i>Tail:</i> A topping, Jungle Cock and Blue Chatterer (the last somewhat shorter than the preceding).<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl.<br />
<i>Body:</i> First two-thirds, flat silver tinsel; remainder, pale blue floss.<br />
<i>Ribs:</i> Fine oval silver tinsel.<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> A pale blue hackle, beginning with the pale blue floss.<br />
<i>Throat:</i> Speckled Gallina.<br />
<i>Wings:</i> A pair of Jungle Cock feathers (back to back), and one pair of tippets dressed as in the Black Ranger above.<br />
<i>Sides:</i> Broad strips of barred Summer Duck, covering part of tippets up to bar nearest<br />
root.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> Blue Chatterer, a topping over.<br />
<i>Horns:</i> Blue and Yellow Macaw.<br />
<br />
The last version I have been able to locate is from an illustration, with no actual pattern listed for it. In William E. Hodgeson's <i> “Salmon Fishing”</i>… (1920), there is a lovely painting of a Dandy that seems to correspond exactly to Hardy’s pattern. <br />
<br />
This brings to mind another pattern also shown in these illustrations, the Stevenson. Both Hodgeson and Maxwell show a Stevenson that looks, at least in the wing, to be a Dandy. In fact Maxwell even lists it as such in his description (See prior listing here under Stevenson). He clearly states that the wing of his Stevenson is that of the Dandy, while the body is that of the Parson. There is even a Ranger with a Dandy wing, the Drum Ranger, from the Drum Collection of Sandy Irvine--Lord Alexander Irvine, Laird of Drum Castle and Drum Estate, dated around 1930. It seems the Dandy was a fly to be borrowed from, even if it is not as pretty, in my opinion at least, as the original. <br />
<br />
Lastly, there seems to be the assumption that because many of the patterns found in Kelson were also to be found in either Hardy or Hale, and occasionally both, that these three authors copied each other. This may have been the case with other patterns, but it is not the case here, at least as far as Hale is concerned. He does not mention this pattern at all as far as I can see.atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-22806583937271561312010-01-29T20:02:00.000-08:002010-02-12T17:55:19.941-08:00Whole Featherwings- The Stevenson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttiJaPoK7O8e1i7cq2LcNP-pF29pV2DoIuyoYPcpthhL2YQQfOs1H9YFG43o4to5y_ynjC1Z778XSkgxtGU3FG2oxP1RGzGHkJpEldCXyWzb1_2NZtA8nbvhjsLO3Hu3voHbh/s1600-h/kelstev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><br />
The Stevenson is a beautiful pattern very reminiscent of a Parson or Ranger in it’s construction. Kelson gives the credit for the invention of this pattern to James Wright, with Frodin adding a date of ca. 1850 to this notation in his book. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>There are four of the old masters who list a version of the Stevenson in their inventories of flies, they are Kelson, Hardy, Maxwell and Pryce-Tannatt. There is also at least one, possibly more other versions illustrated in books with no pattern being given, just the name. Of all of these, Hardy and Kelson are identical, which leaves four similar but different flies for us to describe. We will begin with the pattern as per George M. Kelson, from his book <i>"The Salmon Fly."</i> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttiJaPoK7O8e1i7cq2LcNP-pF29pV2DoIuyoYPcpthhL2YQQfOs1H9YFG43o4to5y_ynjC1Z778XSkgxtGU3FG2oxP1RGzGHkJpEldCXyWzb1_2NZtA8nbvhjsLO3Hu3voHbh/s1600-h/kelstev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttiJaPoK7O8e1i7cq2LcNP-pF29pV2DoIuyoYPcpthhL2YQQfOs1H9YFG43o4to5y_ynjC1Z778XSkgxtGU3FG2oxP1RGzGHkJpEldCXyWzb1_2NZtA8nbvhjsLO3Hu3voHbh/s320/kelstev.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Stevenson as per George M. Kelson and John James Hardy</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> light blue silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and tippet<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 turns orange silk, followed by orange seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver lace and silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> orange from orange silk<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> jungle cock <br />
<i>Horns:</i> Blue macaw<br />
Head: black wool<br />
<br />
Kelson writes a note following the description for a variation as used on the rivers Wye and Lochy. Wings are to be veiled with Teal, and in the tail, summer duck is to be used instead of tippet. This addendum is not copied by Hardy, though the pattern is. <br />
<br />
Sir Herbert Maxwell’s lovely pattern is distinct from the other two patterns in the construction of the wing, as we shall see. Judging from the way he listed the pattern, I think he views it as a cross between a Parson and a Dandy, listing the pattern as:<br />
<br />
“Tag, Tail, Body and Hackle as in the Parson, except that the shoulder hackle should<br />
be bright blue dyed cock's or (better) Indian Jay. Wing, &c. As in the Dandy (No. 8).”<br />
<br />
Translating this into a standard format, the pattern reads as follows: <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBR7pzuRp_eTb6YxQsbq-Fpyn3oNQWDP1ep9Hv35QxocDbw2CP2hNf-mVrpmEt1aS0T9OG2RwYxF_rP28o8Eibgqm2hhmfGVwYS8-KN1xh4DwSw7ptZnht0hvkoUzZM73xe30C/s1600-h/stevemax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBR7pzuRp_eTb6YxQsbq-Fpyn3oNQWDP1ep9Hv35QxocDbw2CP2hNf-mVrpmEt1aS0T9OG2RwYxF_rP28o8Eibgqm2hhmfGVwYS8-KN1xh4DwSw7ptZnht0hvkoUzZM73xe30C/s320/stevemax.jpg" /></a><b>The Stevenson as per Sir Herbert Maxwell</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> violet floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and tippet and chatterer<br />
<i>Body:</i> 1/5th gold floss, remainder rich yellow mohair merging into orange <br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> orange over the wool, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> bright blue, or better, jay full at the shoulder<br />
<i>Wing:</i> Long jungle cock, pair of tippets over, pair of barred wood duck over that short, topping over.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black chenille<br />
<br />
He records a small historical note: “I have a double hooked Stevenson of my own dressing,which I lost in a fish on the North Tyne one day in 1873. Two days later, the Duke of Northumberland caught this fish, 17Ibs., about half a mile higher up the water. My fly was sticking in its breast; I put it on my line and landed two fish with it the same day. Sizes,16 to 5.”<br />
<br />
Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt says nothing about this pattern, simply listing it as a “whole-feather wing” with a bunch of other patterns. His version is as follows: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrYDYikJ0MeNl17xOE14ESfP-RE7iVu3POV9_T8GHhx1K0ufu0yAyAW6Omt5gtZDUVLXyzXSwGHAVKujGhXzAKpZP3Itk-BbwxVB0XDJcmRGK-h2LJ7Kz_LQkx0VBkpw1BxzH/s1600-h/stevetept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrYDYikJ0MeNl17xOE14ESfP-RE7iVu3POV9_T8GHhx1K0ufu0yAyAW6Omt5gtZDUVLXyzXSwGHAVKujGhXzAKpZP3Itk-BbwxVB0XDJcmRGK-h2LJ7Kz_LQkx0VBkpw1BxzH/s320/stevetept.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Stevenson as per Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> light blue silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> ¼ orange floss, remainder orange seal of a darker shade<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> flat silver and silver twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> bright orange<br />
<i>Throat:</i> pale blue<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> jungle cock<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<br />
An interesting illustration from William E. Hodgeson's <i>“Salmon Fishing”</i>… (1920) shows what I initially took for a Maxwell version of the Stevenson, but upon closer examination discovered some interesting differences. For one, there is a clear and distinct Ranger wing (doubled tippet over long jungle cock) and a butt, absent in Maxwell's version. Missing also from this pattern is the standard chenille head, the chatterer cheeks, and the tail clearly has barred wood duck or teal instead of tippet with or with out chatterer. In common with other Stevenson patterns, the tag is light blue, rather then the violet that Maxwell prefers. Lastly, the ribbing is a broad flat gold, rather then silver twist. Otherwise, this fly appears to conform to Maxwell's version as far as I can see. Since I can find no written description included in this book, I am going to have to guess. I think the pattern is as follows, based on the illustration:<br />
<br />
<b>The Stevenson as per William E. Hodgeson</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and barred wood duck (or possibly teal, maybe even both)<br />
<i>Body:</i> 1/5th gold floss, remainder rich orange mohair or seal <br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> broad flat gold or possibly silver <br />
<i>Hackle:</i> orange over the wool, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> bright blue <br />
<i>Wing:</i> Long jungle cock, two pairs of tippets over (Ranger style), pair of barred wood duck over that short, topping over.<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<br />
<br />
Discussing this with Monte Smith, he brought up some very interesting points. It is possible that the tinsel could also be broad silver with gold oval backing it. This would tend to pick up more orange from the oval gold and the fur also, making it appear silver. His monitor shows the floss as a light orange, perhaps the Glasso Orange shade in the Japanese silk. He also sees teal in the tail and not the barred wood duck. Looking more closely I tend to agree with this myself. </div>atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-29771765339338391392010-01-28T12:17:00.000-08:002010-03-04T08:18:30.853-08:00The Rangers Completed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5pcYB0i3xdAkKc5FIHbe7UCh6b_hYXAphHRZQ_AmTUh9XFEMLBrWYASVkCclsMw7NllD_UB6eGTQP3LqCFqnupXqcQHtN745huWMOtvstyEmavP-kW0LKcX70GxTACLY_sLQ/s1600-h/Ranger3goldjel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><b>The Other Rangers</b><br />
The Ranger family of flies is a family of many variations on the original design. <br />
Besides the Black, Durham and Blue Rangers already discussed, there have been quite a few other Ranger type flies, most short lived, with few or no variations. There is little or no history written about these flies, and certainly no catch- records for them that I have found either. <br />
The following patterns, with one exception, are all Rangers, or called Rangers and are here presented in no particular order except to group those with common names together by date as previously done with the Durham, Black and Blue Rangers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE24XLEzB2awxKOGpJtU9hTaQHQOx5R4HORTnwcXDaKNrfOIO_1zCTuQroq8ItKCJFewlonhlQyWrUhTuXg3HQqyo0wMABfr8F-AmAJQdc5tqKq2ZvTMOSeXgc_4EzGPyIkDnJ/s1600-h/redrangerhodgeson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE24XLEzB2awxKOGpJtU9hTaQHQOx5R4HORTnwcXDaKNrfOIO_1zCTuQroq8ItKCJFewlonhlQyWrUhTuXg3HQqyo0wMABfr8F-AmAJQdc5tqKq2ZvTMOSeXgc_4EzGPyIkDnJ/s320/redrangerhodgeson.jpg" /></a></div><b>Red Ranger</b> as per William E. Hodgeson, <i>“Salmon Fishing”</i> 1920<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> two turns scarlet floss followed by scarlet seal, well picked out<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> broad flat silver tinsel with medium oval silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> red cock<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue cock<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> kingfisher<br />
<br />
This lovely Ranger was found amongst a collection of plates in Hodgeson's 1920 edition of <i>"Salmon Fishing." </i>Originally printed in 1907, it shows 72 flies, popular at the time, but does not list the patterns for them. Most of the flies illustrated, such as this one, are clear enough to make out the details, and seem to be similar to those found in Kelson, Hardy or Hale. There are some however, including many mixed wings, where they are not. This makes for a challenge in deciphering them, and a real sense of "to be continued" as I struggle to find the patterns else-where.<br />
<br />
The next Ranger, one dressed more like a Dandy or a Stevenson is the Drum Ranger. The pattern is taken from a collection of flies dating to the 1930's and eventually ended up in a publication called the Salmon Flyer, possibly the first public printing of this collection of very interesting flies. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWHDMlOnz1zK2gdp0HsPkXlq6AjMUKFmijCb4FTWPyWkazMdz9aL84nOWZ3UhQzDjYtNvBXPh_8BsZFcDjiw7moKgdscd_ebITSI8Wm2xImGA0lTQ14Lz2cvbgOkSK7yNzOPa/s1600-h/drum+ranger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWHDMlOnz1zK2gdp0HsPkXlq6AjMUKFmijCb4FTWPyWkazMdz9aL84nOWZ3UhQzDjYtNvBXPh_8BsZFcDjiw7moKgdscd_ebITSI8Wm2xImGA0lTQ14Lz2cvbgOkSK7yNzOPa/s320/drum+ranger.jpg" /></a></div><b>Drum Ranger</b> as per Sandy Irvine--Lord Alexander Irvine, Laird of Drum Castle and Drum Estate--about 1930.<br />
<i>Tag:</i> oval gold and crimson floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping, summer duck and blue chatterer<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich<br />
<i>Body:</i> white floss, <br />
<i>Rib:</i> flat and oval gold<br />
<i>Throat:</i> golden brown<br />
<i>Wings:</i> two projecting jungle cock enveloped by two tippets, summer duck covering lower parts of tippets, topping over all<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> blue chatterer<br />
<br />
Pulled from the extensive lists of flies found in J. Edson Leonard's book <i>"Flies"</i> this interesting pattern is one of the few patterns I know of using gold embossed tinsel for the entire body. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5pcYB0i3xdAkKc5FIHbe7UCh6b_hYXAphHRZQ_AmTUh9XFEMLBrWYASVkCclsMw7NllD_UB6eGTQP3LqCFqnupXqcQHtN745huWMOtvstyEmavP-kW0LKcX70GxTACLY_sLQ/s1600-h/Ranger3goldjel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5pcYB0i3xdAkKc5FIHbe7UCh6b_hYXAphHRZQ_AmTUh9XFEMLBrWYASVkCclsMw7NllD_UB6eGTQP3LqCFqnupXqcQHtN745huWMOtvstyEmavP-kW0LKcX70GxTACLY_sLQ/s320/Ranger3goldjel.jpg" /></a></div><b>Gold Ranger</b> as per J. Edson Leonard, 1950<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> embossed gold<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval gold<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> claret and red palmer together<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over <br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> blue<br />
<br />
<br />
Found while examining T. E. Pryce-Tannatt's <i>" How to Dress Salmon Flies".</i> A & C Black, London, England, 1977, This odd-ball Ranger does not have the typical Ranger wing, and is to my mind rather gaudy, even for a salmon-fly. I have not seen it in other sources and wonder on it's popularity. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg_S46qNrufGhzzdeoEiD7PkuhIXLlZblVIOohZ6LBLqdEBMcSTKtNn-Sub53vd6nKTpp-x3dKauU_yLSvX-KcB0a7aR30kubi46hdpgdqg_eGaXKDAKeiksYFareC1-jC89S/s1600-h/Ranger6redfr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg_S46qNrufGhzzdeoEiD7PkuhIXLlZblVIOohZ6LBLqdEBMcSTKtNn-Sub53vd6nKTpp-x3dKauU_yLSvX-KcB0a7aR30kubi46hdpgdqg_eGaXKDAKeiksYFareC1-jC89S/s320/Ranger6redfr.jpg" /></a></div><b>Red Ranger</b> as per Freddie Riley, 1970<br />
<i>Tip:</i> flat silver<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus chatterer<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> red floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> flat gold and silver twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> lemon<br />
<i>Throat:</i> magenta<br />
<i>Wing:</i> single pair of tippets, married yellow, red and blue goose, florican<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here we have a fine Ranger pattern from a modern master, sadly now deceased. I would love to know more history on this fly and one of these days will test it. My only question about it is why Poul did not make the head red as well as the butt? It would be just that much more balanced. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2lQgq-a1ChFNZcWKagadPmRylg725qsuoP8odj3Hk6wuT0pmvGXOP0_w_BDHTDZVyqQl9HVFfXkUZnctTVPak-PpsK7dBWGzrP6DqnXiNGza03cWJietv6ucYSGg6lgN5pLt/s1600-h/Ranger8silvpj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2lQgq-a1ChFNZcWKagadPmRylg725qsuoP8odj3Hk6wuT0pmvGXOP0_w_BDHTDZVyqQl9HVFfXkUZnctTVPak-PpsK7dBWGzrP6DqnXiNGza03cWJietv6ucYSGg6lgN5pLt/s320/Ranger8silvpj.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Silver Ranger</b> as per Poul Jorgensen 1978<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver thread<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> scarlet wool or sea-ex dubbing<br />
<i>Body:</i> flat silver tinsel<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> scarlet <br />
<i>Throat:</i> scarlet<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
The Erne Ranger, from E. J. Malone's 1998 book <i>Irish Trout and Salmon Flies</i>, is to my mind the least Ranger-like fly of the whole family. Given the Erne's history of odd looking flies however, this one fits right in. All one has to do is visit the Parson family of flies and observe the backwards wings and throats on the earliest members and we can see the thread commemorated here perhaps. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqQ5HH7gT1reyJMTZXILGN_VbzXaescncdvgYDOXN8jaQ_Ym4guRD_0CfLFXXNukyEbubR619LusEm9npAvUxHvkv2vAMeO4dgpMOFpoOP98MCjAKnYSyi4W235eO0D8Jz1vV/s1600-h/ladyamherst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismPzKdfrprR2io4zh82EPPTxNMxKhyjBS4yhcQCW4nkW48r3oUkqLwsNfXEF_7jCo6C_G-VAviEmRMnleXgN-dhl2ZmCWVbfgZz7FbWUOCa931FTg4cN6rJ_iNFBn14kHSEWR/s1600-h/Ranger4erne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismPzKdfrprR2io4zh82EPPTxNMxKhyjBS4yhcQCW4nkW48r3oUkqLwsNfXEF_7jCo6C_G-VAviEmRMnleXgN-dhl2ZmCWVbfgZz7FbWUOCa931FTg4cN6rJ_iNFBn14kHSEWR/s320/Ranger4erne.jpg" /></a></div><b>Erne Ranger</b> as per E. J. Malone, 1984<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver wire<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and tippet in strand<br />
<i>Body:</i> scarlet and black silk in equal parts<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> scarlet over the black<br />
<i>Throat:</i> orange<br />
<i>Wing:</i> scarlet swan with white tipped turkey over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> jungle cock<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here again, from E. J. Malone's 1998 book <i>Irish Trout and Salmon Flies, </i>we have another fly that is distinctly unRanger-like<i>. </i> A rather pretty fly none-the-less<i><br />
</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVQ4v4oZBHF_YZdedq7VAFqSXl8DEav8PNZDvLKsI3HHpjwMubwtk5-cxFY1ecCN8XkTHY4ptNt1SKFOdYbREujFSU_vtogB9tvqGiBtq5_M0uAYwkQh4ZYdC06W4lzh1A2eX/s1600-h/Ranger7irishejm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVQ4v4oZBHF_YZdedq7VAFqSXl8DEav8PNZDvLKsI3HHpjwMubwtk5-cxFY1ecCN8XkTHY4ptNt1SKFOdYbREujFSU_vtogB9tvqGiBtq5_M0uAYwkQh4ZYdC06W4lzh1A2eX/s320/Ranger7irishejm.jpg" /></a></div><b>Irish Ranger</b> as per E. J. Malone, 1984<br />
<i>Tip:</i> fine oval silver<br />
<i>Tag:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Body:</i> 1/3 reddish-orange silk, 2/3 black seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> claret over the black seal<br />
<i>Throat:</i> jay<br />
<i>Wing:</i> 1 pair tippets, jungle cock over, wood duck or teal over that, topping over<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<br />
I have included the Lady Amherst here, even though it is not called or referred to as a Ranger at all, because even though the wings are not golden pheasant tippets, they follow the Ranger pattern precisely. This fly might as well be called a White Ranger. In<i> "Fishing Atlantic Salmon, the Flies and the Patterns."</i> Bates, Joseph D. Jr.and Bates, Pamela Richards. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA. 1996, page 322, it is written that the Lady Amherst is of American origins, along with a lovely fly called the Night Hawk, however, on page 348 is stated it's origin: " This famous Canadian pattern is dressed in the classic style, It was originated abut 1925 by George D. Bonbright, president of the Seaboard Airline Railway, and was extensively used by him on Canadian rivers, especially the Grand Cascapedia." This pattern was commercialized by Charles Phair, author of <i>Atlantic Salmon Fishing</i>, under the name Bonbright #2 to distinguish it from an earlier pattern named for Bonbright and called Bonbright #1. Apparantly it was an extremely popular pattern with the guides on the Grand Cascapedia as well, especially in large sizes (up to 5/0). The pattern Bates lists in the above mentioned book is not the same one as listed in his book from 1970, it is virtually identical to the one found in<i> "Salmon Flies,"</i> Jorgensen, Poul, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA. 1978, and so I will list that pattern first. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqQ5HH7gT1reyJMTZXILGN_VbzXaescncdvgYDOXN8jaQ_Ym4guRD_0CfLFXXNukyEbubR619LusEm9npAvUxHvkv2vAMeO4dgpMOFpoOP98MCjAKnYSyi4W235eO0D8Jz1vV/s1600-h/ladyamherst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqQ5HH7gT1reyJMTZXILGN_VbzXaescncdvgYDOXN8jaQ_Ym4guRD_0CfLFXXNukyEbubR619LusEm9npAvUxHvkv2vAMeO4dgpMOFpoOP98MCjAKnYSyi4W235eO0D8Jz1vV/s320/ladyamherst.jpg" /></a></div><b>Lady Amherst</b> as per Poul Jorgensen 1978<br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver thread<br />
<i>Tag:</i> golden yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and strands of teal<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich<br />
<i>Body:</i> flat silver tinsel<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> badger<br />
<i>Throat:</i> teal flank to the barb<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double Amherst tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> jungle cock<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
This is the pattern most of us are used to. It is only slightly different from Bates' later version in the starting place for the hackle, but otherwise is identical. Bates has another, earlier pattern he claims is the original, which can be seen in Bates, Joseph D. <i>"Atlantic Salmon Flies and Fishing."</i> Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA. 1970, page 293. It is very similar, and goes as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>Lady Amherst</b> as per Joseph D.Bates, 1970<br />
<i>Tip:</i> fine oval silver tinsel or silver wire<br />
<i>Tag:</i> golden-yellow silk floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> a golden pheasant crest feather (over this sometimes a few whisps of teal are added)<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> flat silver tinsel<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> a badger hackle palmered from the second turn of tinsel<br />
<i>Throat:</i> about two turns of barred black and white teal body feather, tied on as a collar and pulled down, the longest fibers extending to the barb of the hook (the teal fibers sometimes are applied as a beard, but this is less attractive)<br />
<i>Wing:</i> strips of Amherst pheasant center tail (barred black and white neck feathers often are substituted, especially on large flies)<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> jungle cock<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer, smaller and shorter then the jungle cock, but veiling it (blue kingfisher can be substituted)<br />
<i>Topping:</i> a golden pheasant crest feather<br />
<br />
<i></i><br />
A note of history on this pattern, again from Bates, 1970, page 23, "The Canadian Record is a 55-pounder taken on June 27, 1939 on Quebec's Grand Cascapedia River by Esmond B. Martin, who used a Leonard rod, vom Hofe reel and a <i>Lady Amherst</i> fly."atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-1815089713075481532010-01-19T13:18:00.000-08:002010-01-19T13:18:04.064-08:00The Evolution of the Featherwinged Salmon Flies - The Rangers continuedAlmost as old as the Black Ranger, and presumably at least as old as the Durham Ranger is the Blue Ranger. Our source for this assertion is William Henderson’s “My Life as and Angler” published in 1879 by W. Satchell, Peyton & Co. London. Page 310 shows a November 26, 1866 entry for a blue bodied Ranger, fished by William Henderson at Sprouston, for a salmon of 26lbs. <br />
<br />
Despite being an obviously successful pattern, I find only two authors actually have it listed with a pattern, and no one else even mentions it besides Mikael Frodin, our esteemed modern compiler of old patterns. <br />
Listed below is the pattern by Francis Francis and its nearly identical twin by John James Hardy. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87ENX_t1trRBf0vtYxdLBB58p4h9fd4TPJTW9d47QPpPeeardSmPPFU_3VcnM9QZkWIVbz9AiUg5KQOQyeBFnKq8iZkHC2zCn_AtHUFZLcj9Xp-dCrk2yW1zJPhyine4dEdhE/s1600-h/Ranger4blueff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87ENX_t1trRBf0vtYxdLBB58p4h9fd4TPJTW9d47QPpPeeardSmPPFU_3VcnM9QZkWIVbz9AiUg5KQOQyeBFnKq8iZkHC2zCn_AtHUFZLcj9Xp-dCrk2yW1zJPhyine4dEdhE/s320/Ranger4blueff.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><b>Blue Ranger as per Francis Francis 1867</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> golden silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 or 3 turns golden floss, ditto bright fiery red pigs wool, remainder light blue pigs wool<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver and twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> blue, a shade darker then body, from the middle of the wool<br />
<i>Throat:</i> guinea <br />
<i>Wing:</i> single pair of tippets, double jungle cock over, topping over all<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
As this pattern only differs in minor details of tinsel and the jungle cock over the wing I did not feel it necessary to tie it again. <br />
<b>Blue Ranger as per John James Hardy</b> <br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> gold silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 or 3 turns golden floss, ditto bright fiery red pigs wool, remainder light blue pigs wool<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> blue <br />
<i>Throat:</i> guinea <br />
<i>Wing:</i> single pair of tippets, jungle cock over, topping over all<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
What I find interesting about this pattern is the reversal of the Ranger-wing style. Standard Ranger wings are a double tippet, staggered, over a long jungle cock pair back to back. In Francis Francis, we see a single pair of tippets with double jungle over. This I took to be a typographical error originally, but then I find that Hardy has copied it, possibly eliminating one of the pairs of jungle cock in the process, or realizing the possible error of Francis Francis, semi-correcting it. This sort of thing is sometimes difficult to judge when authors insist on varying their descriptions. In one pattern they will say two tippets back to back, or a pair of tippets, or four tippets, or two tippets Ranger style. Some authors will sometimes describe a pattern as if they were only looking at one side or as if it had only a one sided wing, then in the next pattern will describe it with both sides. It is obvious to me that as often as not, they were simply copying from earlier sources in some cases, and from a fly in hand in others. I would venture to guess that where the pattern looks as if it is being described with only one side, that this is from a fly held in hand. This ambiguity in patterns however can make for much nail biting, or for allowing a lot of fun in trying to recreate the patterns as per original intent. atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-64883579458218817662010-01-19T11:20:00.000-08:002010-02-04T22:32:06.787-08:00The Evolution of the Featherwinged Salmon Flies - The Rangers continuedThe Black Ranger, to the extent of my research so far, can be said to be the oldest of the Ranger patterns. Opinions are much less divided as to who it was that invented it, or when it was invented then they are with the Durham Ranger. Francis Francis does not mention it, neither does the normally vocal Kelson, and equally silent is Hardy, who never credits the inventor anyway. Pryce-Tannatt says nothing, neither does Hale who doesn’t even list it. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, Maxwell, while not listing an actual pattern for the Black Ranger states in his remarks the following informative paragraph: “The ‘Ranger’ wing is a recognized peculiarity of a class of flies known as the Rangers. The bodies are varied: in the Black Ranger, it is all black wool; in the Silver Ranger it is of silver tinsel, and so on. The Ranger originated with Mr. Forrest of Kelso.” Since we are pretty sure that the Black Ranger is the oldest, then it seems that Maxwell is saying that it was Mr. Forrest who was the inventor. <br />
<br />
The Black Ranger appears also in William Henderson’s <i>“My Life as and Angler”</i> published in 1879 by W. Satchell, Peyton & Co. London. 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. Whether or not this was a black fur body or black silk body is not described. James Wright is mentioned many times in this book, often in conjunction with fly tying, him being a master fly tier after-all. I can not seem to find any specific mention of his having invented the Black Ranger pattern however. <br />
<br />
Mikael Frodin, while listing/showing Kelson’s pattern, asserts that it is James Wright who invented the pattern in 1840. I find this interesting because, regardless of who actually invented the pattern, as far as I have been able to ascertain, Francis Francis’s is the earliest written pattern, not Kelson’s. Kelson's Black Ranger is not even the most popular, Pryce-Tannatt's is, judging by the number of Black Rangers tied with jungle cock as cheeks. So with having said this, I present the Black Ranger as per Francis Francis<br />
<b>Black Ranger as per Francis Francis 1867</b> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7809pJki8Ns7xJeaahn_TVeMoynYQlaegwy5HLr0c7aU3qOijJ2D-5rxujGi5yO5KfLU3QBdAkgLjSqKdrd_R3DaCZ3fLTyAT-zrhd6CSTrIRDGvd6oSs8s-Igc-dLNSOa0UD/s1600-h/Ranger1blackff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7809pJki8Ns7xJeaahn_TVeMoynYQlaegwy5HLr0c7aU3qOijJ2D-5rxujGi5yO5KfLU3QBdAkgLjSqKdrd_R3DaCZ3fLTyAT-zrhd6CSTrIRDGvd6oSs8s-Igc-dLNSOa0UD/s320/Ranger1blackff.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> golden silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 or 3 turns golden floss, ditto bright fiery red pigs wool, <br />
remainder black pigs wool<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver tinsel and twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> very dark blue from the red<br />
<i>Throat:</i> black<br />
<i>Wing: </i>double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> kingfisher<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<br />
While the above pattern is, to my knowledge the oldest written pattern, it is not the oldest mention as I have shown so far. Henderson mentions the black bodied Ranger as early as 1860, and somebody must know where the citation is for any earlier information. I believe that Kelson’s Black Ranger is probably as close to Henderson’s as it is possible to get given how different Francis Francis’s pattern is. That being said though, Hardy’s pattern might as well be the same. In fact, Leonard’s pattern also could be the original. It would be interesting to know where these patterns all came from. There is even a lovely illustration of a Black Ranger in William E. Hodgeson's, <i>“Salmon Fishing”</i> 1920, that appears to correspond to the pattern by Hardy. I could not find it there-in described in writing however. <br />
<b>Black Ranger as per George Mortimer Kelson 1897</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8lsbgmF_am3Sji_WUqcHkWENzeNkYgLfcinF2Fk5DZXVV4aiKb12coNfg6MZSs0M_moqfHRwnzMM_iZPUvB4OdMELbMyGKS2FJE7rge6JvtzIO2FYnX4oR9wHpBGfpCBp9z3/s1600-h/Ranger1blackkel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8lsbgmF_am3Sji_WUqcHkWENzeNkYgLfcinF2Fk5DZXVV4aiKb12coNfg6MZSs0M_moqfHRwnzMM_iZPUvB4OdMELbMyGKS2FJE7rge6JvtzIO2FYnX4oR9wHpBGfpCBp9z3/s320/Ranger1blackkel.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black silk<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> natural black from second turn, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue throat<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black wool<br />
<br />
The Black Ranger as per Hardy is virtually identical to the one given by Kelson. It differs only in having a flat silver rib, and a bare black head. With this in mind, I did not feel it necessary to tie one for this article. I present the pattern however, directly from Hardy, for the reader to compare for themselves. <br />
<b>Black Ranger as per John James Hardy </b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver thread<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> flat silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> black<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<br />
Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatts lovely version is presented here. It is, in my opinion the most dressy version of this pattern and the most popular.<br />
<b>Black Ranger as per Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt 1914</b> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfrUxRqgUpcgRHGdo8Kj_giu_vAoT4mCb2Lj5JnoNHTT6oBMZ7BjyFhk0ROi56Na16QFYWl87RbjHNH20KuGf5RzR45sQnyQH-U1vvLeMWW5PruFkZwrCcuE2C8IQE2kGn-aX/s1600-h/Ranger1blacktept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfrUxRqgUpcgRHGdo8Kj_giu_vAoT4mCb2Lj5JnoNHTT6oBMZ7BjyFhk0ROi56Na16QFYWl87RbjHNH20KuGf5RzR45sQnyQH-U1vvLeMWW5PruFkZwrCcuE2C8IQE2kGn-aX/s320/Ranger1blacktept.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver thread<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail: </i>topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> flat silver and twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> black<br />
<i>Throat:</i> deep blue <br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> jungle cock<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<br />
J. Edson Leonard's version is the most recent I have found described, and yet for all intents and purposes could very well be the original pattern. Since I have not found the original pattern described, just dates for approximately when it came into being, the actual look of the original is any ones guess. This version certainly bears a lot of the hallmarks of an older pattern though. The tail of topping and Indian crow, black seal body, black full body hackle and basic, unadorned Ranger wing come as close as any of the above, and in my opinion, as most of the oldest patterns I have seen had fur bodies, I think it comes closest to being the original. <br />
<b>Black Ranger as per J. Edson Leonard 1950</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00jJ6NVMHQ1ko49AGk7hfR8EYIZhxLpiV6m6Ojb_evVF3wONw_FbzlnjiYI0EZKJZjjgMXArZJVr2LsY3knguifhDL7h3HyvM5mzS014bdAiYU0wxt-zkolkOnUzJ1kWJsQdP/s1600-h/Ranger1blackjel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00jJ6NVMHQ1ko49AGk7hfR8EYIZhxLpiV6m6Ojb_evVF3wONw_FbzlnjiYI0EZKJZjjgMXArZJVr2LsY3knguifhDL7h3HyvM5mzS014bdAiYU0wxt-zkolkOnUzJ1kWJsQdP/s320/Ranger1blackjel.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping plus Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> black palmer<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black herlatlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-39049195637361748612009-12-26T14:50:00.000-08:002010-01-03T23:07:15.126-08:00The Evolution of the Featherwinged Salmon Flies - The Rangers<b>The Rangers </b><br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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 <i>“A Book on Angling”</i> 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.<br />
<br />
A web search online for William Henderson revealed he had written a book<i> “My Life as and Angler”</i> 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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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: <br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aHFy6XuUANBt41vov2oq_xY9OXpa6AZnNAZSJ75mIwpqW5KNuR1BYZhPYpYzrfRkfzLmBty5977AYwrVfjFqFxdMpbawMpXFvwbQBoC9uDvykQS8EyYzNU5g4XKpUDj8H8bW/s1600-h/Ranger2durff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aHFy6XuUANBt41vov2oq_xY9OXpa6AZnNAZSJ75mIwpqW5KNuR1BYZhPYpYzrfRkfzLmBty5977AYwrVfjFqFxdMpbawMpXFvwbQBoC9uDvykQS8EyYzNU5g4XKpUDj8H8bW/s320/Ranger2durff.jpg" /></a><b>The Durham Ranger</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> golden silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping <br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 turns orange floss, 2 of dark orange, claret and black pigs wool, black wool picked out at breast<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> ?<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> red-orange stained coch y bondu on the wool<br />
<i>Throat:</i> two turns black then light blue<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> Kingfisher<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> Blue Macaw<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUXqCL6glBLjbMLny1MxYqezL10H9-FZE9zlAZHB5uZgo21_pb9WJMU5psaknSq6V4uj1vAME9AWNEn7Aj1QOdT7wi_ldwFJxEKHo08Or9XGz_sPh2MXGm7VVSriStjgEUram/s1600-h/Ranger2durkel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUXqCL6glBLjbMLny1MxYqezL10H9-FZE9zlAZHB5uZgo21_pb9WJMU5psaknSq6V4uj1vAME9AWNEn7Aj1QOdT7wi_ldwFJxEKHo08Or9XGz_sPh2MXGm7VVSriStjgEUram/s320/Ranger2durkel.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><b>The Durham Ranger</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 turns orange silk, 2 turns dark orange seal, rest black seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver lace and silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> orange dyed white coch-a-bonddu along the fur, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue throat<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder: </i>none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black Berlin wool<br />
<br />
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. <br />
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</div><b>The Durham Ranger</b><br />
<i>Tip: </i>silver wire <br />
<i>Tag:</i> gold floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black chenille<br />
<i>Body:</i> 1/5 orange floss, orange, claret and black pig’s wool picked out<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> coch y bondu dyed orange<br />
<i>Throat:</i> black and sky blue over<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black chenille<br />
<br />
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: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtbu3BZRSRy4InGb2gSdTgah3BkG3B9qxEkVs4QObcT3F-WRrJg_uErHF7pJeetm6NCj5Cp0ygCqLwzSzlTp_jXAHxWWOEirRqpaZO2Ss4Ym_MhAtCKVNedsS28P3XXN_8i3m/s1600-h/Ranger2durtept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtbu3BZRSRy4InGb2gSdTgah3BkG3B9qxEkVs4QObcT3F-WRrJg_uErHF7pJeetm6NCj5Cp0ygCqLwzSzlTp_jXAHxWWOEirRqpaZO2Ss4Ym_MhAtCKVNedsS28P3XXN_8i3m/s320/Ranger2durtept.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><b>The Durham Ranger</b><br />
<i>Tip: </i>silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> none<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and Indian crow<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> lemon floss, orange, fiery brown and black seal in equal portions<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> flat silver and twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> badger dyed yellow<br />
<i>Throat:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Wing: </i>double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> jungle cock<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<br />
Eric Taverner, writing in <i>“Fly Tying for Salmon,” </i>1942 lists this same pattern as does Poul Jorgensen, <i>“Salmon Flies,”</i> 1978, and Joseph Bates, <i>“Fishing Atlantic Salmon, the Flies and the Patterns,”</i> 1996. <br />
<br />
J. Edson Leonard, a more modern author, listed in <i>"Flies,"</i> 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. <br />
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</div><b>Durham Ranger #1</b> <br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver<br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and short silver pheasant crest<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> claret dubbing<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> gold<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> claret palmer, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> pale blue throat<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> light blue<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i><b> </b><br />
<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BFB84SRYibtFaciu2N6Gw3qR6_-JpGdnb73HgYVCRB-Z9td3Yglp6z776OgdEH9ICOOpnvNMWh4nFf_VwsL4PgpmDP1og_omp83r8LLFJvyUDfszgHHq8IMSyo5XL54q4o9C/s1600-h/Ranger2durjelw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BFB84SRYibtFaciu2N6Gw3qR6_-JpGdnb73HgYVCRB-Z9td3Yglp6z776OgdEH9ICOOpnvNMWh4nFf_VwsL4PgpmDP1og_omp83r8LLFJvyUDfszgHHq8IMSyo5XL54q4o9C/s320/Ranger2durjelw.jpg" /></a><b>Durham Ranger #2 (Welsh) </b><br />
<i>Tip: </i><br />
<i>Tag:</i> gold<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and sparse red fibers<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> ½ aft yellow floss, ½ fore red floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> gold<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> scarlet palmer, <br />
<i>Throat:</i> pale blue front<br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, 2 toppings over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> narrow blue<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i><br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSbcsGHGvTwUH2MP_l60dx5RCczHzNDSVQ7yOPsQfGJwVI73KlUHlpf4XCEraUkjick0CoucgBbXwBwvBesVhAg2irBM_j4BsXVlUh20dA_e2UUdX_Am0MQlUtX-S6bPtpWsS/s1600-h/Ranger2durjels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSbcsGHGvTwUH2MP_l60dx5RCczHzNDSVQ7yOPsQfGJwVI73KlUHlpf4XCEraUkjick0CoucgBbXwBwvBesVhAg2irBM_j4BsXVlUh20dA_e2UUdX_Am0MQlUtX-S6bPtpWsS/s320/Ranger2durjels.jpg" /></a><b>Durham Ranger #3 (Scotch)</b> <br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver wire <br />
<i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> short topping and red fibers<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> 1/3 aft plain silver tinsel, 2/3 fore oval silver tinsel rib<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver tinsel 2/3 fore<br />
<i>Hackle: </i> scarlet palmer following rib<br />
<i>Throat:</i><br />
<i>Wing:</i> double tippets over 2 long jungle cock, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder: </i><br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i>atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-91714891540874518702009-12-03T22:51:00.000-08:002010-03-04T18:39:32.460-08:00The Evolution of the Featherwinged Salmon Flies- the Parson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZNsKZE3NEaPwRdcaP5LX4eOmEUZ0ERRUau_qSsTu8VkC9VVPLwCq1FvgPHVb5PRezXnTCuQtdkwggfDhKCZ3DbZjL9UsRMoLiUKavDDDoMYU2o1cINdF9hhyphenhyphen1yqIwmDozh3K/s1600-h/Parson+Stevenson+plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZNsKZE3NEaPwRdcaP5LX4eOmEUZ0ERRUau_qSsTu8VkC9VVPLwCq1FvgPHVb5PRezXnTCuQtdkwggfDhKCZ3DbZjL9UsRMoLiUKavDDDoMYU2o1cINdF9hhyphenhyphen1yqIwmDozh3K/s320/Parson+Stevenson+plate.jpg" /></a><b>The Parsons </b><br />
The Parsons are some of the earlier feather-winged fancy flies, with the Stevensons and Rangers developing from them. Here we see them on size 2/0 Partridge CS10/3 hooks, using all the original materials for the patterns except for the Cock-of-the-Rock. The trio of Parsons at the bottom of the plate are on 2/0 Partridge 10/1 hooks and are my interpretations of patterns mentioned by the old masters but not fully detailed. This is why the modern hook, as it is a modern interpretation which I hope is accurate. The notes I have written are drawn directly from the original master as much as possible, or from Mikael Frodin <i>"Classic Salmon Flies History and Patterns</i>," Stoeger Press, 1991 as noted. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Some history on the Parson</b>. Francis Francis, in his book <i>"A Book on Angling" </i>1867, introduces the Parson as; "This is a very showy fly, and is used chiefly on the Erne, but it is a capital fly anywhere where a showy fly is required. It is on the Erne rather a generic name for a series of flies than for any special one, as we have there, green parsons, and blue parsons, and golden parsons, and so on. The Parson being merely significant of plenty of toppings in the wing. The Golden Parson, however, is my idea of the fly, and this I will describe." *<br />
Francis also says of the toppings " These are often tied on with the turn bent upwards at Ballyshannon, and it gives them more play in the water."<br />
<br />
* We will get into the actual pattern shortly.<br />
<br />
In my investigations, especially with later authors where I have had illustrations as well as text to guide me, I have endeavored to tie the pattern as it was originally, but in reading these thoughts, and the list of patterns provided by Francis Francis and the Rev. Newland, who we shall discuss later, I can not help wondering what these flies would look like tied as for the Ballyshannon as Francis Francis suggests they were. Something for the reader to visualize as he or she looks over the photographs.<br />
<br />
<b>Some more history from Francis Francis.</b> <br />
<br />
In a letter from a Dr. Sheil the "courteous and and liberal proprietor of the Erne" to Francis Francis, (again from his "<i>A Book on Angling</i>" 1867) we see how the pattern developed. <br />
<br />
" My dear Sir,—I send four Parsons I have borrowed from Mr. Hobson, and I will send you a couple made with summer duck in the wing. The first ' Parson,' and called from him, was used by the Rev. Arthur Meyrick of Romsbury; it was two large toppings, a yellow body, yellow hackle, very thin twist run close together up the body—T mean half as close as in any of those flies I send. He said he got it from Lord Bolingbroke at Christchurch. He changed the body to orange; both were silk bodies.<br />
' The late Mr. William Larket, of Derby, put cock of the rock in the wing. I think I put the first fur body to the fly—it was orange pig's wool. Mr. Larket and then Mr. Hobson altered the fur to a mixture of red and yellow. Mr. Hobson added to this the purple and fiery brown under the wing, which Pat McKay borrowed and adopted, and nothing has beaten this pattern." <br />
<br />
<b>The Parson as per Pat McKay</b> (Frodin). Originating on the banks of the Erne in 1836, as Newland says, this is believed to be the template for many of the fancy whole feather-winged salmon flies such as the Stevensons and the Rangers. The main feature of the wing is the single pair of Golden pheasant tippets, overlain with Cock-of-the-Rock, here substituted as Cock-of-the-Rock is very difficult and expensive to obtain' as it was back then also.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-OAZmQsP21SI5MQ1HLMLwY6QS3lwk3t-q30Vf_Yik3pJFyMCRBr6WXQZWuuLvtJ7Y4tCWb6VU-1wHl8ToaD7P3raf2NRUEGWRe_B_VLkRU4dc6vwZJ6IBk6wBOW7maI9iOHp-/s1600-h/pats+pars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-OAZmQsP21SI5MQ1HLMLwY6QS3lwk3t-q30Vf_Yik3pJFyMCRBr6WXQZWuuLvtJ7Y4tCWb6VU-1wHl8ToaD7P3raf2NRUEGWRe_B_VLkRU4dc6vwZJ6IBk6wBOW7maI9iOHp-/s320/pats+pars.jpg" /></a><b>The Parson as per Pat McKay</b> (Frodin)<br />
<i>Tip:</i> Fine silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> orange floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> fine silver tinsel, closely wound<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> lemon-yellow, wound palmer style<br />
<i>Throat:</i> golden yellow, tied full<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets back to back, with three red-tipped toppings curved to meet the tail tip. Wing should be as full as possible<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> cock-of-the-rock tied butterfly style, sticking out at the sides<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> none<br />
<i>Head:</i> golden yellow pigs wool and black silk<br />
<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The Parson as per Hobson and Larke</b>t(Frodin). An early Parson showing the paired tippets and Cock-of-the-Rock in the wing but with an addition of Teal over the Cock-of-the-Rock<b> </b></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiygQni8DtPFMjY17IlnoDHcyUC8YDubHckughQkCLebxcl6Q9lMIbWhClS45OfKlCHz2BKPmyPil0zRLq4EV7c3x42tjFFN44nL04PLA8ozU87ENFU5w-1LAgqE5w6zxzfEtUU/s1600-h/2parshl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiygQni8DtPFMjY17IlnoDHcyUC8YDubHckughQkCLebxcl6Q9lMIbWhClS45OfKlCHz2BKPmyPil0zRLq4EV7c3x42tjFFN44nL04PLA8ozU87ENFU5w-1LAgqE5w6zxzfEtUU/s320/2parshl.jpg" /></a></div><b>The Parson as Hobson and Larket </b>(Frodin)<i> <br />
</i><br />
<i>Tip:</i> narrow silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> orange floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and kingfisher<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> fiery brown and orange pig’s wool mixed<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> medium silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> olive yellow cocks hackle<br />
<i>Throat:</i> claret dyed cocks hackle, tied in as a ruff after the wing<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets back to back, with three red-tipped toppings curved to meet the tail tip.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> narrow strips of teal<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<b> <br />
</b><br />
<br />
<b>The Parson as per Larket and Hobson</b>.(Frodin) Another Hobson and Larket Parson, prettier then the last, but keeping to the established form of paired tippets and Cock-of-the-Rock<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhOuYt4dSZCTLqDAaUHnBPlk1PfDAygCQ3oLuK-FPZwlmPVmhEe-wouB-a7qjNAHXfgjvQJK-MELk4ZcD2yCT8mqPM3ylJjQhYd-1yUWNPC43TUROFx8Pp-2zF6-nRLvo7e9P/s1600-h/3parshl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhOuYt4dSZCTLqDAaUHnBPlk1PfDAygCQ3oLuK-FPZwlmPVmhEe-wouB-a7qjNAHXfgjvQJK-MELk4ZcD2yCT8mqPM3ylJjQhYd-1yUWNPC43TUROFx8Pp-2zF6-nRLvo7e9P/s320/3parshl.jpg" /></a><b>The Parson as per Hobson and Larket</b> (Frodin)<br />
<i>Tip:</i> narrow silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> mauve floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping, a few strands of tippet and kingfisher<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> 3 turns golden yellow floss, three turns yellow seal merging into hot orange seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> medium silver tinsel over the seal only<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> hot orange cocks hackle over seal only<br />
<i>Throat:</i> three toppings tied as a throat, long enough to reach the point<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets back to back, thin sections of unbarred wood duck, with three red-tipped toppings over.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> cock-of-the-rock followed by a small bunch of hot orange seal this is to be tied in as a small extra head<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> long blue kingfisher, tied in over the seal and standing out from the body<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
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<b>The Golden Parson as per Francis Francis</b>. 30 years or so after it's beginnings, the original Parson has become the more colourful Parson as shown here, still very similar to it's origins though. Francis Francis writes of this as being a decidedly topping parson, a sort of bishop or archbishop, in fact, and not for every-day use; we only bring him out when the feelings of the salmon, having resisted all ordinary persuasiveness, require to be very strongly appealed to. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK21dQsw7_FMN8T-fwM3PklJZ4GRuP-bIMbBmr0073NKHlvMXy15MYoyGcnLBeo1uaZ44e7mG2JP3DH_ZVnEGfF2vdWZRusRDLW6hbM5O-1Kze_r6vk49JBo4eJvj44emw1gB/s1600-h/4ffpars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK21dQsw7_FMN8T-fwM3PklJZ4GRuP-bIMbBmr0073NKHlvMXy15MYoyGcnLBeo1uaZ44e7mG2JP3DH_ZVnEGfF2vdWZRusRDLW6hbM5O-1Kze_r6vk49JBo4eJvj44emw1gB/s320/4ffpars.jpg" /></a><b>The Golden Parson "Archbishop" as per Francis Francis 1867</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> mauve floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> 2 toppings, tippet and kingfisher<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> golden pigs wool merging into orange<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> golden orange over wool<br />
<i>Throat:</i> red-orange, 2 or 3 short toppings over<br />
<i>Wing:</i> tippet and cock of the rock, pintail or wood duck strips, 6-8 toppings over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> Kingfisher<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<b>This is a variation of the Golden Parson as presented by Francis Francis</b> as a more subdued offering. He referred to it as a "capital working parson, a sort of curate...fit for every-day work" <br />
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</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRNlSxMSfZm5jV1EvuiO7z4cAKCOBxzg2NYcUBjnGW8utxfi8gitkT0SiY__LDtoJ6QawzisZ7uRcjzUVEDxKcgumpaphVBKnvrtG8an6sUPlCdLT5alMkfgqEkGnG3FVcO-8/s1600-h/5ffpars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRNlSxMSfZm5jV1EvuiO7z4cAKCOBxzg2NYcUBjnGW8utxfi8gitkT0SiY__LDtoJ6QawzisZ7uRcjzUVEDxKcgumpaphVBKnvrtG8an6sUPlCdLT5alMkfgqEkGnG3FVcO-8/s320/5ffpars.jpg" /></a></div><b>The Parson (curate) as per Francis Francis 1867</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> mauve floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> 2 toppings, tippet and kingfisher<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> golden pigs wool merging into orange<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> golden olive over wool<br />
<i>Throat:</i> medium claret, Jay over<br />
<i>Wing:</i> tippet and golden pheasant saddles, pintail or wood duck strips, 3-4 or so toppings over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> Kingfisher<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<b>The Yellow Parson as per George M.Kelson</b> deviates in the colour of the body, but still keeps to true Parson form. This is from roughly 1895 or so and is also reproduced in J. J. Hardy's book "Salmon Fishing", 1907.<br />
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<b>The Yellow Parson as per George M. Kelson</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> violet floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and tippet<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> 2 turns yellow silk, followed by yellow seal<br />
<i>Ribbing: </i>oval silver tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> yellow from the silk<br />
<i>Throat:</i> scarlet, veiled with two toppings<br />
<i>Wing:</i> 2 tippets, strip of barred wood duck, 2 toppings over<i> </i><br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> none<br />
<br />
In John James Hardy's book "<i>Salmon Fishing,</i>" 1907, there is a lovely Parson pattern that, though called a Parson, bears no resemblance to any of the other Parsons mentioned, and shares with them very little in terms of commonality. It is a nice fly however and the pattern is listed below next to the fly. One wonders if this was really a Parson, or was it mislabeled? It much more resembles the mixed wings from Newland, back in 1851.This pattern appears again in E. J. Malone's book <i>"Irish Trout and Salmon Flies"</i> 1984, with one single slight discrepancy. He calls it the "Claret Parson" and lists in the wing "blue peacock" instead of "peacock wing," though in this case I think he is talking about the wing, not the throat or flank, which are the blue parts on a peacock. <br />
<a href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/hardys-parson.jpg?w=300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-62" height="227" mce_src="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/hardys-parson.jpg?w=300" src="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/files/2009/12/hardys-parson.jpg?w=300" title="Hardys Parson" width="300" /></a><b>Parson as per John J. Hardy</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> gold tinsel<br />
<i>Tag:</i> light orange floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and chatterer<br />
<i>Butt:</i> Black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> bright Claret Floss<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> gold tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> bright Claret<br />
<i>Throat:</i> Blue cocks hackle<br />
<i>Wing:</i> tippet in strand, dark turkey, yellow, red and blue swan, peacock wing, bustard, golden pheasant tail, wood duck, teal, mallard, guinea fowl, topping over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<b>The Orange Parson as per Dr. T.E.Pryce-Tannatt</b>. The Parson by 1914 had evolved to this lovely version, still keeping to the pair of tippets, Cock-of-the-Rock and the multiple toppings in the wing how-ever. This is probably the most commonly thought of version today, certainly the most popular.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITMFD4xk4-OSnnPu0FlEautGtrfkmHCq89iSrrF_fZZUF2MzsBGvJx49XkH0wQB5uBol7_c_iwkCcM2H6L_2chVG4FtDZK-p8gC_uuqEweIyQV236kGCrLQSOADzdmw8TwDOg/s1600-h/7teptpars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITMFD4xk4-OSnnPu0FlEautGtrfkmHCq89iSrrF_fZZUF2MzsBGvJx49XkH0wQB5uBol7_c_iwkCcM2H6L_2chVG4FtDZK-p8gC_uuqEweIyQV236kGCrLQSOADzdmw8TwDOg/s320/7teptpars.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBviN46PIx5WUa188IQ0cftZf6HwiOOHzumlPu67ireYgmxQrjbej-YXYBhn-1okp1UN2xSIkKOVoXnAKWzVxDaUfCO1jq1PcHygnkkkdoi5skjt5qy9h5A9ZoP-oZQllZ4Em/s1600-h/pt+opars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><br />
<b>Orange Parson as per Dr. T. E. Pryce-Tannatt 1914</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver thread<br />
<i>Tag:</i> lilac floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and tippet<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> Orange floss, orange, scarlet, fiery brown seal, well picked out<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> lemon<br />
<i>Throat:</i> Cock-of-the-Rock <br />
<i>Wing:</i> 2 tippets veiled with Cock-of-the-Rock, 2 or 3 toppings over<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> barred wood duck<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Topping Winged Parsons</b></span><br />
To introduce this subdivision of the Parson family, I present one of the later Parsons, that to me seems a throwback or a memory perhaps of the style of the patterns some 50 odd years prior to this pattern being described. I do not know if the wings on this version are to be tied inverted or normally, so will tie them normally. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y2IOI8te13WRNZMPZa0gL_FxA5mwxO6PxCk9HwHh3E9A5a9IpaPj600KCGRE9sjdhJ-A1TOtnWf0JxXQSk0MJyxweVjYiCS1VQqDa2LuQ-L3gN6Hrx-EhAq1vSuHA3V13Z6d/s1600-h/halepars1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y2IOI8te13WRNZMPZa0gL_FxA5mwxO6PxCk9HwHh3E9A5a9IpaPj600KCGRE9sjdhJ-A1TOtnWf0JxXQSk0MJyxweVjYiCS1VQqDa2LuQ-L3gN6Hrx-EhAq1vSuHA3V13Z6d/s320/halepars1.jpg" /></a></div><b>The Parson as per John H. Hale</b><br />
<i>Tip:</i> silver twist<br />
<i>Tag:</i> none<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and chatterer sideways<br />
<i>Butt:</i> none<br />
<i>Body:</i> 3 turns gold floss, 3 turns gold seal, remainder orange seal<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> oval silver<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> golden olive<br />
<i>Throat:</i> orange, jay over<br />
<i>Wing:</i> toppings<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> chatterer<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> none<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
Hale's Parson, with its wing composed entirely of toppings harks back to a second branch, if you will, of the Parson family. These early flies, all called Parsons were characterized by having wings entirely made of toppings, often inverted with the concave side up. "To give better play in the water" as we have seen quoted earlier from Francis Francis. The Parson is unique in that there are two entirely separate fly designs, equally valid and reputable that originated with this name. Pat McKay in 1836 (Frodin) with his whole feather-wing design that we have explored previously, and Michael Rogan, who tied a series of flies for the Rev. Henry Newland, (<i>“The Erne, it’s Legends and its Fly Fishing,</i>” 1851).(Frodin) These unique patterns are recognized as topping winged flies, but are separated in that the toppings were tied up-side down, i.e. with the concave side facing upwards. They certainly are strange looking flies as compared to more conventional types, but they are still beautiful none-the-less.<br />
<br />
Frodin presents a pattern from 1850 as per Michael Rogan for one of these Parsons, and it goes as follows:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8pWZOOM4PCZVRo1WAtJlzgfLB0Dsf50NQpiV1c4DM9CurUu3XDaZTBIeWuBnpCDyQsHHoxiiYxsLb7heAFus9Fbn295bVQFrg1WniDdY5ngImPCSYbn8I591288s2VlJjE9s/s1600-h/1850roganparsfrodin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8pWZOOM4PCZVRo1WAtJlzgfLB0Dsf50NQpiV1c4DM9CurUu3XDaZTBIeWuBnpCDyQsHHoxiiYxsLb7heAFus9Fbn295bVQFrg1WniDdY5ngImPCSYbn8I591288s2VlJjE9s/s320/1850roganparsfrodin.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tag:</i> flat silver and purple floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> a topping, tippet fibres and two small chatterer feathers back to back<br />
<i>Body:</i> two turns of golden floss silk, remainder golden yellow seal’s fur merging into hot orange seal’s fur<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> a hot orange over the seal’s fur<br />
<i>Throat:</i> six toppings tied to curve downwards (ed. note, concave side out)<br />
<i>Wings:</i> seven or eight toppings tied to curve upwards (ed. note. concave side out)<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> a medium sized golden pheasant tippet feather on each side, about half as long as the wing.<br />
<i>Head:</i> black ostrich and black silk<br />
<br />
He mentions other Parson patterns presented in Newland, for example the Brown, the Fiery Brown, the Puce, the Purple and the Hobson Parson. He also mentions that Michael Rogan popularized two patterns at a later date, a Green Parson and a Yellow Parson, with jointed bodies and at least the Green apparently bearing little resemblance to either of the Parson branches, being that it had a mixed wing, while though the Yellow was more closely resembling the original Parson fly, neither really made it into history.<br />
<br />
One has to actually read Newland's book however to get the full idea of what was happening between 1836 and 1851 when it was published, during which time the Parsons were being invented. <br />
<b>The Parson as per Newland</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPTViIFgEC6nztV0ZFNfrFgvwIUVHLv1YZhvOXXKhuWCSdhNSo68BMs7CCwnw4E-14-c4KEVeG1s3V_IGFFswhAE9iqPjClfZhBl6daKdkiF7nISwrhzHCnNPqQzkd8cHdxMH/s1600-h/toppingyellowinv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPTViIFgEC6nztV0ZFNfrFgvwIUVHLv1YZhvOXXKhuWCSdhNSo68BMs7CCwnw4E-14-c4KEVeG1s3V_IGFFswhAE9iqPjClfZhBl6daKdkiF7nISwrhzHCnNPqQzkd8cHdxMH/s320/toppingyellowinv.jpg" /></a></div>"Before the arrival of our fishermen, it might be said to consist of two distinct genera, the Butterfly and the Mixed wing, each containing several species: but, some two or three years before the date of these conversations the fishermen had added to these a third genus of fly, differing in every particular from the other two; and this, from its inventor, was generally known by the name of "the Parson." <br />
<br />
<br />
We will discuss the Mixed wings and the Butterflies in a separate section, and at that point it will be needful to keep the Parsons in mind as we do. Returning to Newland and the Erne again though;<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Kill-Many</b> <b>as per Newland</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmGKcLyo65HVrRnUmzegfllbrgbgYBKVxqfA2YVQE0AEsz1xabwdwGv4ewHKeAr0qVKlKup9RGpEWnVEW2b2kswhswXAoHd9nivklZo1G0kfmtkyE5wSpeesoOOZUJVOYGr9z/s1600-h/toppingclaretinv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmGKcLyo65HVrRnUmzegfllbrgbgYBKVxqfA2YVQE0AEsz1xabwdwGv4ewHKeAr0qVKlKup9RGpEWnVEW2b2kswhswXAoHd9nivklZo1G0kfmtkyE5wSpeesoOOZUJVOYGr9z/s320/toppingclaretinv.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>"The Parson genus is much longer, slimmer, and more elegant. This class is known by their bright yellow wings, which are formed from six or eight toppings of the golden pheasant. In the original fly, which still bears the name of <i>" the Parson," tail, tip, body, and hackle, are all yellow, as well as the wings, and the tinsel is gold; it is hackled over the wings with blue jay, or else fitted with wing- coverts from the kingfisher, with a black ostrich head. </i><br />
This genus has three varieties, Kill-many, Kill-more, and Jack-the-Giant-Killer. The first differs from the Parson in having a claret body and hackle; the second retains the yellow body, though it is generally of a deeper shade, but has a bright crimson under-wing, and a strong splash of the same colour in the coverts; while Jack-the-Giant-Killer has a green body and hackle, with crimson or green coverts. <b> </b><b> </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmGKcLyo65HVrRnUmzegfllbrgbgYBKVxqfA2YVQE0AEsz1xabwdwGv4ewHKeAr0qVKlKup9RGpEWnVEW2b2kswhswXAoHd9nivklZo1G0kfmtkyE5wSpeesoOOZUJVOYGr9z/s1600-h/toppingclaretinv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><b>Jack-the Giant-Killer </b><b>as per Newland </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xj3N-iYrk1FBWIwRZBPcOxTyzvBO38mpQ87OrNVw5d8q-oil1EJRPueDwOZP_05tqvwUPKppWS-U3cW2B4Nm6uKrNVbPLh3YnbxJw5Uh8JNtCSdFeBa1fIN9P5gYbjN0DB-g/s1600-h/toppinggreeninv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xj3N-iYrk1FBWIwRZBPcOxTyzvBO38mpQ87OrNVw5d8q-oil1EJRPueDwOZP_05tqvwUPKppWS-U3cW2B4Nm6uKrNVbPLh3YnbxJw5Uh8JNtCSdFeBa1fIN9P5gYbjN0DB-g/s320/toppinggreeninv.jpg" /></a></div>The whole tribe are homed with yellow maccaw<i>(sic)</i>, except the last species, which is red. The Parson flies are best adapted for stained water, as being better calculated to attract the notice of the fish; Jack is intended for sunshine; <br />
Kill-many and Kill-more for dull weather. <br />
The whole of this tribe of flies is expensive, and that is their principal draw-back; but the material of which they are almost entirely composed, the crest of the golden pheasant, is rare and difficult to procure.<br />
<br />
<b>The Kill-More as per Newland<span id="goog_1264014231723"></span><span id="goog_1264014231724"></span> <br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvgyww3FiDP8ebgwHnU88MYRJJg-JRdjAsTPmk9-_KLysLvQVeK0J1QhYjPhnf_HIoGv-EHKfKYS5KPnAi4Iu_0yvRGXQlrc-Pn6_BUg4YxU6eXEkoB9ORgDZS4F9f5AXW7bt/s1600-h/toppingdyellowredinv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvgyww3FiDP8ebgwHnU88MYRJJg-JRdjAsTPmk9-_KLysLvQVeK0J1QhYjPhnf_HIoGv-EHKfKYS5KPnAi4Iu_0yvRGXQlrc-Pn6_BUg4YxU6eXEkoB9ORgDZS4F9f5AXW7bt/s320/toppingdyellowredinv.jpg" /></a></div>A cheap substitute for this class of flies may be thus made: yellow parrot-tail, yellow silk body, with a very full yellow hackle, mallard wings, with two small yellow hackles tied in with them, and hanging loose over <br />
the back, maccaw<i>(sic)</i> horns."<br />
<b></b><b><br />
</b><br />
<br />
Newland wrote his descriptions in 1851, but in 1847 Thomas Tod Stoddart published a book entitled <i>“The Anglers Companion to the Rivers and Lochs of Scotland,”</i> William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, and there-in, on page 242 is a table labeled Salmon Flies, Irish Style and Pattern and in this table we find a pattern for the Parson. In its main details, it is very similar to the above as you will see. It goes as follows:<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Wings:</i> a bright yellow hook, wings formed of golden pheasant crests, with slips of the blue and buff macaw<br />
<i>Body: </i> yellow floss silk, gold twist<br />
<i>Tail:</i> golden pheasant crest feather below ostrich herl<br />
<i>Comments:</i> Most of these flies are favourites in the rivers Ness, Beauley and Shin<br />
<br />
And there you have it, a version with no hackle, no jay shoulder or herl head, and with a herl butt, but otherwise a stripped down early Parson. There is no mention of if the wings are tied inverted or not, but the suggestion is that they would be inverted, as the wing is described as a hook. There is no evidence that I have found so far to suggest that this primitive Parson predates the 1836 Rogan version, and indeed I think this pattern, favourite or not, was perhaps meant as just a quickie version to fish and be done with. <br />
<br />
Michael Rogan’s father James Rogan apparently also invented a Parson fly, with a topping wing, though Frodin does not give a date. This topping winged Parson is dressed as follows:<br />
<i>Tag:</i> gold twist and yellow floss silk<br />
<i>Tail:</i> two golden pheasant toppings<br />
<i>Body:</i> yellow silk floss<br />
<i>Ribs:</i> medium gold twist<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> a light yellow cocks hackle<br />
<i>Wing:</i> approximately fifteen golden pheasant toppings with red tips, tied concave side up.<br />
<i>Throat:</i> two collar tied Jay feathers tied in before the wing<br />
<i>Head:</i> black ostrich and black silk<br />
<br />
If the astute reader will notice though, this is just the same pattern as the original Parson in Newland, sans sides and with the feathering doubled; two toppings in the tail, two jay in the collar and twice as many toppings in the wing. <br />
<br />
Another author to delve into the Parson complex is E. J. Malone. He lists several Parson patterns and variations there-of in his book <i>“Irish Trout and Salmon Flies,”</i> Colin Smythe Ltd. 1984, and notes some very interesting historical notes as well. He lists no less then three versions of the Green Parson, with one of them being Micheal Rogan's own dressing, and all of them mixed wings by the way.<br />
<br />
He lists two versions of the Parson, both of which are topping wing flies, and three variations from Newland (see above), also topping winged flies. None of these are mentioned as having the wings inverted.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFIPQXXdT_DeZLG2YizXTGowVMgxsjdD8dq8_zAwmM1vRqZjJi-G1xAeyrBItVGEy15WEgmiGzP231k4PEpZktjG0zGalCbE-qz7JTTBysZU-L9Q5qz74fif5Z1N3hv2Q2BKE/s1600-h/toppingparsonrogan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFIPQXXdT_DeZLG2YizXTGowVMgxsjdD8dq8_zAwmM1vRqZjJi-G1xAeyrBItVGEy15WEgmiGzP231k4PEpZktjG0zGalCbE-qz7JTTBysZU-L9Q5qz74fif5Z1N3hv2Q2BKE/s320/toppingparsonrogan.jpg" /></a> <b>The Parson (1) as per E. J. Malone</b><br />
<i>Tag:</i> silver twist and ruby floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping, Indian crow and chatterer<br />
<i>Body:</i> golden olive pigs wool, with fiery brown pigs wool at the shoulder<br />
<i>Rib:</i> gold and silver twist<br />
<i>Body hackle:</i> pale yellow cock<br />
<i>Shoulder hackle:</i> dark claret cock<br />
<i>Wings:</i> cock-of-the-rock covered by five or six toppings<br />
<i>Horns:</i> blue and yellow macaw<br />
<i>Sides:</i> chatterer<br />
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b> The Parson (2) as per E. J. Malone</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkwLWD5imjlPvNhJbVCk2IyWO0aCAs5pOCvjyRuVSATeGPERtSjgM_11FiTeBy0M8m9MGJpjCtFFzA4spPww6isgzWijJTdYTXfqeK4fhRyUbI8bz73iF01VxqLZgqWff9j8m/s1600-h/toppingparsonnewland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkwLWD5imjlPvNhJbVCk2IyWO0aCAs5pOCvjyRuVSATeGPERtSjgM_11FiTeBy0M8m9MGJpjCtFFzA4spPww6isgzWijJTdYTXfqeK4fhRyUbI8bz73iF01VxqLZgqWff9j8m/s320/toppingparsonnewland.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tag:</i> yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i>golden pheasant crest<br />
<i>Body:</i>yellow floss<br />
<i>Rib:</i> gold tinsel<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> blue jay over wings<br />
<br />
<i>Wings:</i> six or eight toppings<br />
<i>Sides:</i> kingfisher <br />
<i>Head:</i> black ostrich<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The reader will note that this is a pattern I have already presented above, but as Malone did not specify, and at the time I did not know how the wing should be tied, it is tied as usual, something I note also to be the case in the illustration to be found in Eric Taverner's book <i>"Fly Tying for Salmon." </i> Seeley Service & Co., London, England, 1942 <br />
<br />
There is also a Yellow Parson, noted as a “present day dressing by Micheal Rogan” and it too is a topping winged fly. It is presented here as I believe it should look. Of course, the wing may actually be inverted, but as this is supposed to be a modern pattern, I chose to tie it this way.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVUZ6Iyx7CmZXeyyqRtcTptT97axQo7wful4a8ykQypp8yXs-nQ3qUh50Cx_GA6MHwfDuhSgO7EaWNs-1A-v4Yzn4WLPoekACY-Yra7sz1gLWqqlMQBJKcIWgosx2obolWYd6/s1600-h/toppingparsonyellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVUZ6Iyx7CmZXeyyqRtcTptT97axQo7wful4a8ykQypp8yXs-nQ3qUh50Cx_GA6MHwfDuhSgO7EaWNs-1A-v4Yzn4WLPoekACY-Yra7sz1gLWqqlMQBJKcIWgosx2obolWYd6/s320/toppingparsonyellow.jpg" /></a></div> <b>The Yellow Parson as per E. J. Malone</b><br />
<i>Tag: </i>oval silver and red floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and paired jungle cock<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich<br />
<i>Body:</i> rear 1/3 yellow floss, front 2/3 green peacock sword herl<br />
<i>Rib:</i> oval silver<br />
Shoulder hackle: Yellow cock<br />
<i>Throat:</i> long golden pheasant topping lying back to cover the hook point<br />
<i>Wings:</i> golden pheasant toppings<br />
<i>Sides:</i> jungle cock<br />
<br />
<br />
It is Malone’s assertion that it was in 1836 that Micheal Rogan created the Parson for the Erne, and it was a topping winged fly. He does not mention in text the Pat McKay Parson, which Frodin has as being created in 1836.<br />
<br />
Personally in this case I believe it was Pat McKay, in 1836 because he is listed also by Frodin as creating the Golden Butterfly, a fly very similar to the topping winged Parson, in 1810. Frodin writes that this fly became the forerunner of the Parson flies, and the Rangers, Green Highlander and the Doctor series, though personally I do not see how as none of the Rangers, Highlanders or Doctors are topping winged flies. If by this he means that being an early “gaudy fly” it paved the way to acceptance of the rest, then yes, I can agree with this, but otherwise, in terms of fly development, I think not. Newland also states quite clearly that it was Pat McKay in 1836, who if he didn't invent the fly, took elements of many Parson flies fished at the time and amalgamated them into a standard fly. <br />
<br />
This is still preliminary work, with the photos to be replaced as better ones are taken, and the notes to be updated as new information is discovered.atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16653754.post-43537674209819094812009-12-03T18:37:00.001-08:002010-02-21T05:45:08.004-08:00The Black Dog Mystery<div class="posttitle"><h2><a href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/8/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The Black Dog Mystery">The Black Dog Mystery</a></h2><div class="postmetadata">November 29, 2009 by <a href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/author/atlanticsalmonflyguy/" title="Posts by atlanticsalmonflyguy">atlanticsalmonflyguy</a> | <a class="post-edit-link" href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=8" title="Edit post">Edit</a> </div></div><div class="entry"><div class="snap_preview"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGg5xruX5qIHruA0nZEnj1nuPVeUDyJGdYcT4Qe8ql5ZkmHew7eP6LWMvdLmLDtKpJ9EkwwDgxWN9lrhjGUtqwHbUCP8Y5yTF2QoO0DdUDJtVOXf_grg58-aLph9UyU9UeFJSx/s1600-h/blackdogff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><a href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/2early-black-dogs.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignleft" height="206" src="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/2early-black-dogs.jpg?w=276&h=206" title="2 early black dogs" width="276" /></a>In 1821*, Alexander Mackintosh wrote the first known description of the fly known as the Black Dog in his book <i>“The Driffield Angler."</i> Used on the Tay, for Atlantic Salmon, it was popular and successful. His pattern is as follows:<br />
“The hook, no. 1, and the shank near 3 inches long; the wings, the bluish feather from the herons wing intermixed with the spotted reddish one from the turkeys tail; feathers for the body, lead coloured hog’s soft wool from under the ear, small gold twist, a large black cocks hackle; the head a little dark green mohair and dark green silk. “<br />
<br />
He proceeds to describe the making of this fly, which really is not too difficult to follow. The interesting bit however that bothered me at the time, but I did it anyway, is he describes running the twist between and around the wings “three or four times… making it appear as much as possible about the head.” He then covers this with the mohair. Interesting and once done, it serves to insure that the two wings never will fold together again except under extreme pressure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfgExkeKzfwc5az4HbsnX-3KlcA5eAZ8tJvtZ3eQjoPgXuQvOFsQ7FB1qrfna-ACSYGaDQcgt9gh7yJKFrhqm9WTyIj8a3j6chGouFOFHl97CmfSfC1lkNryhGzzrFrMMnoxx/s1600-h/blackdogmac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfgExkeKzfwc5az4HbsnX-3KlcA5eAZ8tJvtZ3eQjoPgXuQvOFsQ7FB1qrfna-ACSYGaDQcgt9gh7yJKFrhqm9WTyIj8a3j6chGouFOFHl97CmfSfC1lkNryhGzzrFrMMnoxx/s320/blackdogmac.jpg" /></a>The fly you see on the left is the Mackintosh version true to the pattern in all respects. The hackle is tied in full and facing backwards to present a sleek but bushy profile. I married, strand for strand the two wing components, though I am certain that this was not done in the original. I suspect that either one or the other was tied in as shown, with the second either as strands under or over, or both were tied in as mixed strands and separated into two bunches with the twist. I thought that this would be a much nicer look though, despite it taking more time to marry the wings then it did to do the rest of the fly, including mounting the wings.<br />
<br />
*An interesting note on this flies history: Eric Taverner, in <i>"Fly Tying for Salmon," </i>1942, pg. 11, writes that the <i>Driffield Angler</i> was "issued" in 1808, and also states, "Mackintosh says, 'I caught one when angling with the fly at Castle-Menzies in the year 1765, that weighed fifty-four pounds and a half.' He mentioned this fact to call attention to the weight of the fish, not to emphasize the use of a fly which must have been an ordinary lure at the time." The fly both of them are referring to is the original Black Dog, a pattern Taverner gives as identical to the one already given by Mackintosh and quoted directly from the 1821 copyrighted edition I have the PDF scan of. I have done intra-document searches for every single word in the above Mackintosh quote, and can find no such quote in my version. <br />
<br />
In 1847 Thomas Tod Stoddart published a book entitled <i>“The Anglers Companion to the Rivers and Lochs of Scotland,” </i> William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, wrote the second description of the Black Dog that I was able to find. On page 240, in a table labeled "Flies for the Awe and Urchay Rivers - Mr. Lascelle's flies, he lists the following pattern, under a subheading Flies for the Urchay: <br />
<br />
<i>Wings</i> of blue heron and red turkey<br />
<i>Body:</i> Lead coloured mohair ribbed with gold lace, large black hackle<br />
<i>Shouldering:</i> dark green mohair<br />
<i>Observations:</i> divide the wing with the gold twist and make it appear about the head. <br />
<br />
This is basically the same pattern as above with the slight alteration in body material, changed from pigs wool to mohair. The only question remaining is: Who is Mr. Lascelles? <br />
<br />
Francis Francis, in 1867 wrote in his book<i> “A Book on Angling”</i> the next description, and in it we can see the changes the fly had undergone over time. In the picture below, you can see how the body has become black and extra ribs have been added. The wings have changed to a predominantly grey tone, and the green mohair head is gone, as are the gold tinsel wraps around the head. The pattern, from page 363 of the Classics of Salmon Fishing edition is as follows:<br />
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<i>“The Black Dog</i>- Tail, a tuft of olive-yellow pig’s wool; body, black mohair; gold and silver tinsel with orange silk between; two or three black hackles; gallina at the shoulder; wing, grey speckled turkey, two long slips. The hook is 3 1/2 inches long and 7/8 of an inch wide, and the succeeding flies rundown to 2 inches or even smaller.”<br />
Again the fly is tied as per the materials listed, though I only needed one good long hackle instead of the two or three shorter ones. I used an oily green-tinted natural black one for a nice effect.<br />
<br />
<br />
I mentioned the edition I used as there are other editions of this work. I have on cd a pdf scan of a<br />
different edition, published in 1920, edited by and with a lengthy forward by Sir Herbert Maxwell, where, though the pattern listed is identical to the above, there is a lovely colour plate of a fly labeled The Black Dog that looks nothing like the described pattern, but instead resembles nothing less than a stripped down version from the next person to take up this pattern, George M. Kelson. The pattern in the illustration can best be described as follows:<br />
<a href="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/1920-black-dog-clipped.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20" height="171" src="http://atlanticsalmonflyguy.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/1920-black-dog-clipped.jpg?w=300&h=171" title="1920 black dog clipped" width="300" /></a><i>Tag:</i> silver tinsel, yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and red fibres, probably scarlet ibis<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black silk<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> gold and silver tinsel, yellow floss between<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> none<br />
<i>Throat:</i> black heron long, to the point or longer<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two red-orange (or claret?) hackles back to back, enveloped by two long jungle cock, golden pheasant tail over this, possibly peacock herl, teal and a topping over.<br />
<i>Sides:</i> Jungle cock<br />
<br />
The hook is quite long, as expected. The illustration provided above is scanned directly from the PDF scan of the original book. The photo below is my interpretation of the image. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcDGJG1we8WxmExEexBcw7A9Pw6VLHwwMANpqbxqJiSEZE2w7Zl20-C3ZlKQfzIm_cbrNWTbyNgoxl4p3wpJkhaY6WlbwYEksAwlbmX2kZ22bowvjdHgfKeuvJXn5iH4sp34Z/s1600-h/blackdog1920ff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcDGJG1we8WxmExEexBcw7A9Pw6VLHwwMANpqbxqJiSEZE2w7Zl20-C3ZlKQfzIm_cbrNWTbyNgoxl4p3wpJkhaY6WlbwYEksAwlbmX2kZ22bowvjdHgfKeuvJXn5iH4sp34Z/s320/blackdog1920ff.jpg" /></a>I have repeatedly combed both editions for the actual written mention of this version, with no success. The question remains, How did this fly, obviously a more modern version, get into a book published in 1865? I suspect that what happened is that during the process of editing the 1920 version, Maxwell decided he needed new plates for the flies. Choosing popular flies, he commissioned the plates, but did not cross-reference the fly with the pattern in the book. As he did not actually write the book, he may have been unaware that the pattern and the plate did not correspond with each other. Francis Francis was dead by this time and could not tell him either. I will have to check and see if some of the other flies illustrated show similar pattern shifting. If this is the case though, then the version Maxwell chose was not his or Kelson’s, but the fly of the day as it were. Compare it with Kelson’s or Maxwell’s and see how it has been simplified.<br />
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George M. Kelson, in 1895 or 6, published his book <i>"The Salmon Fly"</i> and in it is a pattern he describes as ” An old standard of my father’s, and a useful high water fly – very good on the Spey, Wye, etc.”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfHM24UinqpaBGteNHYargBnoIaEZIANrizPGBSAEAN_G1GtBF8JUH8izb0rPBaD_-M4BSYMlJ2FZ1PDsBnQYXSxYgHQYtST9BcOiWpuiy_3BkBchoMT6QRX8TMON6SjEuRjs/s1600-h/blackdogkel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfHM24UinqpaBGteNHYargBnoIaEZIANrizPGBSAEAN_G1GtBF8JUH8izb0rPBaD_-M4BSYMlJ2FZ1PDsBnQYXSxYgHQYtST9BcOiWpuiy_3BkBchoMT6QRX8TMON6SjEuRjs/s320/blackdogkel.jpg" /></a></div>The pattern, much like the above only more so is as follows:<br />
<i>Tag:</i> silver tinsel, canary floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> topping and scarlet ibis<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black silk<br />
<i>Ribbing:</i> Yellow silk, and oval silver tinsel running on each side of it.<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> Black heron from the third yellow rib<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two red-orange hackles back to back, enveloped by two long jungle cock, unbarred summer duck, light bustard, Amherst pheasant tail, swan dyed scarlet and yellow, and two toppings.<br />
<br />
This is the pattern most people know and tie today. I have done the wing in the style Kelson personified, ie strand for strand marrying of each of the sections, repeating at least three times. <br />
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Next to describe the Black Dog was Sir Herbert Maxwell in his book <i>“Salmon and Sea Trout,"</i> 1898. He writes of the Black Dog: “This is the modern version of a very old Tay pattern. Black used to be the prevailing tone, but gay colours have been added to keep it abreast of the fashion. It is used as a large Spring pattern, 20-17.” I have a first edition that lists the pattern as follows:<br />
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<i>Tag:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tail:</i> a topping or tuft of orange mohair<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black chenille<br />
<i>Body:</i> black floss, ribbed with ruby floss, on one side of which is broad silver tinsel, on the other gold twist.<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> black cock’s over the body, at the shoulder a long-fibred heron hackle dyed crimson<br />
<i>Wing:</i> two tippets, then mixed gold pheasant tail, bustard, strips of crimson, yellow and orange dyed swan, peacock herl, a slice of wood duck, large topping over, red macaw horns.<br />
<i>Head:</i> black chenille<br />
<br />
This is clearly not the fly in the 1920’s version of Francis Francis either, but is a lovely fly none-the-less. It obviously did not resonate as well as the Kelson version with the fishing public though, since it is not the pattern most folk know today.<br />
<br />
Another author who described the Black Dog was Capt. John Henry Hale in his <i>“How to Tie Salmon Flies”</i> 1892. His version, attributed to Mr. Malloch is as follows:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxSRnSBtFNsenQL14fiOkN3mR7lyRF8ORygQ8qop2J_m73KWx8NrBk-dtkuPDzboYtIdQFQAsHL4z-_EDk9aCNnx1Ka8j_Nu54T0RHgcCfIhrX0DFqAAjb9d54cDzYfNm4-PG/s1600-h/blackdoghale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfxSRnSBtFNsenQL14fiOkN3mR7lyRF8ORygQ8qop2J_m73KWx8NrBk-dtkuPDzboYtIdQFQAsHL4z-_EDk9aCNnx1Ka8j_Nu54T0RHgcCfIhrX0DFqAAjb9d54cDzYfNm4-PG/s320/blackdoghale.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tag:</i> Silver twist and yellow floss<br />
<i>Tail:</i> Topping and a few fibres of scarlet ibis<br />
<i>Butt: </i>Black ostrich herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> Black floss ribbed with gold and silver oval tinsel; orange floss between the two tinsels.<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> Black heron at the shoulder only<br />
<i>Wings:</i> Mixed- bronze peacock herl, silver-grey turkey, bustard, pintail, teal, summer duck, mallard, swan, dyed red yellow and blue, topping over.<br />
<i>Cheeks:</i> Jungle cock<br />
<i>Horns:</i> Blue macaw<br />
<i>Head:</i> Black<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFIBIysGFVM_ADqAira4jPdYRE0hI4RfgnbY7dHOgudzqlqAEXL00Qsiuk504gf-odyBbPmyFTZB7EncLF2xpZESsr0VK3Eocm4BWGnRoqCP1QFFiOsXwm1EIN77IYvDXf2Ve/s1600-h/blackdoghardy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFIBIysGFVM_ADqAira4jPdYRE0hI4RfgnbY7dHOgudzqlqAEXL00Qsiuk504gf-odyBbPmyFTZB7EncLF2xpZESsr0VK3Eocm4BWGnRoqCP1QFFiOsXwm1EIN77IYvDXf2Ve/s320/blackdoghardy.jpg" /></a></div>The only other old author I could find who listed the Black Dog is John James Hardy in his book <i>“Salmon Fishing”</i> from 1897. The pattern he describes is identical to Kelson’s pattern, as are a lot of the flies in his book. In this rendition of the pattern, I tied it as Hardy might have, rather then as Kelson would have. The wings are done in single strips rather then in married strands, what I refer to as Kelsonized.<br />
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There is one other pattern that has been published that I am aware of, and as far as I can tell incorrectly attributed to Francis Francis by Mikael Frodin in his marvelous work <i>“Classic Salmon Flies, History and Patterns”</i> from 1991, Stoeger Publishing Co. In his account of the Black Dog he describes the actual Francis Francis version accurately, then goes on to talk about a second version, “more like the one Kelson provides.” It is as follows:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIDlkiDqrkNnO7CYhiUmxM1yi66C9mdDoIBr4WD2gQI7Q3QLq9pfLMGfUGowtoHmWWXJ5GbHUFjjRU9p-0aFSW9yuIW90o4-K7AWA-S_N1XfIIqBbhz0_C0NR3738DgXcGi_0/s1600-h/blackdogfrodin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIDlkiDqrkNnO7CYhiUmxM1yi66C9mdDoIBr4WD2gQI7Q3QLq9pfLMGfUGowtoHmWWXJ5GbHUFjjRU9p-0aFSW9yuIW90o4-K7AWA-S_N1XfIIqBbhz0_C0NR3738DgXcGi_0/s320/blackdogfrodin.jpg" /></a></div><i>Tag:</i> silver tinsel<br />
<i>Tail:</i> a topping<br />
<i>Butt:</i> black ostrich herl<br />
<i>Body:</i> black floss<br />
<i>Ribs:</i> silver and gold tinsel and red silk, side by side.<br />
<i>Hackle:</i> black all the way up<br />
<i>Shoulder:</i> a very long fibred heron’s hackle dyed blue<br />
<i>Wings:</i> a mixed wing, the underwing a tippet feather with slices of wood duck over, the overwing mixed fibres of golden pheasant tail, bustard, claret, yellow and orange swan, speckled peacock and some peacock herls, blue and yellow macaw and a topping over all.<br />
<i>Head:</i> black<br />
<br />
This lovely fly is much more like Maxwell’s version in my opinion, then like Kelson’s. It does not resemble the written Francis Francis pattern in the least however in either of the two editions I have examined, and only marginally resembles the illustrated version in the 1920 edition of the same author. I have been unable to discover the correct author of this pattern, and emails to Mikael Frodin have gone unanswered.<br />
<br />
Since the writing of this, I have stumbled on yet another old Black Dog. In "Salmon Fishing," by William E. Hodgeson, 1920, is a lovely set of colour plates, showing a variety of salmon flies popular at the time. Amongst that lot is a lovely Black Dog that is clearly not like any of the above, including the elusive Frodin pattern. Sadly however, this pattern is not shown in enough clear detail for me to accurately decipher it's make-up and tie a copy of it. What I can make out is that it has a yellow rib, bordered by oval silver tinsel. It has jungle cock and barred wood duck cheeks, as well as jungle cock in the under-wing. There appears to be peacock herl in the wing, as well as a lot of golden pheasant tail, with a distinct strip of yellow and possibly claret or red and something barred/speckled probably turkey or bustard. Hackle is at the shoulder only. Topping and tail appear standard, with red ibis in the tail and one single topping over. No horns are visible. Tag/tip is silver and yellow silk. This pattern is not described in text at all, and I have seen no accounts of this version elsewhere. It is yet another mystery in this puzzle, to be pieced together and tied eventually. <br />
<br />
Currently this is the extent of the research results for the Black Dog. I welcome any additional information on this fly, especially if it is verifiable information on the origin of the “second Francis Francis” pattern and the actual pattern and attribution for the one in the plate in the 1920’s edition of Francis Francis <i>“A Book on Angling.”</i> </div></div>atlanticsalmonflyguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12775084038816898973noreply@blogger.com3