This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Old Master.
Since I referenced T.E. Pritt’s North Country Flies (1886) in this week’s post, I thought it appropriate to highlight one of the flies found in his book. This one is listed as No. 39.
Materials
Hook:
1
Wings:
Hackled with a feather from the inside of a Woodcock’s wing.
Body:
Ash-coloured silk, wrapped over with Heron’s herl.
This is a capital killer from April to the end of August, on warm days, or in the evenings. It was originally dressed by Bradley, of Otley, and in his time he caught many heavy dishes of trout with it. It bears some resemblance to ” Greenwell’s Glory.”
I don’t have all the original materials to tie this fly, so I substituted materials as follows. A size 1 hook of yesteryear equates to what we know today as size 14. I chose a TMC 3906. In addition, heron is illegal for tying flies these days, so I chose goose herl. The thread is Uni. The Woodcock wing is a little long, but I only tied one of these tonight.
I reference Robert Smith’s North Country Flies, Yorkshire’s Soft Hackle Tradition (2015) often. You might enjoy watching him tie this fly.
Enjoy…go fish
