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The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
This fly has been catching trout for more than 500 years, but it's my "secret weapon" for post-spawn finicky smallmouth. Give it a try for bluegill, too. I think you'll agree this is a fly that you should always carry.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/images/PartrigeYellow.jpg
You can find step-by-step photo instructions and downloadable video at http://www.flyfishohio.com
Enjoy!
Joe C.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Since I don't have any partridge, I sometimes use teal as a substitute. So I guess its a Teal and Yellow. :)
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
look good i only have olive partridge though so it would be a olivepartridge and yellow :shock:
i bet it would still work though
lol
chris
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi,
Spider (or soft hackle) patterns are wonderful fish catchers that can be fished in just about any manner; up stream, down stream dead drift, down stream swing, retrieved back up stream, fished deep, near the surface, even ginked and on the surface. Donald Nicolson's site (a FAOL member) is a must view location for anyone interested in various styles of wet flies, especially on the various "styles" of wingless wets / spiders / hackled flies / flymphs / etc.
I've had great luck with a "Pritt's water cricket", which is a starling hackle, yellow body with a black rib (optional). Can also be tied with an orange body. Mind you, I've also had good luck on what I call a "woodcock and candy cane", which is a woodcock feather for hackle, and a red and white spiral body, which doesn't look like any bug I've ever seen.
The Partridge and X series are wonderful in just about all combinations. The "white with black specs" feathers look very buggy, but one shouldn't overlook the brown feathers from the partridge as these produce a nice effect also. The dubbed thorax adds a bit of bulk, which probably helps most in faster or off coloured water. I'm not sure on that though, and really need to do some more systematic tests to decide if there is any rhyme or reason behind why the fish will have a preference to take a thoraxed pattern one day and not the next? Similar with adding peacock hurl in front of the hackle as a "head." Some (Sylvester Nemes I think) suggest this may have started as imitating the larger heads of caddis fly nymphs as they rise up to emerge, which sounds good enough to me.
There are some streams I've fished where specific patterns work much better than others while on other streams (or days more like it) almost any spider works. For example, I've caught fish on what was simply a bare hook with a hackle wrapped on it. The floss for the body had come off after being torn by the fish's teeth. Or, when fishing a team of 3 spiders I'll find that fish will take any of the 3 equally. On other days, when fishing the same team of 3 spiders, I'll find that one of the patterns catches all the fish while the others seem to be ignored.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
tied a few today. Hope to try em out on Sat or Sun for gills.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Jeff,
Do you have a link or URL for Nicolson's site?
Thanks
Dave
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Dick Walle up in Toledo, Ohio has been promoting soft hackles for decades, and it's nice to be reminded they will take species other than trout. There are not many fish that will ignore a soft hackle offering. Thanks for sharing your "secret weapon" Joe.
JoeV
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Joe V
I might be heading your way in the next couple days - and possibly a few times over the next three or four weeks. Care to fish the "Big Water"? I'm even thinking of a trip up to Presque Isle. Email me off-board.
J
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Nice what's around the throax???
I tied some yellow sallys....using pale yellow dyed hen
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...llowsally2.jpg
this is a yellow legged boa....but works just as well
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...ellowsally.jpg
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Quote:
Originally Posted by cholcomb13
Nice what's around the throax???
Nice Ties!
The thorax of the flies shown at the top of the thread is touch-dubbed mole. You can use any of a a number of soft, fine furs or even synthetics, but mole is a bit more traditional and I love the way it dubbs.
Joe C.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi Dave,
The link Cornmuse gave is Donald's site. Lots of information there, and lots of patterns and variations to play with if you get into experimenting with different styles of spiders and wet flies.
And cholcomb13 those are some very nice ties! Should do well.
Thinking of a few of the streams I fish, all the flies shown in this thread would work really well in the ones that have very clear and swift moving water, especially on a bright warm sunny day. On one stream though, where the water is often more discoloured, I've found only black patterns produce with any real regularity, but that may be specific to that one stream.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
what are your techniques for fishing softhackles? I've tied a bunh but haven't fished them yet. I will mostly be fishing Warm Water for bass/gills. Do you let them drop or fish them on top? Subsurface maybe? If you let them sink do you twitch them slowly or just let em sink than recast?
Thanks
WWFF
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
If I'm fishing stillwater I like a very slow hand-twist retrieve. Perhaps 1 to 2 inches per second. I also like to use a flourocarbon tippet to sink the fly. I've also found it effective to hang a soft hackle off a slider or cork popper. Often I'll have fish (especially bass) that will come to look at the bug and will suck in the soft hackle instead.
On flowing waters I like a down-and-across swing that is near a dead drift. I use a curve cast to place the fly downcurrent of the tippet and mend until the fly swings to a point where the line comes tight. Then I like the same hand twist retrieve.
I always fish them slow.
Joe C.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi,
I primarily fish them in moving water and typically in a down and across manner. I'll cast upstream a ways, then drift them down and past me, letting line out to extend the drift. I try to keep the line just about tight to the fly, but not quite, and look for subtle changes during the drift. Once the fly is in swing mode, hits will be easily felt and often jolt me from a contemplative moment.
Generally, I fish a team of 3 wet flies, so often I will have 3 spiders. Other times I might have a palmered fly on top (say, an Invicta or Soldier Palmer), a winged wet in the middle (Peter Ross, Royal Coachman, Greewell's Glory, etc), and a spider on point. Generally, I'll fish the runs and the riffles and work down towards a pool, fish through the pool, and out the other side. Often one picks up fish before getting to the pool, or just as you're fly exits the pool and into the next glide. Occasionally the fish will rise up from the bottom of the pool to take the fly near the surface though. Most times, if the run is long and straight, I'll just let out line and fish long, then slowly retrieve the line back by knitting it into my hand. Lots of hits using wet flies occur during this phase. If the stretch of water is a fairly short section, then casting upstream and keeping the fly line off the water (only the leader and the team of flies in the stream) can be productive. As the flies drift past, turn to keep facing the flies until they drift past you, as if tying to keep the line straight between the reel and the fly; this aids in keeping the dead drift with "just about there" line tension. If you are keeping the line off the water, don't point the rod skyward, rather it should "point" the same way you would normally point it, just hold it higher up, with your rod hand up around your ears.
Most of my spiders have been tied on wet fly hooks, which are heavier than dry fly hooks. Because these patterns tend to have such a slim profile they will sink during the drift without the need to add lead or a bead. Casting upstream also helps to get them to sink to the desired level (whatever that happens to be on the day). Of course, on really fast water they don't have much time to get down that far, but I generally am looking for "quickish" but not really fast, sections. Also, I tend to fish water that is about knee to mid-thigh deep, so even a fly on the surface is close enough to the fish that they may go for it.
I've started tying some spiders on lighter, dry fly hooks. Tied this way, on slower water with a nice smooth surface, you can gently drop them onto the surface where they immitate something stuck in the surface film (a dead and beat up adult, or a still born, etc). Used in faster water, these will simply not sink as much allowing you to fish near the surface over the entire drift, which can be useful if the fish are feeding on or at the surface. The heavier ones may sink below the feeding fish.
If you tie some on dry fly hooks, I would fish them just in the surface film letting the wind blow them around. Some heavier wire hooks could be left to sink slowly, then slow retrieve to make them swim to the surface to emerge.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
I'll usually fish them the same way as mention but usually I drop it off of a bead or tungsten bead nymph to help get it down....surprisingly fish bypass the bigger nymph and take the spider.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi cholcomb13,
I'm convinced, well, strongly believe, or should I say "will say in public with some confidence", that it's the movement in the hackles that the fish key into when it comes to spider patterns. As I've said before, I've caught fish on what amounted to no more than a bare hook with a soft hackle tied around it; the floss body had come off. A larger bead-head nymph often doesn't have that soft enticing "come hither" look that beckons from the gentle waving arms of the soft hackle. Slim profile, with tiny waving bits, and that's dinner to a trout. I've had days where the spider is taken over a winged fly, regardless of where the two are placed in the cast (i.e., spider in the middle and winged on point, or vice versa). Other days it's equal, and other days the reverse is true. Fun stuff!
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Jeff I agree...partridge (soft hackles) movement....WOW....I will say after inspecting the river lots of bugs but the small golden (yellow) stones looked a lot like my spiders.
Not to hyjack this thread I believe cornmuse's intent was there is something to be said about the simplicity of these "classic" patterns....and the rate at which they catch fish...which brings us back to Jeff's comment re: movement.
Cornmuse I agree I've started to tie a lot of my modern nymphs in a soft hackle variety :D .
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi there, softhackles have always fascinated me a lot, but since my practical experience with them is very limited, I found this thread very very helphul.., thanks to all who have posted.. Please advise what size range of hooks you use for them? /My first soft hackles were tied on size 12 heavy wire hooks/..I guess it is quite different in a general searching situation or during a certain hatch.. still have to find out..
Thanks
Cheers
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
For the waters I fish I prefer a lighter wire hook so I can fish the fly in the top 5" of water. Primarily a caddis imitation on the local trout stream. When I fish them on bottom I hang one off of a weighted bead-head something or other.
Size-wise I like 10's and 12's for warm water, 16's and 18's for trout
Joe C.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
The "classic" spider flies are wonderful!! Always my "go to" fly when nothing else is working...or if I want action straight away! Yellow, olive, orange, and of course, blue. Use the uni-stretch aqua blue for the body. Still haven't figured out why the blue works so well, but I'm just happy it does!
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Betty, have you ever tried blue pheasant tail for a body? I haven't, but I think that I shall, and soon.
Ed
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Betty, Your mention of blue on a spider reminded me of something, it was this -
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com...dfed7a9_1b.jpg
Number 6 (Blue & Black hen)
Hackle : Black hen.
Body : Blue plastic tinsel
(underbody blue).
Head : Orange fluorescent
nylon.
Hook : No 11 to 13.
Season : Summer.
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com...e4aa31a_1b.jpg
*Number 7 (Blue & Grouse)
Hackle : Grouse.
Body : Dark blue nylon.
Head : Orange fluorescent
nylon.
Hook : No 11 to 13.
Season : All season.
These Italian spiders were tied by Walter Bartellini, and are modernised versions of traditional Alpine spiders.
I haven't tried blue on spiders myself but blue is a favourite colour on sea-run brown trout flies.
These Italians seem to have been doing everything longer than everybody else, except the Chinese.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Off to the tying desk!! Kewl fly, Donald!! I've never tied them with the reversed hackle, but I will now!
Ed, I've not tried blue pheasant for the bodies, yet! Will give that a go too. The uni stretch gives a smooth, clean body that holds up well to continued attack by little trout teeth!!
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Mine are typically tied on a 14 or 16 size wet fly hook....a little heavier than normal hooks, also they are 2x short meaing that they a 14 has the length of a 16 but the hook gap of a 14...
Donald...I agree nice flies :D
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Betty, Here is an old one using purple -
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com...a4c38dd_1b.jpg
Snipe & Purple.
Hook: 18 to 14.
Thread: Unwaxed purple silk. Pearsall?s shade 8.
Hackle: A dark marginal covert feather from the snipe, or jack snipe for preference. Choose a spoon-shape feather.
Body: Purple tying silk or floss silk.
(A double layer of tying silk used on this example.)
This is the article on reversed Alpine spiders -
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com/page43.html
Hey Jeeves, have a look at the following web pages, they will give you Spider patterns with Hook sizes.
Traditional Spiders
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com/page61.html
Hen hackle Spiders
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com/page35.html
Spiders on Straight eyed hooks - There are two pages, the second shows the s/e hook type.
http://www.dtnicolson.dial.pipex.com/page58.html
Hope you find the information useful.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Donald ... what an incredible resourse you are! Thank you.
I'm still tying my Snipe and Purple with snipe feathers from Bill Lavris, our very own "Snipe". Oh, how I miss him!
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi,
Most of my spiders ared tied on size 12 or 14 hooks. Most are on wet fly hooks, but I'm now tying some on dry fly. I do tie a few size 16 and 18, and have a couple size 22s (using osterich hurl for the hackle).
I will vouch for Betty's Blue spider, which I use a lot here in two forms. One is similar to the aqua blue and snipe that she uses and the other is Uni Floss Royal Blue and Black hackle. I've had great luck with these, and have had times when these were clearly the fly of the day!
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Since we're sharing "secrets" about soft hackle flies, a few of mine:
1. A few turns of soft hackle on midge patterns seems to improve the fly. On a recent trip to the White River (Arkansas), a soft hackle midge outfished the standard Zebra midge by at least 2 to 1. The pattern:
Body: Black thread
Rib: Fine silver wire
Thorax: A tiny bit of hare's ear dubbing, antron, or synthetic peacock
Hackle: A few turns of grizzly hen
2. UTC thread has more sheen for bodies that Danville's, and flattens bettern than silk.
3. For small midges on scud hooks, don't try to use hooks smaller than 20 or 22; the eye on some brands is too large in proportion to the hook gap. A fly tied with size 24 proportions on a size 20 hook will bring more fish to the net than a standard size 24.
Good fishing,
Arnie
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi Betty,
One of Pritt's flies used blue as well. A "partridge and blue", which was:
Hook 1 (size 14)
Body : blue silk, lightly dubbed with grey fur (I forget what type of fur, I use some grey possum fur)
hackle: from the back of a partridge (which, on my skin, would suggest a brownish partridge feather rather than the white with black speckles)
After reading this thread, I tied one up last night using the aqua blue for the body and it looks very fishy. The colour plate image for the Pritt pattern seems to show mostly the greyish dubbing, so I'm assuming the blue silk Pritt used was quite a pale blue since dubbing on his flies follows the maxim of "less is more". Meaning the dubbing should imply bulk rather be bulk (I can't recall where I first read that advice about dubbing for spiders, but once you tie one with that in mind the whole approach to spiders as an impressionistic pattern starts to really come into focus and you start stripping the hackle on one side, and one turn and one turn only of that hackle, and suddenly, you are fishing with something not far off from a bare hook! ha!). Anyway, I'll try and take a photo and add it to this thread.
And I agree with your assessment of Donald's site. I've picked up a lot of interesting ideas from his site (Thanks Donald!).
- Jeff
P.S. Just checked out Donald's hen hackle page, and the "bluebottle spider", with a dark blue tinsel body and black hen hackle looks very similar to the "Dark Betty" that I tie (but I use a Royal Blue floss for the body).
Also, I have furnace cape for tying dries. There are some feathers that are useless for dry flies because they are entirely the "centre dark strip", with soft fibers. When the light catches these feathers, they have a sort of green shine to them, very insect like. These are excellent feathers for soft hackles. Similar "soft feathers" can be found near the back on my micro-barb grizzle cape for a grizzle soft hackle collar. Sometimes these feathers can tie down to quite small sizes for those who want really tiny soft hackles.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Here it is Jeff, just as Pritt gave it :-
"No. 44 Blue Partridge. Hook 1 (14).
Wings: Hackled with a feather from a Partridge's back.
Body: Blue silk dubbed with a little lead-coloured lamb's wool.
A first-rate killer in a biggish water any time after the middle of May."
I had a look in Edmonds & Lee, but could find no mention of this fly.
The grey 'possum sounds like a good substitute.
I'm glad your finding the web-site useful.
I think I may add a list of Pritt's and Edmonds & Lee flies.
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Donald, gread site, truly appreciate what you have done...thank you!!
Arnie, the fly you describe seems like a deja vu to me :D - in fact this is the first soft hackle I've had success with, the only difference being black hen hackle instead of grizzli and very sparse /no more than one turn....maybe less :) ../. I am using size 16 fine wire scud hook for this fly /the smallest available in local fly shops/ and only use 2/3 of the shank in order to make it as small as I want.
Thanks for all useful advise,
Cheers!
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi Donald,
That's the one! I had read it at home in S. Neme's book "The Soft Hackle Fly Addict" but was posting from work. I've tied up a number of Pritt's patterns, and really like the look of them. I've had the most success with his #1 (the Water Cricket, tied in yellow with a black rib and starling hackle), but have tied up a number of others. I usually have to make a few substitutes since many of the feathers are not easily obtainable here (or anywhere). I don't think, for example, there are a lot of shops selling Brown Owl wings these days.
And yes, your site is a treasure trove of information. I've got a few Tummel style flies ready to try, and a full collection of Stewart Spiders (yes, all 3! :) ). I'm interested in seeing some of the Bumbles in picture form. I assume Bumble is a category name for wingless/tailess palmers, like a Bibio, since the patterns listed are both tailless and wingless. However, could a Bumble include a tail making a woolly worm or wooly bugger a form of a Bumble. What about a wing and a tai? Would an Invicta be a form of a Bumble? I've not heard the term before, though I've fished various palmered patterns with good success.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi,
Ok, here's a photo of Pritt's Partridge and Blue (No 44) that I did up using possum fur instead of lead coloured lamb's wool (hmm, I probably had some wool like that actually):
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... ritt44.jpg
Also, here's Pritt's Water Cricket (No 1), though the hackle is a feather from a furnace dry fly cape where the feather is entirely the centre web:
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... ricket.jpg
I've not fished the first pattern yet, but the Water Cricket is very successful for me. I'll sometimes include a turn or two of peacock herl on the head, just in front of the hackle.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Beautiful, Jeff!! So many flies to tie ... so little time!!
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Hi Betty,
Thanks! I think you would find Pritt's Partridge & Blue a productive fly since it looks very similar to your Snipe & Blue. The Water Cricket's rib is optional (I just leave extra tying thread sticking out the end, then wrap it as the rib), and it can also be tied in orange.
- Jeff
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Here's one that based on a classic but I use modern v-rib material for the body, throax peacock.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...vribspider.jpg
(I don't know what I did but the camera black out everything but the fly....a very cool pic, I think)
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
nice fly
i like the use of v-rib 8)
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Re: The Partridge and Yellow- A Classic Trout Fly
Cholcomb13,
Have you ever used a product called "Liquid Lace" in the same manner? It's a very stretchy hollow lace that you fill with babyoil. It's available in very small sizes and would be ideal on your fly. The translucency of the stuff is amazing. Just a thought. You can see it at www.liquidlace.com and www.tyingsupplies.com
REE