Hi,

In a recent thread where I posted some bucktail patterns, I included a bucktail version of a fly my grandfather used to call a "P-Beau". This was short for a "Parmachene Beau".

Now, I don't have a clear memory of what the P-Beau looked like. It was the mate of the "P-Belle", which was the Parmachene Belle tied in the usual way. My recollection of the P-Beau was that it was "more red" than the P-Belle.

When I search for the P-Beau on the net, what I find is fly which is more or less a P-Belle with peacock herl but and junglecock eyes; a more fancy P-Belle, but not "more red". The patterns on the web that I've found are not the fly of my Grandfather, despite the same name.

I thought the wing was a married wing, mostly red with a white stripe down the middle (the reverse colour of the P-Belle). I thought the body was silver, but it could have been white floss (rather htan the P-Belle's yellow body). All of this was pretty dim memory, so I e-mailed my older brother. He used to tie some flies for Pup, so I hoped his memory would be clearer.

John suggested that the P-Beau was basically a P-Belle, but with a red body (hence my memory of it being "more red"). I've tied one up, and here it is. It's not the P-Beau pattern from the web, but some sites do indicate that there are a few variations of the P-Beau listed in books. Has anyone seen one like this before? Especially keen to hear from those from Nova Scotia as they may be familear with this variation.



Thanks everyone.

- Jeff