Flies tied in Nova Scotia

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Well, I've recently finished reading "The Tent Dwellers" by Albert Bigalo Paine (sp?). His book was written in 1908, and is about a summer fishing trip he and a friend took to the "wilds" of Nova Scotia, fishing for brook trout. It has been re-released as the 100th anniversary of the book just went by (the author is more famous for his biography of Mark Twain).

Many of the flies he mentions in the book are still popular today in Nova Scotia at least (Silver Doctor, Parmachene Belle, Brown Hackle, Red Tag, Montreal). I've seen some of these for sale in shops recently - and it's winter here!

It's a very enjoyable read, very entertaining and will appeal to anyone who loves the outdoors.

Anyway, my plug for a good book aside, I picked it up while getting myself stocked with some tying gear. Thought I would share a few of the results.

I call this a "Blue March", since it's basically a March Brown, but I've used a blue tinsel ribbing, like a Blue Bottle.


This next one is called a Jerry Madiddler. The front hackle is claret. In New Zealand all the claret is very dark, almost purple. I've never grown used to it as I'm used to this much more reddish looking colour. I've seen the purple version here too (called Dark Claret) and I've seen some lighter than this, almost pink.


Here's a Parmachene Belle. I usually put a red stripe down the middle of the wing, but I've seen versions with just the red on the top. I decided to tie a few this way for variety. Another one I tied I used seal's fur for the body, which makes for a nice buggy looking fly. Might do some more of those. I've found the P-Belle to work really well in New Zealand on rainbows as well.


This next one is just one I threw together. The tail and throat are squirrel tail rather than feathers. I tied this before picking up a few more colours of hackle, but I had picked up a small variety pack of squirrel tail dyed different colours. I was pleased with how well it worked as a substitute.


- Jeff