Teal Blue Silver...sort of

[FishnDave]

I'm still re-perusing The Fly-Tying Bible by Peter Gathercole.
Another streamer pattern caught my eye, the "Teal Blue Silver".

My main problem is I don't have any teal feathers. Mallard is SORT of similar, but without the nice barring. I tried it anyway.
Would this be considered a "Mallard Blue Silver"?

I'd never tried the "folded wing" before, and it turned out much smaller in profile than I wanted.

Next, I tried using grizzly hackle feathers for the wing. ("Grizzly Blue Silver"?) This turned out ok. I did coat the heads with Clear Cure Goo.

[quivira kid]

Those look great! Crappie written all over 'em...

[AlanB]

Well done Dave,
Folding a wing is an art form in itself. Preparation is the key, tease the fibres out from the stem, so they stand out square. You'll need more than you think to make a significant wing. Teal of the quality needed to make a large (size # 8 fly is hard to come by. Widgeon can be used instead for the larger flies. There is a cheat that works well enough for fishing flies. Take your teal feather strip away the fluffy fibres at the bottom and trim out the stem, so you have a Y shape. Tie the stem in where you want the wing with a couple of loose turns. Then draw the stem through the turns until you have the wing length you want. Once you are happy with the wing pull the thread tight and add a couple of turns. I did these shots for this method some years ago. They show the Peter Ross, but the method is the same.





If you like this then you may also like its near relative. The Peter Ross. There is also the Teal and Green, and the Medicine fly, which is the same as you have in the first picture sans the tail.

Over the last couple of years I have changed from predominantly river trout to loch trout fishing, these flies are my bread and butter these days.

Teal and Green
Cheers,
A.

[FishnDave]

Alan...I'm so glad you posted. I LIKE THOSE! And that's a great tip on attaching the wings on these.

Is that top feather Teal? I'll have to look up what a widgeon looks like.

I also need to find some smaller oval tinsel...what I'm using looks rather large.

[Derik]

Good teal feathers are easy to find if you hunt ducks, unfortunately I spent more time getting acquainted with mallards and wood ducks this year than teal.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

I've used mallard for Teal, Blue, and Silvers as well. Works great. The Peter Ross is another good pattern that I keep at the ready. I really like the look of that Teal and Green Alan. Will be adding a few of those to the never ending collection.

- Jeff

[AlanB]

Dave,
If you don't have finer silver oval try twisting two strands of wire together. You'll often see "silver twist" mentioned in classic salmon fly paterns. It is just two strands of silver wire twisted. A cup hook in a drill chuck is a good way to do it. They are both teal.
Wigeon is heavier barred than teal. Unfortunately I don't shoot any longer, so have to rely on what I can scrounge.
You might have noticed that on the Teal and Green I've only put 3 strands in the tail. This is quite normal here. It is just a hint of orange that you are looking for. Some I have seen tied with half a golden pheasant tied in (beak and all). It kills the fly if you put too much in.
Cheers,
A.

[FishnDave]

I noticed my flies tend to be a bit more heavily dressed, although they seemed to match the tutorials/pictures in the book fairly well.
I think the fish on this side of the pond have poorer eyesight...plus the local midwestern water quality (a.k.a. "muddy") means the warmwater fish I usually chase can't see "subtle" very well.

I'm still learning, and with your help I just might improve. I enjoy your comments and suggestions.

I clipped the beak off AFTER I finished the head on this one.

I notice on your two examples above, the spacing on your ribbing is VERY even. Any tips you can provide on your technique for the ribbing? I think mine turned out pretty well this time, but it doesn't always.

[AlanB]

Thanks for your kind words Dave,
Two things that are no real help to you on the points you make. It helps if you have a mildly obsessive trait, and tie way to many flies.

What I have found is that in anything you do doing a better job is all down to attention to detail. A full rotary vice is the easiest way to get even ribbing. I haven't used that facility here, I tend to only use it if tying the flies for framing. These are just down to practice. I tie these kind of flies commercially so can be tying dozens a day. From your flies I can see that you have a grasp of the techniques. Just keep tying.

There are a couple of things I do to get small heads that might help. Don't start the thread right behind the eye. Leave a gap of 1 to 1 1/2 times the width of the eye. My tinsel bodies are double layer. I tie them in at the point I started the thread and wind up and down back to the tie in point. Then, keeping the tinsel under tension, I take the wraps used to tie it on off. Then two turns over the end of the tinsel holds the whole thing.

Your tails are not excessive. I may describe them as full, but not anything like many of the imported flies I see. The slim tail is just the preferred style here. I come from the North Country tradition of fly tying that elevates sparseness to an art form. Which means I have had a hard time adjusting to what works best here in the Highlands of Scotland. Here is an example of what I mean. On the left are traditional dressings for the Soldier Palmer (top) and Blue Zulu (bottom) (if I remember correctly they are both in the book you have). On the right are the dressings as we use them here. They are all on the same size hook. There's 3 times the amount of hackle on the ones we use here.


I've noticed you counter wind the rib. Thats a good idea for strengthening the body. If you use the twist I mentioned before they will be even stronger.
Hope there is something in there you find useful. Don't be afraid to experiment with style. Its the way to learn what works where you are.
Cheers,
A.

[Donald Nicolson]

This is a great thread. I really admire Alan's work, he may be dressing professionally, but that
in some ways is beside the point and only goes to prove that practise makes perfect.
Excellent.