Mosley Olive Dun by Davie McPhail

[AlanB]

Having known Roy for many years I'm finally getting the chance to fish with him this summer. I shall report back. It will be an interesting week of fishing and fly tying.

Cheers,
C.

[Steven]

Scott,

Several years ago, right after that fly came out as a FOTW, I exchanged a few emails with Roy because I couldn't get the fly to sit on the water correctly. Roy is a great, great guy and took me through the steps one by one to help me with the problems I was having and ways to correct them. He was telling me about all the different materials that could be used in place of the pheasant tail fibers and added this statement: "I am very reliably informed that the trout use the thorax as a target." I am still not sure why that pattern and style hasn't become more popular because it looks more like a real mayfly on the water than any other I've come across.
I have come to believe Roy's informant about the thorax was a trout. He's the Fish Whisperer.

Joe

I can't say from personal experience, but Datus Proper wrote in What the Trout Said, that upside down dries were poor hookers.
The earliest reference that I've come across to splitting the underside of the hackle with some kind of material was from Vince Marinaro in Ring of the Rise. He referred to flies of this type as "half-spent."

[Steven]

So, I tied one up...

The bug bond will keep the hackle collar split underneath but will not keep it flat. The natural curve of the feathers wrapped around the hook will still cause the hackle on the far side of the hook to come down towards its natural position.

This weekend I'll see what happens if I use both a biot underneath to suppor the hackle as well as the bug bond.

[dr korn]

John,
I watch most of his videos. I think he is one of the very best tiers around today.

+1 --- I would totally agree with Byron, if you haven't watched Davie's videos and studied his methods you are missing out on some wonderful techniques and fly patterns. On top of that he's a really nice guy!

[Byron haugh]

I'm a bit confused....I thought this post was about McPhail tying the Mosley Olive Dun.......lots of discussions about different patterns. What am I missing?