Four Ties
Hi,
Haven't had much time at the vice lately, so a bit rusty, but got a few tied recently. From top to bottom we have a Dark Betty, Hammlim Minnow, Copper Dorothy, and an unnamed pukeko style fly.
The first I usually tie with royal blue floss for the body, but this one uses "Doc. Blue" thread. This is a variant of a fly Betty Hiner introduced to me (a light blue and snipe, which I call a Betty Blue). The 2nd is one of my more productive ties, though I usually leave off the fancy bits (tag, butt, and topping; it's in the FOTW archives somewhere). The Copper Dorothy is a matuka style streamer. Basically, any matuka style tied with grizzle for the wings and hackle is called a "Dorothy", and the body colour completes the name (hence Copper Dorothy because the body is copper mylar; Green Dorothy is probably the most popular, though Silver Dorothy has her fans she often plays second fiddle to a Grey Ghost - here in NZ that refers to a silver bodied matuka fly, with grey streamers and hackle, not the American version). The bottom one is just a basic pattern, tied flat wing style, using pukeko breast feathers (the blue ones) for the wing. These typically have a thickish body (in this case some pinkish/white mix of dubbing material), sometimes a short tag for a tail (red wool yarn, pulled apart), and a throat or full collar hackle. Probably taken for a water beetle of some sort.
Anyway, we're off to Rotorua soon for a bit of a holiday, so I thought I should get a few flies ready. I've done well there with the HammLim and the Copper Dorothy in the past, so hopefully I can say that again!
- Jeff
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