Santa put a pheasant skin in my stocking. This gave me a chance to try a new pattern over the holidays. This one is from the Mary Orvis chapter in Forgotten Flies:
Maid of the Mill
Tag: oval gold tinsel and red floss
Tail: golden pheasant crest
Body: yellow yarn ribbed with flat silver tinsel
Throat: brown rooster hackle, wound as a collar and then pulled down
Wing: matched pair of brown feathers from the shoulder area of a pheasant
Shoulders: reddish-brown feather from neck area and green feather from rump area of pheasant
Topping: white and red goose slips with a single strand from a peacock sword
Head: red yarn
Maid_of_the_Mill.jpg
The peacock sword is supposed to follow the topping but I kinked the feather with some careless handling after the fly was finished. This was a fun one to tie. I need to work on the head size, could be smaller.
Regards,
Alberto