I was one of the others that Ian sent a message to. He has indicated that it is OK to post his message, so here it is:

stephenjay:

Someone told me you are looking for information about the Puke Fly.I hope this helps.I can follow up with more information for you if you need it.

Rover and out
Ian

Other names: Willie's Puke Fly, the White Puke Fly

The White Puke Fly is now 12 years old.

It was invented by Willie Mc Lennan (age 4 at the time) for fishing in Guelph Lake, Guelph, Ontario for Smallmouth Bass.He noticed that when he was landing Smallmouth Bass some of them would regurgitate food and other fish, often larger Smallmouth Bass would scarf back the regurgitated food. Willie said, "I should make a puke fly." So he did.

He took his white marabou creation into the Guelph Casual Dress Club Fly Fishing Club, and "boasted" to the members that he had invented a fly, and that he had landed 50 Crappies on it, plus a few Smallmouth Bass, which he had done earlier in the day of the club meeting. Several of the club members started using the fly in Guelph Lake, and some of them used it for Brown Trout on the upper Grand River near Fergus, Ontario and in the Credit River for Brook Trout. The fly worked well, even on spooky and selective fish. Then the fall rolled along and some of the club members started using the Puke Fly for Steelhead in the Credit River, the Maitland River and in the Saugeen River here in Ontario. The fly was an instant success. I am not sure who the first person was to land a Steelhead on a Puke Fly, but I know that a lot of fly fishermen and float fishermen have done well on the pattern. For many successful fisherman and float fishermen a Puke Fly has become a "go-to" pattern.

At the 2003 Canadian Fly Fishing Championships the V.I.P event was won by Doug Austin on a White Puke Fly.

A White Puke Fly has caught fish across the USA, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Tasmania, England, France, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Wales, which ain't bad.

The fly has taken a whole host of fish including:Brown Trout, Steelhead, Brook Trout, Bull Trout, Tiger Trout, Channel Catfish, Carp, Sheephead, Mooneye, Redhorse, Goldeneye, Fallfish, Chinook Salmon, Pink salmon, Coho salmon, Smallmouth Bass, White Bass, Wipers, Largemouth Bass, Crappies, Rocky Mountain Whitefish, Walleye, Brown Bullhead, Sunfish, Gar Pike, Grayling, Zander, Northern Pike, Bowfin and Muskies.

Here is Willies original dressing for the pattern. There are now a whole host of variations on it. Some fishermen add pearl Flashabou, red Flashabou or purple Flashabou to the tail and sometimes dumbbell eyes are substituted for the bead chain eyes. The body has also been tied with rabbit fur or some other white dubbing material like Arctic fox. I know a few fly fishermen who add a collar of well marked grouse or partridge tied in behind the eyes, with the feather tips extending well past the hook point.

Willies original White Puke Fly did not have the eyes, he added them about a week later because they made the fly look better. Most anglers use the eyed version for deeper pools and the original version, without the eyes, for fishing in shallow water.

Hook: standard wet-fly, Mustad 3399
Size : #8
Tail: Small chunk of white marabou
Body: Dubbed white marabou, well picked out and trimmed up to look "scruffy"
Head: White marabou dubbed over the eyes.
Eyes: A pair of silver bead chain.

The Puke Fly is a good pattern to use when introducing kids to fly fishing or fly tying as they tend to like the name.