The Beaverkill

[martinwestbeek]

After having read Valla's book on Catskill-style dries I could not resist tying some of those beauties.
Here's one: the Beaverkill, with stacked duck quill wing, silk body and Whiting High&Dry hackle, tied on a Daiichi 1180 #12.
They sure are fun to tie!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Anyone here into Catskill dries as well?

Best,
Mart

[ScottP]

Martin,

Very elegant flies; thanks for the pics.

Regards,
Scott

[Steven]

After having read Valla's book on Catskill-style dries I could not resist tying some of those beauties.

I have Catskill Dries and Founding Flies, and await Tying the Founding Flies.

I went on a jag after the first book; Catskills are so beautiful. However, I was very disappointed with the actual fishing results. It always seemed to be 50-50 whether they floated properly or were on their sides.

We've gone over this topic a couple of times here.

[Ernie]

Great looking fly!
Ernie

[oldster]

Very nicely tied Martin. I think they would float better If the hackle was shorter, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hook gape. Also I would tie the wing shorter, about shank length. Thanks for posting. Hope to see more from you. Regards, Oldster

[Steven]

Very nicely tied Martin. I think they would float better If the hackle was shorter, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hook gape. Also I would tie the wing shorter, about shank length. Thanks for posting. Hope to see more from you. Regards, Oldster

Martin's proportions appear to be in line with Valla's. Valla, in turn, learned to tie from the Dette's.
I have some flies from the Detter fly shop now managed by Joe Fox, the great grandson (I think) of the Dette's. The proportions are in line with Martin's and Valla's.

[martinwestbeek]

@Oldster: thanks for the kudos. I do tie most of my flies in the proportions you mention but I wanted to follow the Dette/Valla examples. The Catskill flies I
I'm tying are for a fly plate. If you want to see more of my flies you can see some of them on my website, http://www.flylab.nl/ or my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/martin.westbeek/media_set?set=a.660859820628773.1073741829.1000011 42824266&type=3
@Steven: thanks for the tip - will check out the Dettes flyshop!

[redietz]

Very nicely tied Martin. I think they would float better If the hackle was shorter, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hook gape. Also I would tie the wing shorter, about shank length. Thanks for posting. Hope to see more from you. Regards, Oldster

The traditional length of hackle in old-school Catskill flies is twice the hook gape.

[oldster]

Thanks to all for correcting me on some traditional Catskill fly dimensions. My first dry fly was a light Cahill tied by Art Flick's directions.
No offense was intended to Martin and to his credit he didn't take any. Thanks Martin!