Welcome to Just Old Flies

Welcome to 'just old flies,' a section of methods and flies that used-to-be. These flies were tied with the only materials available. Long before the advent of 'modern' tying materials, they were created and improved upon at a far slower pace than todays modern counterparts; limited by materials available and the tiers imagination.

Once long gone, there existed a 'fraternity' of anglers who felt an obligation to use only the 'standard' patterns of the day. We hope to bring a bit of nostalgia to these pages and to you. And sometimes what you find here will not always be about fishing. Perhaps you will enjoy them. Perhaps you will fish the flies. Perhaps?

Part One hundred eighty-four

Fiery Brown

Fiery Brown

Compiled by Deanna Lee Birkholm
The origin of this fly is unknown. A. Courtney Williams suggest that it could be the same as Cotton's "Bright Brown." One of the greatest tales about a fly was told about the Fiery Brown in 1845. The tale is found in Mary Marbury's Favorite Flies, page 115, and mentioned in John McDonald's Complete Fly Fisherman, The Notes and Letters of Theodore Gordon page 221. Michael Rogan, 1822-1905, of Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland is credited with producing a Fiery Brown with a new and more brilliant dressing. [Shown here.]

Fiery Brown
As dressed by Charlie DeFeo

    Tag:  Four turns round gold tinsel and gold floss.

    Tail:  Golden pheasant crest.

    Body:  Fiery brown seal.

    Rib:  Fine oval gold tinsel and rust colored hackle.

    Throat:  Rust colored hackle.

    Wing:  Bronze mallard.

Credits: Information from Fly Patterns and Their Origins, by Harold Hinsdill Smedley. Photo and recipe from Forgotten Flies, published by Complete Sportsman.

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