Hi Donald,
Here?s some information I?ve found on a few of the flies posted. I?ve obtained this from Keith Draper?s book ?Trout Flies in New Zealand?, which was first published in 1971, and reprinted in 76 and 82 (at least) by A.H. & A.W. Reed LTD… The ISBN number is 0 589 01440 4.
In this, he indicates that the Fuzzy Wuzzy series was first developed by Fred Fletcher in the 1930s. Fred Fletcher built and ran the Waitahanui Lodge (pronounced ?Why-ta-han-oo-ee?), and he was the ?Mr. One hundred percent? in Draper?s book of the same name. Also, Draper indicates the original was tied with palmering of the hackles, like a wooly bugger.
The Red Setter is attributed to a Geoff Sanderson of Turangi, but no further information is given as to when it first made its appearance. In Draper?s book ?New Zealand Trout Flies Traditional & Modern? (published in 1997 by Reed Books), he adds the information that Sanderson ran a tackle shop on the Tongariro, which is the river running through the township of Turangi. He also adds the detail that the original was tied with wool, and that chenille was a later modification. Also, a black tailed version became (and still is) quite popular. This modification occurred because brown squirrel was apparently hard to come by for a few years.
Also, double checking on something, the dapple dog is an orange or lime green body, grey tailed, but grizzle feathers, so my tie above is not really either a Red Setter or a Dapple Dog but somewhere in between both. Will probably catch fish regardless of the name though (he says with an undue sense of confidence! Ha!)
Anyway, in Hugh McDowell?s (correct spelling) book ?NewZealand Fly Tying: The ten-thumbed beginner?s guide?, published in 1984 by Reed Books (ISBN 0 7900 0021 0), and reprinted in 85, 88 (twice), 91, 95, and 98 (and possibly again since then!), he lists his ?Rotodyeran Special?, tied as per a Fuzzy Wuzzy:
Body: fluorescent lime chenille
Tail : black squirrel tail
Hackles: dyed yellow and grizzle cock hackles
Here?s what Hugh has to say about this fly, and which will give you an idea of his presentation style.
Quote starting on page 65:
?This pattern is one you are probably unfamiliar with, and it?s highly unlikely you?ll ever find it listed among New Zealand?s top ten most popular flies, but it is tied in the New Zealand Hackle style, and I?ve listed it here as an illustration of what can happen when you experiment.
It originated at my fly-tying bench one day some years ago. Planning to dress a Red Setter, I?d already attached a nice black squirrel-hair tail to the hook when I discovered I?d run out of hot orange chenille. During a futile search through my reserve stores of materials, I came across some fluorescent lime chenille in a box of bits and pieces, and I decided to make a Dappled Dog instead, even if it did have a black tail. I had just completed the first body segment when some yellow feathers caught my eye and, on impulse, I tied one in as the first hackle. The colour combination looked too bright and somewhat garish, so I tied in a grizzle hackle on top to subdue it a bit and, finding the result quite pleasing, I repeated the process on the second section.
The completed fly was one of those all-too-rare specimens whose general shape and proportions are perfect. Granted the cosmetics were a little unusual, but on the whole I thought it looked rather good, quite dashing in fact, and I promised myself I?d try it out on my next fishing expedition. This I did, and on trip after trip after that, but when the end of the season came and the fly had still not accounted fro one fish or produced even a single strike, I stuck it in my cap and forgot about it.
Some years later I had a visit from Ed Volpe, and old fly-fishing friend from California. Ed wanted some trout for canning, so I took him to Lake Rotoaira which, being over-stocked and under-fished, is a place where you can confidently take a limit and keep them all with a clear conscience. But that day the trout weren?t interested in the little Hamill?s Killer which I?d assured him was the No. 1 fly there, and naturally after an hour?s futile casting, he started looking for something else to try. The hybrid in my cap took his fancy, and despite my comments, he unhooked it and tied it on his leader. Mind you, by now the fly looked very different from what it did when first it came out of the vice. Constant wettings and exposure to the elements had caused the dye from the yellow feathers to run, staining the grizzle hackles on top and creating a faded golden-grey effect which somehow seemed to pick up a greenish tinge from the glowing lime body underneath. Casting it out, he was into a trout right away, and for the next hour he continued to take fish after fish, keeping only the very best and releasing the others while I changed flies and fumed, frustrated and fishless.
After a while his wrists got sore from playing fish so he gave the fly back to me, and soon I was getting my share of the action while he sprawled beside me with a cold beer in his hand, a superior smile on his lips and an expression of utter contentment on his face. I don?t remember how many fish we caught that day, but we came away with two of the nicest matched limits of fat rainbows you could ever wish for.
The original is still in my possession but now resides in my fly-box instead of my cap. It has contributed to the success of many subsequent fishing trips to many different places, but none has been as memorable as that special day we once had on Rotoaira using the fly on which the ?dye ran? ? hence the corny name.? End of Quote
From the thread on Pukeko flies, Draper indicates that the first of the Pukeko flies was created by a Mr. Eric Craig of Auckland, and just says ?nearly 40 years ago?. This is from his book ?Trout Flies in New Zealand?, which was first published in 71, but I have an 82 reprint. Not sure if the ?nearly 40 years? is relative to the original publication date, or if it?s been updated to correspond with the re-printing. Since the 82 is not indicated as a 2nd edition, I would go with nearly 40 years prior to 71: so in the 30s. Interestingly, Mr. Craig was fishing the rip of the Waitahanui stream and tied the fly with feathers he found on the bank. He made a killing while most of the others came away fishless. When he went back to the lodge, the proprietor (Fred Fletcher the Red Setter fame), asked to see the fly and it was he who sent it in to the commercial tyers. It?s been one of the most popular night time flies ever since.
The Taihape Tickler was originated by Frank Lord of Rotorua. He decided that since claret was a popular night time colour (i.e. the Mallard & Claret) and Craig?s Nighttime was such a popular night time fly, he just decided to combine the two.
And finally, on the Scotch Poacher Draper says that this was designed by Jock Kirkpatrick of Rotorua. Bill Hammill used to call Kirkpatrick ?an old Scotch poacher? as a joke. Once the fly became a commercial proposition the name was a foregone conclusion. It was this dressing that Tom Wall of Waitahanui used one March night in 1968, when he landed a beautiful hen brown trout of 19.5 pounds.
Anyway, this is the kind of information that can be found in Draper?s and McDowell?s books. For someone like yourself, interested in the history of flies, I highly suggest Draper?s book as he does cover many more patterns and has information on most of them.
