More stuff from Michigan, originally tied by Ernie Borchers for the Au Sable; 94840s and Danville 6/0 - I expect a new episode of the Rockford Files will be on tv tonight. Simple tie, turkey tail makes for a nice darker body; gonna give this a try for paraleps - spring Blue Quills and fall mahoganies. Tied here on somewhat oversized iron, just cuz I have some #10 grizzly hackle I’ve been meaning to use; change sizes to suit your bugs.
hook - Mustad 94840 #12
thread - Danville 6/0 black
tail - moose body
body - turkey tail
rib - tying thread
wing - Congo Hair white
hackle - brown/grizzly mix (oversize by 1)
thorax - dubbing dark brown
Part 1
mash barb, start thread at 75% mark and wrap back to barb
clean, stack, measure (hook shank) some moose body (original calls for mane, body hair’s a bit more durable); tie in, trim butts
tie in some turkey tail fibers, more if you want full-figured look, less for the Kate Moss effect; I split the difference
Nicely done Scott.
Technically, I think you’ve tied the Borcher’s Parachute. The Borcher’s Special has Light Dun Wings tied spent and pheasant tails for tails. The Borcher’s Drake has light dun wings tied upright and divided and pheasant tails for tails.
If you tie it with calf hair wings, collared hackle, and moose body hair for tails, you have the McGuane Special.
I fished a wonderwing parachute variant this past Saturday and did well. Did so out of need (I left my BWO box on my tying desk at home. Yikes!).
Right you are, Steven; fixed it (at least when you open the post; name change doesn’t show on forum list). I was working on the Special, too, and I guess I pasted where I should have cut. What do you charge for editing fees?
Actually, I didn’t mean to be a stickler. I just wanted to describe the McGuane Special, so I had to nail down which fly I was using for comparison purposes.
Very nice Scott, I’m sure we have a similar pattern here, but can’t put my finger on it just now. I can recall the dressing but can’t put a name to it.
It’s quite amazing how different a method I’d use, if presented with just the fly and asked to copy it (as I often am by customers).
Steve, I’m glad I’m not the only one who does cleaver stuff like that!
I appreciate you identifying the discrepancy; with all these closely related patterns, it’s good to keep things straight. Also, thanks for the recipe for the McGuane Special; just got a new calf tail so I’ll try to tie one up and see how it looks.
If you have a copy, McGuane describes it in The Longest Silence in the chapter entitled Unfounded Opinions. The tongue-in-cheek hyperbole is pretty funny.
I like the way you tie the parachute hackle to extend to the hook bend. I think they float a lot better than the ones tied to the end of the body or just short of it. Especially when pheasant tail barbs are used for the tails, the extra length really helps float them. And I really like using pheasant tail barbs for the tails. I have tried moose mane or moose body for tails in the past and always go back to PT. Thanks for the SBS, nice fly and one of my go to patterns.
