Thought this would be of interest from Wild Fishing
Oct 2006.
http://www.fish-wild.co.uk/index.php?database=1&getpage=virtual_fly_box&pid=3
It is the Machair Spider.
That is one interesting idea-UFG…
I think I will add some to my list of flies to tie…
Thanks!!!
PT/TB
Thanks Donald. The gentleman that gave me the fly is definitely OLD school English. That fly looks like Red and Black Ostrich or dubbing? I did tie one up with Ostrich and looks killer, but I don’t know what will happen when wet cause Ostrich really collapses.
AGAIN…Not my creation, but it is a GREAT creation that just surfaced.
Albannach Cuileag, ducksterman, thank you for the info, Fly Goddess, thank you for letting me jump in your thread, and the info on the fly with pics of actual catches…
joni,
what kind of fly reel is that in the picture?
It’s an AIRFLO Balance 35 I think made in England, at least that is where it came from.
'bows in particular can’t seem resist anything pink. That said, pink is severly under-rated as a color in the fly tying world, plenty of fish REALY love the color. Smallies LOVE a pink/white Clouser…
how and when to fish this style of fly. Ive tried Chironomid patterns without success, you have any special tips?
I am fishing them right now in stillwater and slow pools from an indicator. Suspending off the bottom.
I think Joni knows exactly what she is doing with chironomids.
There is no doubt about it, lots of practise makes perfect.
The Machair Spider is not particularly unique, it is basically
an old fly with a fluo butt added. A more common version
throughout the UK is the Black & Peacock spider with a fluo butt,
which I have generally used myself, mainly because I have plenty of peacock herl. About twenty or thirty years ago, there was a big craze for ‘improving’ old patterns.
Most have been long forgoten, but some were very successfull, usually the darker flies, as the article on ‘Wild Fishing’ said, wild brown trout in the hill lochs and the machair really fall for them.
The ‘machair’ is the gaelic word for land at the edge of the sea, which has a base of shell sand and a lot of shallow fresh water lochs.
The shell sand gives them a very high fertility, thus big trout.
This is on the outer Hebrides, and as you are fishing and look west
the next land you will see is Newfoundland.
By-the-way Joni, I am an old style Scottish gentleman [LOL].
I’m going to be tying at the Great Western Sportfishing Show today in Spokane, Wa. I think I’ll tie up a bunch with a red tag and an orange tag. I’m thinking they would work wonders in pursuit of Westslope Cutthroat.
Thanks Joni,
And I’m taking some to the San Juan next week tied with pink thread on a size 22.
Joni…or anyone…how critical do you think the Danville 210 denier is?..it looks very floss-like.
Do you think anything in hot pink…thread, floss,yarn, etc…would be as effective?
I want to tie some… have no Danville and no where here to buy anything fly fishing related…and can’t see paying more for postage than a spool of thread:-(
But I do see where certain shades/ specific colors might make a difference.
Duckster, I would say FLOSS maybe…thread, I tried some with the UNI. Like Hot Orange, Red, Yellow…and the color looses it brightness. So other thread,…NO. I think floss will be the best solution.
Duckster and Joni,
I tied up several dozens of these with ‘Uni-Stretch’ for the pink part (also did it in chartruese and ‘chinese red’-picture a ‘redder’ pink)…looks identical to the ones pictured so that may be an option if you can’t find the Danville 210…these two materials seem very like to me.
I’m going to catch an absolutely OBSCENE number of trout on these this summer…
Buddy
The nice thing about Uni Stretch also, is it is like SILK. You can really add cool effect by what is under it.
I tried tying with the floss, and the colors went blahhh dark/mud. The uni-stretch worked well.
FG, very cool pattern! I think it would make an excellent steelhead fly, too.
How do you like that Airflo reel? I’ve seen them advertised but didn’t know anyone that had one.
I like it allot! It balances out great. But…now the cons. There is enough of a gap that my leader slips behind the spool when not in use. In other words I have to take the spool off to get my leader which is usually wrapped around the gear.
Other than that it is very sweet for the price. the line won’t do this so no worries there, and as long as you are aware of this it is no big deal. I mean, not enough to ruin a leader. And it has a great drag. For the price it is worth it to me.
Joni,
Looks like a dynamite fly with the pink color. I’m going to tie some for the women at Reeling & Healing. Does this fly have a name?