A couple of weeks ago I got a new pair of reading glasses from the optician, and they have made a big improvement to my sight. So I thought I would improve my site. lol
Anyway, I have been working on the Alpine Spider section on the web-site. I have added 29 more patterns,
given them all names, they just had numbers before, I rather prefer names based on the materials used.
I shall try to tie some flies this week-end (not Alpine Spiders).
Hope this meets with your approval ladies and gentlemen.
Hi Donald,
Nice addition to your website.
Donald,
I’m happy to hear that your vision is better. The flys are very good ties, as usual. Thank you for sharing them with us. Best Regards…
Donald,
Wonderful to see your tying again. You’ve been missed.
Hi Donald,
Glad to hear the glasses have helped enough to get you back to the vice and back to visiting us here! And a nice update to your site.
Speaking of which, I have two questions about the Derbyshire Bumbles.
The first question is, are there any special proportions involved in these, or are they basically a wingless palmer; like a red palmer or bibio and so should be tied in similar proportions for hackle length?
My second question is, are the peacock ribs counter wound after wrapping the hackle (to secure the hackle) or is the rib wrapped before the hackle (and in the same direction), to provide more of a visual effect than structural?
The I’ve started tying a few based upon the recipes on your site, but then got to wondering if I’ve got the proportions correct? Also, ribbing the peacock herl through the hackle fibres is very tricky and time consuming. I mashed a lot of fibres down if I was not exceptionally careful. Given that herl is not all that strong, I got wondering if this was even correct?
Along with spiders, I’ve found wingless palmers (bibio, red palmer, etc) to also be very effective, so I’ve used your site for reference. Just wondering if I’m doing these right.
- Jeff
HERE HERE !!!
Well said Ron. Glad to see you again, Donald.
Ed
Thank you gentlemen, but one point, I only dressed the three flies on the first page of the Alpine Spiders, and that was
about 3 or 4 years ago. Never-the -less, this week-end I have some fly-dressing projects I wish to pursue.
The rest were dressed by the Italian fly-dresser Walter Bartellini and were part of an illustration from W. H. Lawrie’s book ‘International Trout Flies’ pub 1969. More info about Bartellini can be found on http://www.pipam.com/
Jeff,
To be quite honest, I have only tied a few ‘Bumbles’, there are two types , the Derbyshire, which I think is probably the original, and the Irish, which is a bushier fly for lough fishing.
I shall dig out some info and pix of both and post it here asap.
Don,
Glad to see you back posting and glad the glass’s helped you. Hopefully you can get back tying the way you want.
Fatman
Good to see you back at the vice Donald, glasses are a pain but very essential items, I wear them also. Your site is permanently up in my Opera browser and I refer to it often for the spider flies and for information that I need for materials, etc…
Thank you for doing such a wonderful job - and for the samples beside the pattern’s.
Jeanne
Thanks Donald.
Here’s some of my efforts so far, which could be way off proportion wise. The first is a purple body with cree hackle, no ribbing. The purple is more claret looking than the photo would suggest.
This one is a yellow body, badger hackle, with a peacock rib. In this one I wrapped the peacock rib first, then tried as best I could to follow it with the turns of badger hackle. This way, the hackle sits up against the herl with the idea that the two wrapped together would help to resist against the water trying to push the wrapped hackle down to the bend. That could be a problem in the no-ribbed version above (especially if a floss body was tied, as in this one).
This last one is a yellow bodied, red variant hackle, and peacock herl rib counter wrapped over the hackle. As you can see, this one turned out quite a mess. The herl, being large, is hard to thread through the hackle fibres. Now, hard isn’t necessarily a reason to do something another way. Counter-wrapping this way should prevent the water pressure from forceing the hackle to slide down the body and to the bend. Practice and patience should eventually overcome the mashed down hackle look.
Of course, another solution, which I’ve not actually done yet, would be to leave a tag end of the tying thread sticking out at the bend. Form the body, then wrap the herl, then the hackle (as in #2 above), and then finally counter-wrap the tag end of thread as the rib. If you use tying thread the same colour as the body, this should be near invisible and shouldn’t mash down the hackles. Fine wire would work too, and add a touch of sparkle.
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the real thing to see if I’m even close!
- Jeff
Those flies look pretty good Jeff, I have started a new string about Bumbles, see above.