Something unusual ...

All about flies Fly Tying
1

… if not absolutely unique. Tails incorporated in an FEB. Something I’ve never seen in 18 years of fly tying, reading about fly patterns, watching demos and videos and following the ongoing content of the FAOL FOTW articles, except when such flies were coming off the vice on my fly tying desk. And something not seen by anyone else I’ve shown the technique to, including, most recently, Barry Ord Clarke.

Fly Tyer Magazine Magazine named Barry Ord Clarke it’s first and ( so far ) only Fly Tyer of the Year in 2021. Clarke has been writing about fly angling and tying for many years, has written or contributed to thirty books on fly angling and flies, and has something north of four hundred videos on fly tying, a large number of which are posted on YouTube.

A couple weeks ago, Barry posted a video on YouTube for a furled extended body mayfly. His technique and materials are somewhat different than I have used over the past decade plus, but the end result is quite similar.

So I decided to direct Barry to a couple of my FEB flies, first Duck’s Green Drake and then the Serendipitous PMD Emerger, as examples of tails incorporated in an FEB. Felt rather a bold thing to do, considering Barry’s standing on the International Stage of fly tying, especially when I told him that I would be delighted if he was interested in and would give some thought to posting a video on the technique to YouTube, something I am simply not equipped to do.

I heard back from Barry this morning - “That’s interesting!”

Barry didn’t commit to anything, and only time will tell if he follows through on my request. But his email was a nice way to start the day.

John

2

That’s exciting, John! Hope the patterns and techniques get shared, and you get some acknowledgement for your designs! :smiley:

3

I have one of your original patterns that you gave to me
on the little lost area,
Been a long while since you had originally posted and
invented this pattern, I think it would be great to see the
new take on it and the method.
The one I have is a true JSFEB and goes back long time
but I would bet you could cobble together old posts and photos
showing your method… Just a thought…

BTW the one original I have is not for sale… :slight_smile:

Take care

4

I have one of your original patterns that you gave to me
on the little lost area,
Been a long while since you had originally posted and
invented this pattern, I think it would be great to see the
new take on it and the method.
The one I have is a true JSFEB and goes back long time
but I would bet you could cobble together old posts and photos
showing your method… Just a thought…

BTW the one original I have is not for sale… :smile:

Take care

5

… to the Reader’s Voice Forum at the top of the page, Steve. For the time being, the original post there has a link to the Serendipitous PMD Emerger FOTW article, which is one of the better presentations of the technique for incorporating tails in an FEB.

Duck’s Green Drake, with incorporated tails in an FEB is my favorite fly. Because … the year I first tied it, I happened to give a couple to a fellow I met over on the Lochsa who was not having much luck dealing the with green drake hatch.

The following year, I happened to approach that fellow at an access, and as I walked up he said that he remembered me. I didn’t remember him until he mentioned that I had given him a couple Duck’s flies. Then he thanked me, and told me that his daughter had been with him that past year and was quite discouraged with fly fishing, having caught nothing. He tied on one of Duck’s flies for her, and she immediately began catching fish, and much enjoying the fly angling experience. Instead of quitting, as she had intended, she committed to stick with it, fish with her dad, much to his delight.

That young lady was the best catch Duck’s fly ever made. Which is why it is my favorite fly. Doesn’t get any better than that.

John

6

Great story John!

Cheers

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Thanks, Dave. I do want more fly tyers to be aware of this technique and find ways to use it and enhance their tying and angling experience.

As far as “acknowledgement” goes, no big deal one way or the other. If Barry, or someone else, does post it to a broader audience without crediting it, that’s just fine with me.

John

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As far as “acknowledgement” goes, no big deal one way or the other. If Barry, or someone else, does post it to a broader audience without crediting it, that’s just fine with me.

Maybe so John but , but to take credit is another matter , I don’t think that would be right at all , and very likely
Barry having the standing he has likely would not do so and will mention the originator even only to credit the method.
As the title of your post states something Unusual and indeed it was and is.

Be safe - sm

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Well, I know John does acknowledge and I appreciate it. It goes back a ways.

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I agree , and as I mentioned Johns creation goes back a long way…
Reminds me of a Fly a gentlemen gave me a long while ago a White Miller
but the man shared its with me on the stream and we talked how he tied it
, made for a great day and its a fly like Johns that I keep in my vest.
Johns is just as personal and a true original from the original trout bum himself , John Scott …
how cool it that,
One has to be a fly fisherman to understand… right

11

For those who are not otherwise aware, ducksterman posted two techniques that he had used in fly tying that were fundamental to my creating the incorporated tails in an FEB technique. Which is why Duck’s Green Drake bears a version of his FAOL Bulletin Board name.

Thanks again, Duck. It does go back away, but it is always relevant. Just a couple years ago, I gave a version ( different color combination for a different hatch ) of the original fly to a young lady employed by Idaho Fish and Game who was just getting started in fly angling. She caught her first fish, a northern Idaho freestone creek Westslope cutthroat trout, on that fly.

John

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… down memory lane back into the past Fly Tying Forum threads, all the way back to August 2008.

There is a thread that month on my initial efforts to create an FEB green drake with tails. Both of those initial efforts are discussed in some detail, and early in that thread Duck brought up the approach of “furling off the hook,” which was the first step that ultimately ennabled incorporating tails in an FEB ( several years later ). If you are interested in the details ( and how some of the older threads on this Forum involved so many people participating in the discussion ) go to page 430 of the Forum.

My search for that thread actually started with a recollection that I had fished an FEB green drake on a very memorable day on the Big Elk Creek in SE Idaho. A few days earlier than the day recollected, I had fished the green drake hatch on that creek. At one hole, a large cutthroat ( Snake River Cutthroat ) was rising regularly to naturals, but wouldn’t even look at any pattern I drifted over it.

That is when I decided to come up with a new FEB pattern to try on my next outing on that creek, whenever that might happen. Those are the patterns discussed in the August 2008 thread. The newer version, which I called Plan B, was the second rendition and the one I was to fish the next time out.

A couple days after tying Plan B, I headed off to Western Wyoming on an overnight trip to fish the Grey’s River the first day, and to hike up to the Summit of Wyoming Peak, the high point of the Wyoming Range, on day two. The fishing was great on day one, but as it turned out on day two, I couldn’t find the right forest road off the Grey’s River Road to take to the trailhead for the Wyoming Peak hike. So … on the way home, I decided to hike up Big Elk and try to catch that big old cutt that gave me the cold shoulder a few days earlier.

I hiked into the right spot way too early, and sat on the bank for something like an hour and a half before the green drake hatch got going. In a short while, the cutt showed it self, rising for a natural. I timed his rise, and on the second drift of the Plan B green drake over his feeding lane he took it. Mission accomplished.

For a variety of reasons, including my move to Western Montana the following year, I didn’t have much opportunity to fish a green drake hatch. But when that opportunity arose on my home water in Northern Idaho, it was time to give the concept of tails incorporated in an FEB another go. And it went nicely.

John