The Akroyd and a Tricolour

[exerod]

sewinangler said:

I have a variety of others that are still in the experimental stage. Salars are the only hook that I have found that have the necessary curved profile. The down side is that the shank is too short to get the effect I want!

If there's any hook manufacturers looking in, can you start production on a spey/dee style hook model but scale it down to 6's, 8's and 10's?

I'm not sure if they are the shape you are after but have you looked at the Ken Sawada doubles, see this thread.

salmosalar.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=tierscorner&action=display&thread=1167947060

They have a longer useable length of shank than the salars (I find the shanks on the salars divide too near the eye for my liking) and are a bit more curved than the normal partridge P and Q doubles. A size 8 Sawada is exactly the same length as a size 9 salar.

I like your sea trout patterns (and all the others in this thread). This is an alexander variant I've just knocked up in the roughly the same style on a sawada double.



I know this is getting away from the original Dee style so lets see some more of those from you experts

Andy

[sewinangler]

graham said:

The Salar single hooks have a longer shank than the doubles and are available down to size 11. They should suit this style of fly very well.

Thanks for the tip off. I'll certainly try some. I'll also try Exerod's suggestion of the Sawada hooks as well. That Alexandra looks well worth a swim......I might have to tie a few

Not wanting to hijack the thread, after all it is a Salmon Fishing Forum, I agree with Exerod's comment: "I know this is getting away from the original Dee style so lets see some more of those from you experts"

A question? The Spey and Dee flies use Heron hackle. Has anyone found a suitable substitute? I know Blue Eared Pheasant is recommended, has anyone used it?

[stu47]

Very nice Jan,really like that glen grant,i tried one but the hook was to small and the jungle cock wouldnt lie straight,the lighter hackle looks well in the bottom MCB Sewinangler they look well able to get fish but i know what you mean about the shanks being to short,as Graham said the singles are longer,just looked at a 9 dbl and single and there is more than an eighth of an inch differance,worth a try,think all doubles are to straight in the shank,one i put in an earlier post is on a mustad 6 dbl . Exerod plenty of movement in that,keep em coming dee or spey style hackles with a bit of life a have tried blue eared pheasant they look good tied in,but they are not easy to get in good quality i got a lot of damaged feathers,use coque feathers,these are tails of a cockeral,pheasant rump feathers are ok and easy to get i should think

[sewinangler]

Thanks for the advice fellah's.

I have to be honest, the true Spey and Dee patterns that have been posted so far are excellent.

I think I'm going to have to revisit John Shewey's book and have a look at his recommendations for materials as well as all those mentioned so far.

To be honest with you, if I learn to tie an original Spey or Dee pattern to the standard shown, I'll be well pleased. They are things of beauty.

I notice that they are being used more and more for Steelhead. Why? I don't know. The profile just shout's 'Shrimp!' maybe? I do feel that the originators of these flies on Speyside and Deeside were on to something more than we credit them for.

It's turning out to be an excellent thread with plenty of interest. I'm off to the tying bench to try to fathom out a few of the mysteries. Keep up the posts and flow of information. I'm all eyes ;D

[stu47]

Sewinangler thats on a salar size 9 with pheasnt rump feather

[Fruin]

Partridge do a hook called the Bartleet, that will is nice for spey flies. I think that Ken Sawada also does a Spey or Dee hook.

[stu47]

I have some bartleet 3/0 blind eye on orderi also have some sawada dee hooks,but can only get them up to size 2,nice hooks though

[splicedsharpe]

As stated earlier, his is truly getting to be a nice fly thread, the more the merrier
Sewinangler: Your flies are really nice, i can see good use for those on the spate river i fish in Norway, especially with the summers that have been last couple of years, all sun and no rain, thanks for the inspiration.
Heres some salar singles from top and down 7,9,11 and the smallest double i found, a 9 i think, as comparison.



About sub for heron, G.R list covers most, I'd just like to add that you can get heron from both Sweden,Norway and Denmark, and as I've understand it is not illegal to "import" to Britain.

Stu, the jungle cock feathers are a real b****d some times (read most times), it really helps to go up in hook size and leave enough space toward the eye to work with. And to not over dress is really hard, I've always liked "meaty" flies, on more than one occasion I've gotten the comment "give me one of your hair wings and I'll have material for ten flies". The flies in this thread and on the board gives a new perspective on the dressing for me, thanks guys!

[stu47]

Sewinangler trial and error you get there evetually,bit frustrating though. Jan that with jungle cock is another trial and error thing,just got some blind eye hooks so had to try one

[exerod]

A question for the experts.
How do you tie those wings that are a single flat strip on top of the fly without the feather splitting up. I'm trying to get a flat bronze mallard wing like some of the flies in this thread. Do you use a single slip of feather or a folded section or paired slips?

Andy

[stu47]

You have to have 2 matched bronze mallard feathers,try this link . www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/atlantic/spey-dee/lesson3.html he does a step by step of a spey fly here.hope it helps,there are a couple of diferant ways they can be tied,they are not the easiest to do

[sewinangler]

You could also try this link:

www.jpdessaigne.com/Lesmouchessaumon/Mouchessaumon_sommaire.htm

At the bottom of the page is a fly called a Vallone. He utilises video to demonstrate the tying of the fly. Although in French, there is some very useful advice and the pictures and video's are superb.

[exerod]

Thanks for those. Some good stuff in both of them. It would seem that I have been using the right basic techniques but not using them very well! Tried a few more today and they are getting better, still cant get the wing as flat as I would like, more practice needed.

Andy

[stu47]

Exerod, try one wing at a time and then you can overlap them slightly .Lovely stuff on that Sewinangler

[splicedsharpe]

Exerod, also try to tie in on the grey bit of the mallard, it's softer and when tying in it won't split as easy.
The French site was excellent! Interesting use of the rotary vise and how he used the warmed pincher as a "curling iron"

[tyneandrew]

I like the look of the Akroyd and as a Dee fisher would really like some to try out. Possibly a little beyond my tying skills at the moment.

Would anybody be interested in tying a few up for me, happy to pay top rate for some good one's?

[splicedsharpe]

Hi tyneandrew

I might be able to tie some for you, depends a bit on how many you want and when you want them done? White winged or cinnamon and what sizes would you be interested in?

Janne

[tyneandrew]

Have sent you a PM Janne.

Thanks.

Andrew

[exerod]

Thanks again for all the advice on wings. I think I have it cracked now. Like sewinangler I'm going for smaller flies to suit my local rivers so the wing is shorter and doesn't curve down like it does on the bigger flies, but it's alot better than I was getting and looks much better than conventional feather wings.




Cheers

Andy

[stu47]

Glad it helped you Exerod,good luck with your flies,i wouldnt put a bigger wing than that on a small double, good enough that