Thursday 7 March 2013

Busy times at the Vice

I've been working steadily at filling up the flyboxes for this season.
The Monkey Fly has been a revelation throughout the last decade. Originating on the Dee in Scotland, the Monkey quickly became a real success story on the Dee, initially, in Scotland and subsequently further afield. The original Monkey was tied with a yellow underwing followed by a black overwing but of course, the original spawned many variations. I like to tie the monkey more sparsely than regular Templedogs, but I must, at this point, admit that I have never caught a fish on the Monkey. To be honest, I haven't really fished this pattern. The simplicity of the pattern allows discerning tyers/fishers to tinker with the fly to suit the waters they fish. I've tied up a selection of Monkeys with both clear and peaty water in mind. Some on bottle tubes and some on 1/2 in aluminium tubes finished off with a conehead.



 A selection of Monkeys.
Flies on the left are tied with a grizzly yellow FF American Softhackle.
Flies on the right have a sunburst underwing and sunburst FF American Softhackle.
 FITs cones are my favourite. I remove the lining from the aluminium tube and reline it with FITs tubing and a chartreuse cone.
                                            Nice wide profile whilst keeping the dressing sparse.
Of course, my current obsession with Spey and Dee style flies continues. 
 My latest creations.

 Dunt from above.
First attempt at a Lady Caroline. Our American friends across the pond swear by this pattern. 
I stripped the fibres from one side of the feather for the body hackle on this fly. It's bound to have great movement in low water where a subtle fly is required.
Work continues on filling a large double tier box with doubles.
Parkies

 Tritton Shrimps
 A pair of Tritton Shrimps.
Sparse Blue Charms, Crathies and a few Silver Doctors.

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