FLYMPH FORUM

Hi Folks,

Been a while, thought I'd get my act together and post my first flea for 2020
Why not a GEM Skues numph tied with materials he probably didn't use but would have liked to

Sz 14 Kamasan b175
tails, wingcase n legs are Whiting farms CDL Hen
Rib is XS gold oval french tinsel
Dubbing is Tasmanian possum
Natural light grey for the abdo
Natural dark grey and claret for the thorax

Nice. What have you based the pattern on?

Hi Johnno, it’s based on one of the plates in GEM skues book ‘ Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream’.
Not a pattern as such just one of the ways he tied a nymph.
You can see the plates in this link if you like;
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/feature ... art227.php

ff; your Instamatic works wonders!

dd

Man, that fly is gorgeous. Nicely done!

Excellent. That would fit nicely in the March Brown Swap. I learned both of Skues methods for nymphs when I took an antique angler course with Darrel Martin. I have tied my nymphs that way ever since. I prefer the method where you tie the tips of the of the legs over the eye and pull the shell case forward. I'm guessing that is how this one was tied.

Karsten - I have been wondering how you were doing. I've been concerned you were affected by the fires raging across your country. Are you guys doing okay?

Nice to see you posting again. You seem to finally be getting the hang of this fly tying thing...

By the time Skues wrote his 1939 book on chalk streams nymphs; he had decided that feather slip wing cases didn’t well represent the actual colors of the nymph. He explains this in his chapter on dressing a nymph. This later style was adopted by Leisenring. The earlier style makes for a fine looking fly and seems to be the preferred method used by today’s tyers.

Thank you all for the kind comments.
DD you’re just jealous I have the deluxe model instamatic

Carl you are right I did use that approach, it’s also my fav method of the two. I Shared a pattern with a friend who googled the pattern and found a post of yours in the fly tying forum where I left a comment back in 2009, we’ve known each other for a while my friend

Ray, thanks for asking re the fires, heartbreaking stuff. We aren’t directly affected so to speak our place is safe. Devastating to think 2million acres burnt in the California fires and 12.7million acres have burnt and are still burning in OZ, gives some perspective. I read this sad and heart wrenching tweet by Phillip Adams ;
‘ kangaroos are laying down and dying in the garden. Unharmed by fires they’re simply giving up - like scores of beautiful old trees that have shaded the homestead for many decades. Drought is a bushfire in slow motion’

WSBailey thanks for the links and additional info, although his stance changed and he was more into tying short hackled soft hackles and abdomens that’s focused on translucency. I still like to tie and fish flies with a wing case too