Sunshine and the Dry Fly

[narcodog]

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In my own copy a previous owner has posted a clipping dealing with Dunne's hackles and Pearsalls tying threads.It is interesting as Dunne used Cellulite (machine made thread) coated with a special oil over hook Shanks painted with white enamel for his bodies. I have seen spools of this thread and it is indeed different. I surmise without having seen any of his actual flies that the Pearsalls was for general tying of the fly and the cellulite one color or mixed was used for the body. His mathematical formulas for fly tying never appealed to me but his writings on translucency to try and imitate life in the dry fly have.

Tom



Tom

Thanks Tom. Is there any reference where the clipping came from?

[upstatetrout]

Bob as you can see the article lists the codes for hackle and silks for his listed patterns in his book. There is a lengthy post in classic fly tying .com looking for this code breaker. The post is quite interesting and is called J.W. Dunne's material querry. The article is of British origin.By picking it partially up it is glued on the top I can see partial articles about the Lancashire Fly Fishing Association. The Welsh Dee and Clwyd rivers. Perhaps the Fishing Gazzette?


Tom

[wsbailey]

Not to split "hairs":


https://books.google.com/books?id=aTMPA ... es&f=false

[upstatetrout]

There is a picture on Robert Smith's soft Hackle and spider page by Davy Wotton of the cellulite floss and large Pearsalls machine silk. Also some of Dunne's hackles. All the clues to deciphering the formulas to Dunne's flies are here and in his book but I think we need Bob to do it. Bob you need a project! you have been picking on John (his cheesiness )unmercifully lately but ,he would probably help you solve this 70 year old mystery.

Tom

P.S. Available for consultation or picking on at your discretion.

[upstatetrout]

Well John on behalf of Narco and myself we thank you for your social security payments.

Tom

[upstatetrout]

If you are good John then yes you may!

[Greenwell]

J.W. Dunne was quite the inventor/thinker. He designed early aircraft and then went on to publish books about dream theory and one called An Experiment with Time that even Einstein had trouble understanding, or so the story goes.
Dunne's flies were sold by various companies such as Hardy, as were the packaged and coded materials to tie them. I've seen envelopes of the special hackles and they were pretty poor quality, at least the ones I inspected. The Cellulite floss is miserable to work with and frays easily. Trout teeth quickly render a fly tied with it a fuzzy mess, which is one of the reasons his flies lost popularity. I have spools of the stuff somewhere. Cellulite floss will also melt when touched with acetone and was used to make hard bodied nymphs like the ones Ed Hewitt advocated. E. Hille sold both the floss and the "special" solvent. (You could buy a quart of over the counter acetone for the same price as a tiny bottle of the "solvent!") If I remember correctly they called it "Hard Shell" floss. I played around with it many years ago but found it had no real advantages and I quickly lost interest. "Sunshine" oil is simply liquid Mucilin fly floatant, which is mineral oil and paraffin.

[joaniebo]

I believe that during a discussion that I had years ago, I asked Alec Jackson why he was having his Soft Hackle and North Country hooks chromed by Daiichi.

If I recall correctly, he stated that when sunlight reflects off the chromed hook, it looks like reflections within the water itself and makes the hook less visible to the trout. It would also eliminate the need to paint the hooks with white paint, sinnce the chromed hook should show thorugh the silks a little easier.

[daringduffer]

Mullocks have a set of Dunne's flies in their next auction.

https://www.mullocksauctions.co.uk/lot- ... ml?p=6-100

They also have a card of 477 in that auction...

dd

[daringduffer]

nearest american express office

In my own copy a previous owner has posted a clipping dealing with Dunne's hackles and Pearsalls tying threads.It is interesting as Dunne used Cellulite (machine made thread) coated with a special oil over hook Shanks painted with white enamel for his bodies. I have seen spools of this thread and it is indeed different. I surmise without having seen any of his actual flies that the Pearsalls was for general tying of the fly and the cellulite one color or mixed was used for the body. His mathematical formulas for fly tying never appealed to me but his writings on translucency to try and imitate life in the dry fly have.

Tom



Tom

There is a spool of Cellulite in that auction too. https://www.mullocksauctions.co.uk/lot- ... .html?p=31

dd