Premerger Flymph

[tie2fish]

Here is a lovely flymph tied by member Tim Trengrove (Premerger) that certainly deserves being seen. Hopefully Tim will give us some details about the components and construction ...

[Mataura mayfly]

I think young Timothy has been practicing.
Very impressive work, for a Southpaw. In a very short period of time since joining the little fold we have here, Tim's skills at the vice have com ahead leaps and bounds, he must be listening to the mentoring from certain folk here.
That just leaves me to present the tatty ties from down under!

Tim, all jokes aside- excellent looking pattern- please explain.

[Roadkill]

It is a very classic looking flymph, suitable for any fly box.

[Premerger]

Hello everyone, this is just the beginning of my foray into tying flymphs.
There are beautifully tied examples on pages here which I admire hugely and am learning from.

My first few were tied with Pearsall's yellow or primrose.
They looked a good option for hatches.
For every other day, I was keen to experiment tying a fly that was nearer to nymph colour.
Our most common mayfly is a crawler, about 12mm in body length which turns dark brown before emergence.
By using Pearsall's brown, heavily waxed, a dark brown hen hackle and tail I hoped for a passable impression.
It has hare's ear instead of hare's mask to help suggest a lively mayfly.

Jeff, you're right on help from friends.
- It was tied on a Clark's block you'd made
- with dubbing washed to John Shaner's instructions
- and tied after correspondence with Bill Shuck!

There have been a number of things I've found out by tying the fly.
The construction is strong. Very strong. The hen hackles move very little compared with spider patterns.

When most of you are back to stoking your fires, looking at feet of snow outside, it will be our summer and time to test these flies. In the meantime, I'll be tying more!

[DUBBN]

Very good looking flymph. It should perform well any where in the water column. Well done.

[Smuggler]

I'd fish that in a heartbeat. Great choice of materials!

[Mataura mayfly]

Heck, if I made the block it is a wonder that fine looking fly is not full of splinters!
Just a thought on that...... you being a leftie, might want to look at taking a sharp blade and making a thread retaining slot on the left hand side of the block- for the top thread.
That way when you use your dominant hand to bring the top thread over, you will not wipe off the dubbing from the bottom thread with your cuff. Or even upset the dubbing with air movement as you reach over.

You will not go far wrong with instruction from either of the other two fine gentlemen. Awful lot of knowledge floating around in those two heads.

I am still stoking my fire and looking out for snow, so I may have to jump on the tying of flymph bandwagon and see what I can come up with.

So the Hare ear, from the inside-back-leading edge of ear?
Did you find the ear fibres easier or harder to control on the dubbing block?
Did you have to add more than you thought to the waxed base thread as some fell off when twisting the bodies?
Did you stop the working thread at the thorax area after tying in the twisted body, wind the hackle and then work the thread through the hackle?
Was the hackle tied in at the eye and wound down, or at the abdomen/thorax junction and wound forward?

[Premerger]

Hi Jeff,
I'll try to answer your questions

Heck, if I made the block it is a wonder that fine looking fly is not full of splinters!
Just a thought on that...... you being a leftie, might want to look at taking a sharp blade and making a thread retaining slot on the left hand side of the block- for the top thread.

Having the cut for holding the tag end on the right, works fine for me

That way when you use your dominant hand to bring the top thread over, you will not wipe off the dubbing from the bottom thread with your cuff. Or even upset the dubbing with air movement as you reach over.

You will not go far wrong with instruction from either of the other two fine gentlemen. Awful lot of knowledge floating around in those two heads.

I am still stoking my fire and looking out for snow, so I may have to jump on the tying of flymph bandwagon and see what I can come up with.

So the Hare ear, from the inside-back-leading edge of ear?

Just the back of the ears, trying to clip fibres which are equally short

Did you find the ear fibres easier or harder to control on the dubbing block?

These shorter fibres are difficult to handle normally, as you know. Washing them as per John Shaner's instructions made the job much easier. It just came down to how long I could hold my breath.

Did you have to add more than you thought to the waxed base thread as some fell off when twisting the bodies?

Again, having washed the dubbing, it holds together well and forms a cigar shape easily. There is no touch dubbing effect on this block because the silk lies under the block surface. Once the tag end silk is firmly positioned on top, it is secure. Making the dubbing loop as Jim Leisenring did avoids this problem.

Another difference using the block is that the loop is twisted from one end only. Making it on your thigh enables both ends to be simultaneously twisted, in opposite directions. With this advantage, I'd be surprised to hear that Jim Leisenring gave up tying on his leg, in favour of using a dubbing block.

Did you stop the working thread at the thorax area after tying in the twisted body, wind the hackle and then work the thread through the hackle?

Yes, 3 thread turns through the hackle.
The hackle was tied in first thing, reverse-hackle style.


Was the hackle tied in at the eye and wound down, or at the abdomen/thorax junction and wound forward?

[Mataura mayfly]

Thanks Tim, gives a much better understanding of the construction now instead of gazing at the photograph and assuming.

If you want to regain the touch dubbing ability on that block (because some twat gauged a line through the centre deeper than the base thread ), you could modify it with a couple of pins and a strip of vinyl or leather, just like William does on the beautifully made examples he sells. You might even get away with a plastic strip cut from an icecream container lid?

I have not tried John's wash method, might have to look into that. Guard hairs off of a Hares ear can be obstinate little boogers when it comes to dubbing. They give a wonderful finished product, but arriving at the finished product can be a challenge!

[Premerger]

These are my first attempts at leg-rolled dubbing loops.
Needless to say, they fall short of Jim Leisenring's instructions but I got to see what is involved in the technique.



Hook. Partridge G3AY #14
Thread. Pearsall's brown
Hackle and tail. Metz hen furnace
Body. Hare's ear spun in heavily waxed tying thread.



Pearsall's primrose
Hackle and tail. Whiting grey dun hen
Body. Less hare's ear (alright, most of it fell out!)



Varying amount of hare's ear in the Pearsall's thread.