Williams Favorite - Stewart Hybrid

[William Anderson]

I was fooling around with a slight tweek to the North Country Spider called Williams Favorite. I tied a few using the Stewart hackling technique and a few simply bringing the hackle through the thorax, then bringing the tying thread back up through the hackle with a hint of black mole on the thread. These are tied on a Shalka hooks, kindly gifted by Rob Culver, who some of you may remember. It's a beautiful barbless hook. This is a WN1 in a size 14. Anyway, several hackle techniques with similar results.

[chase creek]

Very cool, William. I really like the way those are fashioned after Stewart's. Makes for a very lively and buggy fly. Great idea with the mole, gives it that something "extra".

[Old Hat]

A great pattern William.

Add a little red yarn tail and you have a Reid's Assassin, one of my favorites.

Have you fished the Skalka hooks yet? I bought a few in the wet series and the streamer series a couple years ago. I'm not sure I like them. Maybe it is just me but I have had a hard time hooking up with the hooks. I get strikes but seem to miss the hook up. I was thinking it was the length of the point? I don't know...could be a coincidence and I just wasn't setting them right. Would like to know how they work for you. They certainly are sharp buggers.

[DUBBN]

William, did I make the body too short on this Spider? I think taking it behind the barb would make it too long.

[William Anderson]

[quote="DUBBN"]William, did I make the body too short on this Spider?

Wayne, seems similar to a Tweed style body to me. The medium length between a Clyde and a Tummel length body on traditional NCS. For our purposes...it looks like a killer little pattern, whatever the tradition.

I think it would be presumptuous to attempt to coin a name for a pattern that is so readily recognizable (both of them), just a blend of the two. But for my boxes or conversational purposes, I think I'll refer to it as a Williams Stewart. Just might happen to become a Favorite. Whatever you call them, they look great to me. I carry a number of Williams Favorites, but the Stewart (yes I know it's a Bailley) hackle seems more exciting as I imagine these guys finding their drift. field testing to follow.

w

[DUBBN]

I have a hard time keeping the material to a minimum on these patterns. Then when I consciously minimize, I tend to under dress the pattern.

[Soft-hackle]

Good stuff!

Mark

[Old Hat]

Wayne, beautiful little wet. Sometimes that short abdomen just enhances the fly. I think this is the case here.

[Mataura mayfly]

That does give a nice effect, the touch of Mole. Very suited to the slim profile.
I may have to give this one a try, never had a lot of luck with through the thorax hackle wraps- but I have the whole Winter to learn.

[redietz]

... the North Country Spider called Williams Favorite...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Williams' Favorite is a Welsh fly, not from the North Country. And as William fils pictured in his book, it's far too heavily hackled to be considered a spider.

Anyway, you beat me to this. I've been thinking about doing the same thing for a while now and haven't gotten around to it. Nice job.