Hen, Buttonhole and Large Thorax Series

[Kelly L.]

Old Hat, they are very eye catching!!!

[William Anderson]

I wanted to see if there was something I was missing, maybe something we've already discussed in terms of the fly's proportions. Carl and others, the comments regarding this construction as a suitable caddis imitation seems well documented. Skues considered it a mayfly nymph for his chalk streams, and the construction as a great prototypical nymph pattern, which worked well for him. I wondered if there is something in the historic literature that describes how a caddis imitation (dun fly, or sedge...in the vernacular of an earlier period) would be called a Stone Fly. As Stefan's resourcefulness points out, the Half Stone pattern was not intended as a stonefly imitation, something local the Devon area where the fly originated I guess. I have lots of patterns I would pull as a caddis pupa before thinking this design was the way to go, but it's likely a very effective caddis or mayfly imitation for the waters I fish, if tied in a color combination that resembles a local species. The flies I've tied here seem to me to fall nearer to the Skues nymphs and in the appropriate shades would make decent caddis or nymph imitations, depending on how you intended to fish them. The construction in general is still a curiosity with the abrupt shift from a thin abdomen to a very robust thorax. Not the taper we usually expect from any imitation of any species.

In addition to the Iron Blue Dun flymphs which Lance posted in the "Large Thorax" thread, I remember from some earlier posts that PH tied and carried several variations of this construction. Building on this was the idea. I was also hoping to learn more about the Half Stone and the mindset of the tiers who used it. As I should have expected, the best resource is our own site. I followed several threads on the Half Stone and found a wealth of information.

Before I post the links through our own site, I thought this was interesting in terms of the Half Stone in particular, from our very own Donald Nicolson.

Here's a reference to the lineage I found from Donald on FAOL (9-11-10). I hope he doesn't mind if I quote him here and if he has anything further to add I hope he will. This is interesting, thanks, Donald.

"The Half Stone is a very old fly, but the oldest info at a rather cursory check is Halford's dry fly (1885) - Note he had no tail, which is odd for a dry. Next is Roger Woolley (1932), who was tying to order. He listed the Half Stone twice -1st as a dry dun with a tail and 2nd as a West Country wet without. Leisenring (1941) gave it a hen hackle but no tail. He did call it the Half Stone Nymph. Courtney Williams (1932) gives it with a tail and a cock hackle. Lawrie in 'English & Welsh Trout Flies' 1967, gives no tail and in 'Modern Trout Flies ' 1972, he gives a tail. John Roberts in his Dictionary (1986) gives it a tail.

So, basically, the modern convention seems to be, as a dry with cock hackle and tail. As a wet both options; tail no tail, cock or hen hackle. Actually only Leisenring used a hen hackle. Also colour hackle, blue dun or honey dun, whatever you fancy. Wet without a tail is quite a good caddis pupa. It is a very underrated and easily dressed fly." - Donald Nicolson (2010)

We have a great discussion of the Half Stone Nymph from Lance some time ago and it holds lots of great information about the nature and these flies and some beautiful examples, both originals and later representations. http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... half+stone

Within this thread I wanted to note a link and description brought to us by Mike Connor. http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... e&start=10 The illustrations paint this fly in a different light.

On the tying aesthetic of the Half Stone Nymph taken from "Leisenring Orphan Nymphs", here is another fantastic thread showing several forum members versions. John P got this one started and it's a great read. http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4939

With enough accounts of the origins of the Half Stone, each with their own nuance, we can understand where that fly came from, the pattern has certainly stood the test of productivity for hundreds of anglers, in lots of varied water types, so there must be something to it. I've enjoyed tying these meaty soft-hackles.

Thanks so much for the input.