Grouse and Seal Blend Flymph

[William Anderson]

I mentioned in a another post my tying had become a bit redundant. I never seem to sit and tie the same fly the same way, but I'm just working out some really cool combinations, mostly all leading to the same place, but the pursuit is fun.

This is a bit of seal blend, some hare's mask, and a bit of red fox, all pre-spun on white silk on a Clark's block. I pulled this from the wallet as well to get a pic before it goes in the vest box. Something I've been doing in the past year is taking the pre-spun body and wrapping it slightly open, not quite touching turns. As I'm looking through my wallet and some of my boxes it looks like I'm doing this about half the time. The underbody will certainly show through the white silk, even well waxed and the darker underbody gives it some depth. It's not exactly an imitation I'm after, but a technique.

A side note on using the white silk on the Clark's block. When this is wet you can see not just the fibers protruding out of the body, but the fibers that are trapped in the body and those pinned on the underside of the body more so than with any other silk I've used. Just something to keep in mind. Sometimes its a new discovery as the time when I make a dubbing blend till I sit and spin bodies can be a while. (I mark the percentages and ingredients on each plastic bag). And then as I leaf through cards of bodies to tie up a set of flies, there's quite a time delay from dubbing blend to flies in the box. Now a year later taking a pic and discovering what's actually there, it might as well have been tied by someone else.

[letumgo]

Oh man, that is special!

I like the idea of using more open wraps on the body, to emphasize the body segmentation. I will play around with this option, and the white silk cores. I look at this photo and am inspired to immediately go experiment with spun bodies.

[tie2fish]

Your creative fur blends and unique methods of applying them are really raising the bar here, William. It seems as though every new post from you reveals yet another way of looking at things.

It would be really cool to see the scenario you describe with the dubbing fibers standing out in contrast to the white silk when the fly is wet. Is there any prospect of you resurrecting your water chamber to give us macro looks at some of your patterns?

[gingerdun]

William,
I love it. Looser wrapping, and experiments in fur blends.
You are adding to the repertoire.
Lance

[Roadkill]

Another fantastic fly William. I too mark my blend so I can recreate them at some future date when memory fades.

[William Anderson]

I enjoy tying this style of fly more than any other. It's a shame I don't have a real need for other types of flies, so I plow ahead, tweaking these bodies. I appreciate the support.

I'll probably snag a few others from the wallet to get pics. It seems the subtle differences in the bodies are really all I have to offer at this point.

w