Purple Compound

[swellcat]

Hook: Orvis Tactical Heavyweight - 10. (Can anyone name the OEM?)
Thread: Danville's Flymaster 6/0 - Purple
Body: Skunk tail hairs, thread, and purple fruit-bag strand
Rib: Thread tag
Thorax: Blend of cottontail rabbit, North American possum, and flash material
Hackle: Wyandotte silver badger hen dyed with gentian violet

[fishhead]

Hay thanks for posting this. I really like this type of fly as a matter of fact I will try something similar because I don't have all these materials and I prefer orange, red, yellow, blue, and pink hot spots over purple but superb fly you came up with here.

[letumgo]

I sat here several minutes studying the construction and materials of this fly. Fascinating combination of materials and beautifully tied. Very impressive.

I was shocked when I looked at the size of the head, and then read that you uses 6/0 thread. I was expecting it to read that you had used 14/0, since the head was so tiny.

Thanks for the inspiration. More please...

[William Anderson]

That's quite the inventive material combo. Very cool. I can't help you with the hook name, but it looks like one I've used for some oversized Killer Bugs. It's a stout hook.

Great shot too.

w

[NJpatbee]

Great blending and creativity! I am very impressed with the effect of the dyed silver badger hen.

[UC Steve]

Colored thread. Skunk hair. Dyed with hoof rot medicine (who knew it could be so beautiful?). Now that's a neo-nativist fly.

Artfully done, sir.

[Roadkill]

Nice fly and tying!

Ray the head isn't that surprising considering that some threads rated small in the /O system compare to much larger /O threads. Like 12/0 Benecchi and 6/0 Danville both being rated at 70 Denier (Benecchi 10/0 rated at120 denier is larger than Danville 3/0 Monocord at 116 denier). Swellcat is showing good thread control in his tying.

[swellcat]

Y'all are absurdly kind. The bluegill, on the other hand, may well turn up their snoots and say, "Come back, boy, when you have something with black chenille and rubber legs." Or, maybe purple will be the new black.

Skunk hair. Dyed with hoof rot medicine . . .

You sure know how to sweet talk a feller, don't ye. (Good thing I didn't tell you the hen is a FORD—found on roadside, dead.)

I'd like to see what a real tier (such as any of the respondents on this thread) could do with the unruly skunk tail as body material. I suspect this material would shine on a smaller hook . . . smaller than the 10-iron I hauled out (yet can scarcely see in focus without a low-power telescope).

That's quite the inventive material combo.

There's a fella on the internet showing some somewhat twisted, Twisted Bodies, Herls, Quills and Misc. Soft Hackles. Maybe he has been a bad influence. I'd like to think my purple is unruly along the lines of the Twisted Three-Horsetail body, Bison thorax and Grouse. ("William's Nonfavorite" was considered for a name but rejected as overly familiar.)

I sat here several minutes studying the construction and materials of this fly.

Looking, no doubt, for a logic that never existed. Bet you'd like to have those minutes back.

Swellcat is showing good thread control in his tying.

This thread is also labeled "70 denier", but I'm thinking that it's mostly that the head is angled away from the camera so as to better show the body. (Had I used silk, there probably wouldn't have been room for anything else on the hook. )

Thanks for taking tying seriously, yet still allowing it to be fun.

-----

[UC Steve]

Oh, neglected to mention the fruit bag. Dead chicken from the side of a Texas road? This is even better than I thought.

[Smuggler]

Hayabusa is making Orvis's tactical line of hooks. They're arguably the best hook manufacturer right now in the industry. Incredibly strong hooks and needle points, good stuff.

This materials list is probably the best thing since sliced bread, no kidding haha. Really thoughtful. Really enjoyed this one.