Bracken Clock

[tie2fish]

This post is about an old wingless wet pattern of the type that some forum members say they like to see here. Per Robert Smith, to the best of his knowledge this fly first appeared in the literature in John Kirkbride's " The Northern Angler: Or, Fly Fishers Companion" in 1837.

The name translates literally from Old English as "Fern Beetle", and the fly does resemble a dark ground beetle that has dull red legs with dark tips that inhabits the heavy fern growths bordering many streams in the Westmorland/ Cambria uplands of England (see Black Clock beetle photo below). I suspect that this insect may have inspired the pattern.



I found multiple slightly differing recipes for this fly in the literature, but it most commonly includes:

Hook: Size 1 (I have used a vintage Mustad 3354 snell hook in Size #12)
Thread: Red (or orange) silk
Hackle: Cock pheasant; on page 204 of his book The North Country Fly, Robert Smith discusses the use of pheasant feathers in fly tying: "The larger feathers immediately below the neck, which are of a red color, with tips of metallic blue, are used for dressing the Bracken Clock."
Body: Two or three strands of peacock herl twisted with a long tag of tying thread and wrapped forward

My result looks like this:

[daringduffer]

Oh, yes!

And thanks for the information, that is valuable for those interested in history.

dd

[redietz]

There are apparently several different beetles called a bracken clock (Anisoplia suturalis, Pterostichus madidus, Phyllopertha horticola, etc). It's just sort of a generic name for a brown and red beetle.

It should come as no surprise that the Welsh name for Phyllopertha horticola is "coch y bondhu".

[Old Hat]

Nice! Very similar to the Red Hackle Peacock.

[redsedge]

What dd said. Nicely informative post, Bill. For what it’s worth, one can hear the Welsh pronunciation of coch-y-bondhu on an episode of Hinterland, which you will have to watch in it’s entirety as I can’t recall the episode.

[redietz]

For what it’s worth, one can hear the Welsh pronunciation of coch-y-bondhu on an episode of Hinterland, which you will have to watch in it’s entirety as I can’t recall the episode.

They just rebroadcast that episode here a couple of weeks ago. I didn't enjoy it enough the first time to watch it again.

[Bazzer69]

For what it’s worth, one can hear the Welsh pronunciation of coch-y-bondhu on an episode of Hinterland, which you will have to watch in it’s entirety as I can’t recall the episode.

They just rebroadcast that episode here a couple of weeks ago. I didn't enjoy it enough the first time to watch it again.

I was in the military with a Welshman, I promise you you won’t understand a word! Poor old Taffy, he had one hell of a temper although he died a ordained minister, go figure, but I wouldn’t attempt to pronounce it!

[letumgo]

Bill - I love this kind of post for the history and the beautifully tyed fly. It looks like one of the sneck hooks Dana gave us in Roscoe. It’s cool seeing flies on these irons.

The hackle is a good match for the legs on the beetle. Boy, the natural beetle is a beefy looking bug. Seems like it would hit the water with a fish-attracting "plop". Seems like this would be a good pattern for this time of year.

[Theroe]

Coch - y - bondhu is one of my favorite hackle types - I have 16 or 17 capes that I have collected over the years. Personally, I prefer a very dark red, with more black than red on the feather barbule. The BRITs however use a much lighter shade for their beetle patterns.

If anybody needs some in a certain shade, just let me know ...........

Dana

[tie2fish]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I specifically used the pheasant feather to hackle this fly because this is what the earlier uplands Bracken Clock pattern called for.

As redietz points out, there are several red and black beetles in Great Britain that could have inspired fly patterns, and the Welsh Coch-y-bondhu fly using red hen hackle with dark tips and list seems to be the best known of the bunch today. The sneck hook in the photo is one that Dana graciously passed out at the June weekend in Roscoe.