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Does this fly pattern have a name?

4K views 28 replies 11 participants last post by  Rhithrogena 
#1 ·
Feather Arthropod Wing Terrestrial plant Plant

A few of these were in a fly box I bought online. They proved pretty successful for me last season fished on the point with a figure 8 retrieve. I landed several trout on them last season and some good carp too.
Judging by the hooks (forged bend, big barbs) they are pretty old, maybe 80's??
They are reminiscent of some Ivens patterns and are very easy to copy; Cock pheasant tail back and whisks, green ostrich herl body, on a LS 12.
One of those general patterns that can be anything from a caddis to a stickleback.
So does it have a name?
 
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#2 ·
View attachment 36826
A few of these were in a fly box I bought online. They proved pretty successful for me last season fished on the point with a figure 8 retrieve. I landed several trout on them last season and some good carp too.
Judging by the hooks (forged bend, big barbs) they are pretty old, maybe 80's??
They are reminiscent of some Ivens patterns and are very easy to copy; Cock pheasant tail back and whisks, green ostrich herl body, on a LS 12.
One of those general patterns that can be anything from a caddis to a stickleback.
So does it have a name?
It appears to be a variation of the Ivens green and brown,using cpt as the shellback rather than peacock herl.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Looks a pretty standard fry pattern design, think they were referred to as fry or minnow patterns, an example being a "Silver Minnow" with a barred teal feather as a back and tail over a silver body, also I recall the Ivens "Jersey Herd" pattern originally had the same design with peacock over gold body, but included an orange throat hackle.

Also check out the "Polystickle" and "Ronan's Gadget".
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the suggestions. It does have a fry-like silhouette, but is very buggy and mobile with the ostrich herl, so not realky not like the tinsel/polythene bodies of these 'proper' fry patterns.
 
#4 ·
Wrongfoot, do you mean Rogan's gadget ? Another dressing, that could be thrown into the mix, might be a variation of the Cooper's bug, though that didn't have a body as such & moose mane was used for the rest of the dressing, very simple dressing though I've seen it take some really nice fish of 5lbs +.
 
#10 · (Edited)
As someone stated at the top of the thread it is basically an Ivens Green & Brown 'nymph' substituting pheasant tail for the back as an alternative to peacock herl - which was always rather fragile.

View attachment 36841
Thanks for your input Paul.
Yep, I said it was like an Iven's pattern in my original post. But it doesn't use green AND brown herl, and has PT back and no peacock head, so it's pretty far from Iven's G&BN for me and I wondered if it had a name of it's own. It seems it doesn't so I might give it one; how about a Fitob? Found In That Old Box ?
(And the pheasant tail back is fragile also, I varnished a couple to try and make them more durable but that loses some bugginess.I might try varnish under the shell back on a few...)
Edit: corrected Paul's name
 
#15 ·
As with any fly, if you tie it on and catch, then you tie it on again and if you keep catching on it, it becomes a staple.
This one is growing on me
Incidentally the original ones (pictured) have a few turns of lead wire under the thorax...
Rich
 
#21 · (Edited)
View attachment 36826
A few of these were in a fly box I bought online. They proved pretty successful for me last season fished on the point with a figure 8 retrieve. I landed several trout on them last season and some good carp too.
Judging by the hooks (forged bend, big barbs) they are pretty old, maybe 80's??
They are reminiscent of some Ivens patterns and are very easy to copy; Cock pheasant tail back and whisks, green ostrich herl body, on a LS 12.
One of those general patterns that can be anything from a caddis to a stickleback.
So does it have a name?
We used to call those Pheasant tail chompers back in the 60/70s when reservoir fishing was just taking off, there were a lot of fry type variant patterns back then. Long herl was widely used more than it is now, as there just wasn't the purpose made artificial materials to be bought.
We used to tie a lot with a rabbits mask dubbed body, then a pt back. Over ribbed with fine gold wire, Straight forged hook with tail left as a fry pattern, curved Peter Mackenzie hook, with tail removed for scud/shrimp patterns. Long before modern Euro nymph patterns were in the scene. The rabbits mask dubbed body, gets the fly down really fast without weight, as it holds water, the gold rib adds a little flash and protects the pattern from the trouts teeth. We caught thousands of Trout on them back then. Not sure why we stopped using them really?
 
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