Somebody was recently bemoaning the paucity of hair-wings on here, and in general, and I mentioned that one of the few I tie and use these days is this Silver Invicta variant. Needed to replenish stocks the other night, so here's an example..........
Hook: B175 or 170 Sizes 14,
12 or 10
Tail: Yellow cock (or GP topping)
Rib: Silver wire
Body: Flat silver
Body hackle: Grizzle hen dyed ginger
Wing: Squirrel (Tail or body)
Front hackle: Grizzle hen dyed 'silver doctor blue'
Cheeks: JC splits
Thread: Black or dark brown
A couple of differences here from the original. Firstly, and obviously, the use of squirrel hair in place of the hen pheasant. I've used the body hair in this one, reason being, you get the grey-brown-white colour sequence compacted into a smaller area than with the tail hair/fur. Then there's the extra softness, mobility, and translucency that you don't get with the standard wing. A lot more durable too.
I prefer a straight tail on this one, so have used yellow cock as opposed to the traditional choice of GP topping. Another slight change is the use of ginger grizzle instead of red game for the body hackle. Just seems to work well, and offer a couple more tones into the mix. Finally the substitution of the blue jay for blue grizzle.... no messing about with throats... a couple of turns, job done.
A superb allrounder, suggestive of more things on the trouts menu than just about any other pattern I can think of.... fry, corixa, sedge, shrimp, hog-louse etc etc. Usually goes on the middle dropper for me, with occaisional outings on the bob or tail. Good on all lines and at all depths, but lethal in the top couple of inches.
Hair Wing Silver Invicta
Eddie
I don't like the wing to dominate on these, just provide a bit of 'fuzz' and a few drab tones....
Linear Mode
