Claret henchman

[wingman]

This kind of came out of my last fly-post, useing jackdaw again and claret seals fur.......having a week off from posting after this (you'll be pleased to know) as I need to sort out my materials which have somehow got very untidy and out of sorts. Tied on a kamasan B175 size 12.

Claret henchman





Thread - claret
Tail - hot orange GP tippets
Body - claret seals fur
Rib - fine gold wire
Hackle - jackdaw
Wings - mallard

Thanks for looking and all comments welcome

cheers mark

[wobbly face]

Top drawer Mark. Are you having a CLARET moment?

[wingman]

Teehee, thanks wobbly, yes I did have some red wine with my dnner tonight, although not claret but tescos finest (cheapest), think its aving an effect on my twying and slurrgghing mwy spweech srighlty.

[Gander]

Loving it!

[wingman]

Thanks gander, you didn't spot the deliberate discrepency then? God I knew these guys knew a decent fly when they saw one, but I didn't think they were that good..just a little tester now a week off from posting flypics ah bliss for you peeps.

[midlander]

Another nice one Mark, but guess what? Yup, it's a Blae and Claret.

Here's how the old Loch fly naming convention works..

Tail: Tippet.
Body: Fur/colour.
Wing: Wing material.

So, a fly with a tippet tail, red seals fur body and woodcock wing would be... a Woodcock and Red.

The same fly but with a bronze mallard wing would be a Mallard and Red.

Teal wing... Teal and red.

Mallard/ jay/ starling etc primary... Blae and Red

White tipped mallard drake secondary/ scapula... Hecham Red.

It's very much like the North Country Wet naming convention of body colour and hackle, found in the likes of Snipe and Purple, Partridge and yellow etc.

Why is this important? Well, it's a reference point thing. If you were to say I had three fish on a Claret Henchman the guy next to you would go "eh"? If you said a Blae and Claret, you'd probably get an "ah".

It's fine naming any fly anything you like until it comes to passing on information. I could call a Claret Dabbler a Purple Helmet but it would mean nothing to anyone else until I showed them the fly and recognition dawned.

Sorry to be a pedantic ******, but I think these things are important.

[wingman]

Oh b^"^*r Alex not again Your'e quite right ofcourse, it is important to give the proper name as per your explanation above (and a very good one might I add) well you know me and my personalised crazy names. But yes I can understand the usefulness and need of this system and must strive to be more accurate with how I label my flies and please feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong as I woud like to be accurate if I can, The fly above is actually tied useing seals fur substitute and I wondered if anyone would notice the difference, well maybe some did or had an inkling, but if you look carefully it does look finer and less how should I say spindly looking.

[midlander]

Originally Posted by wingman

The fly above is actually tied useing seals fur substitute and I wondered if anyone would notice the difference, well maybe some did or had an inkling, but if you look carefully it does look finer and less how should I say spindly looking.

To be honest, I thought it was knitting wool.

On the fly naming front. Get yourself some books on the subject. A Dictionary of Trout Flies, Veniards Fly Dressers Guide, Wooley's Modern Trout Fly Dressing, to name a few. Also, get yourself out there and use those flies you've dressed. Don't, for heaven's sake, follow the route of some of the U.S Bergman devotee's who dress classic/trad wet flies "for art's sake".

Most of all, keep up the good work.

[wingman]

Thanks Alex, yup got the veniards book already so I should know better uuuurrrghhh! they really tie just for arts sake? erm well I definitely fish mine as the fish are the final judges and the whole point of the exercise obviously.

[midlander]

Originally Posted by wingman

... they really tie just for arts sake? erm well I definitely fish mine as the fish are the final judges and the whole point of the exercise obviously.

Yes Mark it would appear so. My view, like yours, is that a fly is made to catch fish, end of. Anything else, plastic ultra close copies included, is just pointless frippery. But there again, I'd give old Grumpus Maximus a run for his money when it comes to pedantry.