Shades of Tummel

[bill1]

Not that I ever have or am ever likely to fish that stunning river, but I have gazed upon it wistfully, which may or may not give me the right to try and tie something in the Tummel style
Woodcock and Hare's Lug on Size 16
Greenwell's wet and spider on Size 12 Grub Hooks for added weight.

As always, c&c appreciated














Thanks for looking

[GuyFromLaw]

Bill the first two shots are miles too long. A third of that would do.

The next two down you have knocked it off. Those are lovely wings, nice wee jaunty upright angle as the Clydesiders would say.

[bill1]

Originally Posted by GuyFromLaw

Bill the first two shots are miles too long. A third of that would do.

The next two down you have knocked it off. Those are lovely wings, nice wee jaunty upright angle as the Clydesiders would say.

Grab the eye though, don't they?

You're no doubt right but Nicolson's W&HL has a pretty long wing - over twice the hook length, I'd say.

Page 413

Sorry, missed the kind comment about the others. Many thanks.

[donaldtn]

I think you've done a very nice job on these, there are not many
original illustrations and what there are, look very like these.
I don't think Tummel style flies have been fished on the Tummel, or anywhere else for a very long time.

These hooks were long compared to modern hooks. The important factor is the relationship
between the body length and wing length.

[darwin]

Bill that is a heck of a wing on those 2. I do like the others, a style that I rarely see.

donaldtn thanks for posting the photograph, its fun to see what was from back then.
Thanks gents

[bill1]

Donald,
chatting briefly to someone from up that way in a tackle shop, he told me that they were although I suspect that he might have been talking about clydestyle.

Glad you liked them Darwin. I'll post some more, elsewhere

[andy macbog]

Yeah,

The wings are very interesting? I imagine they must behave like a sail and give the fly a bit of a flutter in any currents? Is that what happens and if so is it part of the attraction?

Andy

[donaldtn]

Hi Bill,
The Clyde style flies are certainly being dressed and fished, there has not really been a break in their use. Lawrie had quite a bit of info on both styles and John Reid's excellent book on Clyde Style 1971 was re-issued in 1988 and there has been a new book on Clyde Style just come out last year, but Tummel flies have been almost forgotten for about 80 or so years. I admit I had never heard of them until I read Lawrie's book on 'Scottish Trout Flies' and in Tod's 'Wet Fly Fishing'. Skues also mentions them. The Clyde Style had a faithfull following among the miners of Lanarkshire and West Lothian. They kept the patterns and methods alive.

[clydestyleflys]

Originally Posted by donaldtn

Hi Bill,
The Clyde style flies are certainly being dressed and fished, there has not really been a break in their use. Lawrie had quite a bit of info on both styles and John Reid's excellent book on Clyde Style 1971 was re-issued in 1988 and there has been a new book on Clyde Style just come out last year, but Tummel flies have been almost forgotten for about 80 or so years. I admit I had never heard of them until I read Lawrie's book on 'Scottish Trout Flies' and in Tod's 'Wet Fly Fishing'. Skues also mentions them. The Clyde Style had a faithfull following among the miners of Lanarkshire and West Lothian. They kept the patterns and methods alive.

just to let you know yes i fish the tummel and clyde and the only thing is the tummel flys were tied short to get the flys down a fast river the clyde is a lot slower and is a true size to match the hatch but good to see the tummel flys i am in the bert sharps fly tying club clydestyleflys.com.

[bill1]

Originally Posted by clydestyleflys

just to let you know yes i fish the tummel and clyde and the only thing is the tummel flys were tied short to get the flys down a fast river the clyde is a lot slower and is a true size to match the hatch but good to see the tummel flys i am in the bert sharps fly tying club clydestyleflys.com.

Welcome to the forum

It's very interesting to hear about the living traditions of these flies. My own background was in North Country Spiders but strangely enough, even in the Dales I came across a very clear working knowledge of Clyde and Tummel patterns (I'm talking 50 years ago).
In those days, I rarely winged a fly - March Brown and Greenwells perhaps - winging was not really in my tradition so I enjoyed looking at the fly boxes of some of the old boys I ran into. (I would give a lot to go back and talk to them again)

It's interesting how what you were brought up on, continues to colour your perception of a fly. For Sea Trout and boat fishing, traditional wets seem right with a low wing. For rivers, I do like the more upright (what GFL called "jaunty") winging of Clyde and Tummel.

Thanks for posting