Mallard & Claret which colour hackle ?

[bobc]

Mallard & Claret is a favourite fly of mine and I now need to tie some ,all my fishing boooks have long gone as has my memory, is the original a black hackle or claret ?
And for fishing purposes which do you prefer ?
Bob

[Wee Jimmy]

I think the original dressing called for ginger....not sure though.

[Former member]

Originally Posted by bobc

Mallard & Claret is a favourite fly of mine and I now need to tie some ,all my fishing boooks have long gone as has my memory, is the original a black hackle or claret ?
And for fishing purposes which do you prefer ?
Bob

Dark Ginger or Med red brown Hen, I myself prefer furnace or dark greenwells hen.
Cheer
Gerry

www.artifly.com

[Scratch]

John Roberts - "Natural light red hen"

[midlander]

The original is red game cock, often tied as a false or beard hackle. As Gerry says it's what's usually called brown these days but with a fiery "red" tinge. Having said that I've had a lot of mileage from a furnace Hen hackle dyed brown olive, two or three full turns in front of the wing and swept back.

[arkle]

There are probably as many variations in hackle colours for this fly as there fisheries & Diawl Bach "Variants" I've seen it dressed with all the above as well as blue, magenta, purple & pink. I've also seen it with purple g.p. tippets, copper ribs, hairwings - you name it.

This is a fly that's been around for many years so it's one that's almost bound to get "adjusted" for local conditions & to suit what the tyer has or hasn't got in stock.

[Former member]

Originally Posted by arkle

There are probably as many variations in hackle colours for this fly as there fisheries & Diawl Bach "Variants" I've seen it dressed with all the above as well as blue, magenta, purple & pink. I've also seen it with purple g.p. tippets, copper ribs, hairwings - you name it.

This is a fly that's been around for many years so it's one that's almost bound to get "adjusted" for local conditions & to suit what the tyer has or hasn't got in stock.

Very true but I think Bobc was after the hackle used on the original dressing.
Gerry

[troutheaven]

Always thought a sparse black hen over the wing outfished its rivals by a whopping great margin.
After all, its best, IMHO, as a pulling hatching buzzer pattern.

[teuchter]

Mallard and Claret is an olive pattern. Over the years I have tried many colours from brown to black to claret but I always come back to a decent greenwell hen hackle tied over the wing, with as black a centre as possible.
The black centre creates a solid head point which I like to achieve on all my olive dressings but at the end of the day its down to what you personally prefer. Again, quality of hackle is the main issue. Its also a regional thing...........one colour may work better in one area than another.
Cheers George

PS

To enlarge the debate, I don't like bronze mallard as a wing on my M & Cs
Give me a blae wing on all my olive patterns.

Black Hen on a Mallard and Claret / Silver Rib

Red Game on a Grouse and Claret / Gold Rib


2 similar but completly different flies