Loch ordie fly

[tinsoldier]

Anyone got the pattern or sbs for this fly ,type of hackles and colours ,tried the net only got some photos,any help appreciated.!

[midlander]

Trout and Salmon Flies of Scotland: Amazon.co.uk: Stan Headley: Books

Trout and Salmon Flies of Scotland: Amazon.co.uk: Stan Headley: Books

[john]

The original was a dapping fly, very bushy short body using only front half of the hook stopping before hookpoint. Black thread, dark ginger body hackle with white hackle at the head. Both hen with the ginger one tied concave side facing the eye to catch the wind better. Wet is same dressing but ginger hackle tied normally sloping back. Wet can also have a black or claret hen hackle at the rear (still shortish body) and is usually fished well ginked up to come up to the surface at the end of the retrieve.

[tinsoldier]

Hmm interesting allways imagined it would have been cock hackles to skate dry on top of a big wave,was any rib used to secure the "bush" in place?

[john]

Hen moves, catches the wind and takes floatant better. No body or rib other than thread/hackle, keeping weight down and body wouldn't really show through the touching hackles.

[shuck raider]

Originally Posted by john

The original was a dapping fly

It was invented and used in the United States many years ago by Edward. R. Hewitt who tied the monstrous creation to represent a butterfly. He called it 'The Neversink Skater' but when the Duke of Athol gave him a day on Loch Ordie, Hewitt used the fly to great effect on the big trout for which that loch was famous, although he didn't dap it - that was an Irish innovation which came much later.

Hewitt's method was simple enough - nice straight drift, oil it up, fire out as much line as possible and fish the fly stationary with no drag, feeding out line and keeping it straight at all times until you've too much line out to hook up effectively. Haul it all in and start again. Still works even today, especially for seatrout in calm conditions - even from the bank.

Sidney Spencer popularised the fly and his tying is as close to Hewitt's as makes no difference. It is a BIG fly - two size 10s tied in tandem, both palmered with dark furnace cock and ribbed oval gold and head hackles of creamy white hen on each hook. Spencer attached a tiny (16) flying treble to the head of the leading hook which makes it a b****r to cast and also leads to tangles when the treble wraps around the leader. Personally, I omit it and it doesn't seem to make much difference to hook-ups

[troutheaven]

Originally Posted by shuck raider

It was invented and used in the United States many years ago by Edward. R. Hewitt who tied the monstrous creation to represent a butterfly. He called it 'The Neversink Skater' but when the Duke of Athol gave him a day on Loch Ordie, Hewitt used the fly to great effect on the big trout for which that loch was famous, although he didn't dap it - that was an Irish innovation which came much later.

Hewitt's method was simple enough - nice straight drift, oil it up, fire out as much line as possible and fish the fly stationary with no drag, feeding out line and keeping it straight at all times until you've too much line out to hook up effectively. Haul it all in and start again. Still works even today, especially for seatrout in calm conditions - even from the bank.

Sidney Spencer popularised the fly and his tying is as close to Hewitt's as makes no difference. It is a BIG fly - two size 10s tied in tandem, both palmered with dark furnace cock and ribbed oval gold and head hackles of creamy white hen on each hook. Spencer attached a tiny (16) flying treble to the head of the leading hook which makes it a b****r to cast and also leads to tangles when the treble wraps around the leader. Personally, I omit it and it doesn't seem to make much difference to hook-ups

That's about as comprehensive and accurate as it gets, concerning origins. Can't add anything to it. John's remarks are also on the ball regarding modern usage.
The Loch ordie is a better fly than its present-day popularity would suggest.

[shuck raider]

Frontispiece from Spencer's 'Ways of Fishing'. Colour photography/printing was obviously pretty grim when the book was published, apologies for the poor quality