Hi', PL. The upsidedown fly you are thinking about was featured in a programme involving John Goddard and Brian Clarke, in the 1970s, I think. People probably thought it was an innovation, an adaptation of the old parachute fly; BUT it was a lot older than that. There is a sketch of one in a book on lake fishing by Col. Joscelyn Lane, I think that is the correct spelling, which appeared between the two World Wars. A friend, Geoff Johnston, of Ullswater Flies fame, loaned it to me to read a few years back, and I think the fly may have been tied in the 1920s or 1930s. A friend of the author tied the original, and he was so modest that the author simply referred to him as 'J' in his book.
Within days of the TV show being 'on air' the son of a close fishing friend asked if I had seen the show, and could I tie him some flies? I agreed on one condition, which was that he looked at them, but didn't fish them. They were fiddly and not particularly robust originally, although I made a modified wing post using 25 gauge gold ribbing wire soldered to the hook shank, in the form of a twisted loop. The ring of the loop was pressed down to secure the hackle after winding, and worked quite well. Never had one come apart; but as was said in the programme, they were probably required on only about 5% of the times one might fish -- when trout were latched on to the particular 'footprint' of a spent sherry spinner. I think that is correct, but I am working from memory. TerryC
PS I tie Funnelduns, occasionally, Phil, and I think I prefer the newer Funnelspinner to the upsidedown parachute, as it's a lot easier and quicker to tie.
Last edited by guest3; 27-07-2009 at 09:58 PM.
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