Page 1 of 1
Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 1:58 pm
by daringduffer
I wonder if you can tell me whether the bird "bittern" used for these flies
http://softhacklepatternbook.blogspot.s ... %20Bowlker is this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Botau ... nek%29.jpg ? I heard this bird sometimes when I lived by a stream, but never saw it.
dd
Edit. The last D should be followed by ...own Looker.
Re: Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:04 pm
by hankaye
dd, Howdy;
By clicking on the formal name listed in the Description
segment below the photo, I found this;
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Botaurus_stellaris
The first listed name is the English
So, technically, you have answered your own question ...
hank
Re: Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:37 pm
by daringduffer
So, technically, you have answered your own question ...
I don't fully agree. There are other birds called "bittern" but I picked this one as the likely one. I also would like to know what feather was used. There seems to be a lot of them to choose from.
I like when you are pulling my leg like that...
dd
Re: Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 5:23 pm
by Mataura mayfly
Absolutely it was used.
http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/matuku.html
The Australasian Bittern was heavily hunted (to near extinction here) in NZ to provide the wing feathers for Matuku style lures (streamers) popular trout fishing lures in the lakes of both NZ's major islands.
Matuku is the Maori name for the Bittern and this name was carried over to the flies tied with Bittern feathers for wings.
The feathers of the Bittern are similar to Heron feathers, long- full & webby and lacking the ability of the fibres to "knit" back together in the way duck feathers do, so lent themselves to the long top wing of the Matuku fly style.
Kiwi were also hunted and their feathers used for the same purpose.
Both birds (as indeed most all native birds are here now) are heavily protected by law. Flies tied with these feathers were fazed out up into the 1950's and the patterns are now tied with Hen or webby Cock bird large hackle feathers.
I do not have any reference to the Matuku feathers being used as a wrapped shoulder hackle here in NZ.
Re: Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 12:11 pm
by daringduffer
Thank you, Jeff, for sharing this information.
and lacking the ability of the fibres to "knit" back together in the way duck feathers do
I do not have any reference to the Matuku feathers being used as a wrapped shoulder hackle here in NZ.
As can be found about half way down following my previous link, bittern was used as body material for some flies and, I quote:
Michael Theakston lists the “Oak Fly (or downlooker)” as the 56th fly in his List of Natural Flies (1853) that is similar to the Bowlkers’ and Turton’s patterns. Theakston’s fly also hatches in the middle of May and is “a land fly, found often on the buts of oak, ash, or other trees; generally with their heads downwards.” He explains that the artificial is “dressed with various materials: wings from the woodcock or partridge; and winged and legged with a bittern hackle, or a yellow brown freckled hen; body, yellow or pale amber silk, with open rounds of deep red brown; shoulders, tinged with water-rat or squirrel’s ashy fur.”
You can always learn something new...
dd
Re: Canon Fly; or, Down-hill Fly; later, the Oak Fly; and, the D
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:34 pm
by letumgo
Stefan - What a great link. I've bookmarked that site for further study.
