Re: Historical Pattern Question (February Red - circa 1496)
Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 2:49 pm
You have probably seen this already:http://globalflyfisher.com/global/february-red/ This is one species.
This is another; British:http://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-and-habi ... bruary-red.
Michael Theakston skips February Red in his British Angling Flies https://archive.org/stream/britishangli ... 0/mode/1up
In his scheme, "Dun" is caddis, "Spinner" is diptera, Drake is 'mayfly' and "Brown" is stone-fly.
Roger Woolley gives both winged and hackled pattern of Feb. Red. "The February Red and the Winter Brown are two of the earliest flies that appear on our streams, and are somewhat similar in size and appearance, the winter brown being of a shade darker brown on the body, and its wings more mottled, whilst the February Red is more of a reddish-brown hue, its wings of a brownish horny colour".
He calls for a "darkish, well-rusted blue cock". I understand you are looking for a less modern pattern, but I need an explanation of that wing colour.
When looking into this, haphazardly, I found a reference to an old manuscript at Yale, with a text that pre-dates Dame Julian(a) by a few decades. Some of it is almost the exact wording. I found this in my copy of a book by Gunnar Johnson and Anders Forsling, issued 1996 (not 1496). Added to the book is a water-colour of a trout and that "Dun fly", with a partridge wing. Their interpretation doesn't look much like "our" February Red".
I'm unsure of what stage you intend to represent; the creeper or the adult, egglaying or drowned. Roger Fogg gives the following (traditional) pattern in his "The Art of the Wet Fly" (1979):
Hook: 16 - 14
Body: Reddish claret silk or seal's fur at the tail, remainder lightish brown.
Hackle: Dark grizzle dun hen.
Wings: Speckled hen wing.
Need a break now...
dd
This is another; British:http://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-and-habi ... bruary-red.
Michael Theakston skips February Red in his British Angling Flies https://archive.org/stream/britishangli ... 0/mode/1up
In his scheme, "Dun" is caddis, "Spinner" is diptera, Drake is 'mayfly' and "Brown" is stone-fly.
Roger Woolley gives both winged and hackled pattern of Feb. Red. "The February Red and the Winter Brown are two of the earliest flies that appear on our streams, and are somewhat similar in size and appearance, the winter brown being of a shade darker brown on the body, and its wings more mottled, whilst the February Red is more of a reddish-brown hue, its wings of a brownish horny colour".
He calls for a "darkish, well-rusted blue cock". I understand you are looking for a less modern pattern, but I need an explanation of that wing colour.
When looking into this, haphazardly, I found a reference to an old manuscript at Yale, with a text that pre-dates Dame Julian(a) by a few decades. Some of it is almost the exact wording. I found this in my copy of a book by Gunnar Johnson and Anders Forsling, issued 1996 (not 1496). Added to the book is a water-colour of a trout and that "Dun fly", with a partridge wing. Their interpretation doesn't look much like "our" February Red".
I'm unsure of what stage you intend to represent; the creeper or the adult, egglaying or drowned. Roger Fogg gives the following (traditional) pattern in his "The Art of the Wet Fly" (1979):
Hook: 16 - 14
Body: Reddish claret silk or seal's fur at the tail, remainder lightish brown.
Hackle: Dark grizzle dun hen.
Wings: Speckled hen wing.
Need a break now...
dd