Leisenring Style

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daringduffer
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by daringduffer » Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:03 pm

IronBlue,

I have tried to translate an important part of the instructions from Gunnar Johnson's book "Flymfer & andra mjukhacklade flugor" (Flymphs & and other softhackled flies) on how to make the bodies for flymphs. Do you have this book too?

"Cut a thin tuft of fur from appropriate skin. Hold the tuft between the thumb and index finger of the left hand. and cut with the scissors in the right hand. Put the scissors down and grip the root end of the tuft of fur with the thumb and index finger of the right hand.. With the left hand, we then remove all long hairs from the underfur, so that the tuft only contains the soft underfur. Once again grip the tuft from the "top end" with the fingers of the left hand and hold it perpendicular to the stretched silk thread. Hold the scissors with the right hand and cut the tuft 4 to 5 mm from the bottom end. The tuft will lie as a small roll on the middle of the thread. It will now be relatively simple to distribute and roll out an even and sparse layer over the silk. A pair of tweezers can be useful to start with, and also helpful to remove surplus hair fibres with. The dubbing should be quite thin. Put more in the middle and less in both ends, that way making it easier to tie a tapered body. With a bit of practise, one soon learn to judge the right amount of wool, and how sparsely applied on the silk it should be, to get the best result. In the beginning it is common to use too much material."


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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by letumgo » Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:22 pm

Stefan (dd) - Thanks for the translation. Extremely useful description.
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by IronBlue » Sun Jan 15, 2012 6:59 am

DD, I wish we had a translation of the entire book. Evidently Gunnar went into more technical detail about the stages of tying a fly than Pete did, which is wonderful. Gunnar's long run of magazine columns on fly-tying developed him into one of the best writers on the subject. Extremely hard to write as clearly as the sample you shared with us. Thanks.

Gunnar's 5 mm dubbing length rule is probably a good rule of thumb. But like all rules, it is meant to be broken. I have looked at many of the dubbed bodies that Pete Hidy made and stored on notched cards. There is no consistency to the length of dubbing fur he used. For one thing, he varied the length according to the size hook he intended to use. I wouldn't be surprised if Gunnar did as well. In his later years, Pete Hidy tied a lot of mohair bodies that are very long and unruly. I will attach a fly tied with one of them. A lot of other Hidy spun bodies have some long strands and spiky hare's face guard hairs mixed in with shorter cuttings.

Hidy and Leisenring both used dyed yarn and worsted wool as a source of fibers. They would carefully disengage the long wool or mohair fibers from the yarn. Hidy sometimes would stuff the little nests of full-length dyed wool fibers into little plastic bags for future sessions at the Clark Spinning Block. He would wait until the dubbing session to decide what length to cut the wool, which would then often be mixed in with mole, muskrat, opossum, hare, seal, etc. He blended the fur the slow way, with his fingers and tweezers.
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daringduffer
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by daringduffer » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:47 am

Oh yeah - that's a fly to my liking. Scruffy!! Something exploding in the water. Myself, I'm not tidy but it can be beautiful in it's own right. "Art for art's sake..."

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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by letumgo » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:10 am

Lance - this makes me want to go immediately to my vice to tye some of these flies. Wonderful stuff. I am a big fan of wool dubbing. The course texture of natural wool creates very "buggy" bodies.

Stefan - I agree. There is something asthetically pleasing about the messiness of the bodies of flies dubbed this way. Wild, like Nature herself. ;)
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by Roadkill » Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:22 am

IronBlue

I think that some tiers get caught up in the tying of "fashionably" thin flies losing sight of what they are trying to imitate. Sometimes generalist flies work fine but we don't need to fall into the some all fallacies like "all mayflies are skinny". I am sure that if Pete weere tying a Green Drake emerger he would have used a more robust body than when tying a BWO-a "lifelike body" in his words. Adult Caddis may actiually have a tiny abdomen compared to the common ties that make the bodies rival their wing size. But if you are imitating an emerging pupa the body can use that fuller profile. Sometimes "less is more" in imitating a natural and other times exaggeration may be the key. A fat fly may be the hot fly as a general attractor for opportunistically feeding fish while attention to scale may be important for selective trout.
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by narcodog » Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:03 am

I,B. I am so looking forward to "The" book
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Re: Leisenring Style

Post by IronBlue » Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:54 am

Roadkill and everyone else who has posted a response to my Heritage story——
Yes, I feel that I am among friends, although I have a chronic wariness about divulging too much on the Web. That is why it took me so long to make this step.
My schedule is starting to become more demanding with the spring semester soon to begin, and an enormous freelance Ansel Adams book design project heating up. Therefore, if I don't manage to respond to each of you, don't take it personally. Be assured that I am reading all your posts, and feel extremely fortunate to have your perspective and good will as I try to navigate my way to the publication of a book.

I am consulting with Mark Libertone and Jim Slattery about the best way for the forum to host this discussion.
Once we figure out how it will work, you can tell me what you want to know, and I'll do my best to answer. As I learn more about what you need to know from the Hidy Collection, that will help me prioritize content for the book. In other words, if registered forum users are careful and thoughtful in their posts to me (which seems to be the norm), you may serve as an international focus group.
A fat fly may be the hot fly as a general attractor for opportunistically feeding fish while attention to scale may be important for selective trout.[/quote]

As for Roadkill's sage observations on fly dressings, I have this to say. What I am seeing in Pete Hidy's collection is the full spectrum from relatively realistic and traditional patterns, to others that are more inventive and ambiguous—like this flamboyant mahogany flymph that I posted earlier. It is safe to say that Pete agreed with Jim Leisenring that it was absolutely essential to study the appearance of the living insect to match its essential qualities. But their idea of a realistic fly was very different from what goes today as "realistic". Anatomical details were not as important as general color, profile, translucency, etc. and of course, proper presentation. Although Pete and Gunnar were both intense fly-tyers, both agreed, as Gunnar once put it, that the "driver is more important than the fly."

Being steeped in Pete Hidy's way of seeing and doing, and with his collection at hand for reference, including a fair amount of Leisenring material, I think I can add some new information. Pete did teach me to tie flies, and we fished together a lot. That counts for something, even though it was long ago, and memory is hazy. I will do my best, within limits, to share images, answer questions, and take this flymph discussion into areas that interest you most. I will benefit greatly, and I hope you will too.
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