FLYMPH FORUM

I didn't want to hijack Lances thread (no pun intended), but I wanted to comment on flyfishwithme's pattern.

flyfishwithme wrote:

Very well executed fly sir. That pattern was one of my fathers favorites. I find myself using it quite a bit aswell.

I do not know if the flys my father used were tyed with hen hackle, or poor quality cock hackle. I do know that he fished them upstream yet sub surface on rivers, and sub surface on still waters. Is your pattern cock hackle?

It wasnt until I was on the Internet that I found out the pattern was called the "Red Tag". For thirty years we referred to it as a "Brown Hackle Peacock" as that is what it was called by the fly company (*Cardinal Fly Company) that distributed it back in the 60's and 70's.

One last comment. Again, after being plugged in to the Internet, I discovered the pattern should have a Gold tag. Being naturally lazy, I still havent added the tag to my pattern. After looking at your fly, I may have to rethink my strategy. Well done sir.


* - The name of the company is a guess by me.

Dubbn,

I always thought that the Brown Hackle Peacock had a red hackle fiber tail as compared to the red yarn on the Red Tag. (One of the naming vagaries being discussed on another thread)

Roadkill wrote:Dubbn,

I always thought that the Brown Hackle Peacock had a red hackle fiber tail as compared to the red yarn on the Red Tag. (One of the naming vagaries being discussed on another thread)

You are right. The flys I remember being Brown Hackle Peacock, as a kid, were tyed with red yarn/wool. The fly company selling the flys to my local sporting goods and hardware store (Coast to Coast) may have listed the name wrong. In doing so, they have added to my state of confusion for the past 20 years. No biggy the trout, grayling, and whitefish that I take with this bug dont care what it's name is.

Dubbn,
I am so glad you started this thread. Roger Fogg's book, WET FLY TYING AND FISHING, (Crowood, 2009), in the chapter "Soft-Hackled Flies (North-Country Flies, or 'Spiders'), on p. 130 has an excellent passage on this ancient lineage of closely related flies, including photos of the Coch-y-bondhu, Red Tag, and Treacle Parkin. The Treacle Parkin has a tag of yellow wool, but otherwise is identical to the Red Tag.

Fogg says that this clan of beetle imitations have names that include Bracken Clock (clock is an old North Country name for beetle), Marlow Buzz, Hazel Fly, Shorn Fly, and Red Clock. Ronalds' version of the Marlow Buzz combined a single strand of black-dyed ostrich herl with the peacock herl. Mike Harding shows variants with hackles of snipe, and the orange/peach-colored feather from the neck of a cock pheasant.

Leisenring's Brown Hackle is like the Coch-y-bondhu recipe published by Fogg, including the natural bronze herl, except that he uses claret instead of brown silk, and continues the gold tinsel tag as a rib. The Welsh term Coch-y-bondhu, according to Fogg, means a red furnace hen feather, with a dark list—which is what Leisenring's recipe calls for too. Leisenring said this was one of his most relied-upon flies. Fogg siad it is the secret weapon for times when the fishing is slow.

It looks like such a simple fly to tie, but I'm finding it devilishly difficult to get the spacing right on either side of the hackle. I am using too many wraps of thread to secure the herl and tinsel at the hackle (3 wraps each), but having had the tinsel escape once, I am skittish about using two wraps only. Must be doing something wrong. I also am driven to distraction by the tinsel that is silver on one side and gold on the other. I keep getting the silver side uppermost, when it is the gold I want.

Here is my tie:

Hook: 14 Kamasan B440 dry fly
Thread: Pearsalls Claret
Hackle: red furnace
Rib: gold tinsel
Body: Three strands natural bronze peacock herl (Thanks Mataura Mayfly!!)
You can see that I built up the thorax with a few extra turns of the herl rope.

This tie is still not what I want to achieve, but it's a lot better than the first ten tries.

The Red Tag is a fly I've always meant to tie, but never have. After seeing this thread, I am gonna have to try some of these flies I read about, and see photos of. Thanks.

Kelly L. wrote:The Red Tag is a fly I've always meant to tie, but never have. After seeing this thread, I am gonna have to try some of these flies I read about, and see photos of. Thanks.

This is my version Kelly. Easy tye, and really effective for me on rivers and lakes.

Kelly, the Red Tag and it's cousins in various forms is a fly you should tie and fish. It is fairly simple, but works well and has been proved through the centuries.

Lance, nice tie and use of some fancy looking herl there. It might just be me, but I would dispense with the body rib of tinsel or perhaps go with wire. The tinsel compresses and constricts the herl a little. Just my opinion and if you are trying to copy/ follow an old pattern please disregard!

Nobody has mentioned the Worm Fly yet. Harness two of these wee fellows together, the rear most fly snelled to the front one with a short piece of tippet (gut in the old days) at tying time and you have yourself a Worm Fly.

Jeff - I am curious about the name "Worm Fly". The way you describe it, makes me think this rig used to be baited with a worm. Is this correct?

Not that I believe Ray. It is one of those old British patterns that kind of got lost in the tying realm. I never heard of bait ever being aplied to the hooks, but who knows..... funny folk at times those Brit's!
I would have to check back through some books to find a reference, think it will be listed in John Veniard's Fly Dressers Guide or maybe Taverner's Fly Tying for Trout. Any older British book should refer at least to the pattern.
I do not think it was meant to imitate any insect or baitfish a such, but perhaps (as with our brown bettle here) good numbers of the beetles they are meant to imitate end up in or on the water at any given time. For a fish to see two beetles together may be a more inviting meal than a single beetle?

Don't ask me how they came up with the name though!

I have fished with a Red Tag a many number of times and have yet to catch one fish on it and I've kind of given up on this very popular fly here downunder. Maybe I'll try again with it one day but at the moment I have lost all confidence with it. To each their own