Doug's Duns

[letumgo]

Wayne - You couldn't give Doug a better compliment than tying and fishing his patterns. Bravo! Damn those look "fishy"! (sincere compliment)

[DOUGSDEN]

Good morning all!
Our pal Bill let me know that there has been a minor stirr about the flymphs he posted for me! Thank you each and everyone for the fine compliments! And thank you Bill for being a great photographer and a real friend (more than I deserve)!
The receipes will have to wait for a day or two. I haven't been home much the last couple of days. No, Mrs. Dougsden didn't kick me out - but it's getting close!
Wayne, the hooks I used on the Dun flymphs are Mustads # 94842 - the great up eye dryfly hook that they now call the R50U. I bought a few hundred of them recently in various sizes. I am really starting to like the look of the finished fly on these irons along with the eerie sense of history that comes along with tying these fish magnets. The spirit of Pete Hidy speaks everytime a hook is set to the jaws of the vice.
Willowhead, thank you for your generous offer of hooks but for right now my supplies are pretty good! I really appreciate the offer! Speaking of other hooks, when I first started tying these patterns (flymphs), I didn't have the Mustad #94842's so I used TMC's #9300. In many ways it's a total opposite of the 94842's. Heavier wire, down eye, different bend, etc. But, it really makes a great looking flymph in a differing sort of way! I still tie some patterns on the 9300's just for posterity I suppose and my little speckled darlings from all over my fishing world seem to respond to them just as they always have. I now have options with the addition of the 94842's into my arsenal of overstuffed fly boxes in that each hook style fishes differently in the water column both in still waters and in streams.
Tomorrow (Wed.) is a day off for me and an 80% chance of rain hangs over my head. I will post the the reciepes then. Once again, thanks to everyone for all the great comments and encouragement. It sinks into the heart and lets me know that my work is indeed very much appreciated by the greatest tiers and fishers the world has ever seen!
Your Pal,
Dougsden

[willowhead]

Guys, read directly above this first.....it's much more important. Doug, i made up your package last night.....so it's to late now. .....a rough estimate is somewhere between 200 and 300 hooks.....i didn't count. Bunch of different brands, styles, and finishes.....all wet fly and nymph hooks. Sizes range from bout 18 to 4.......again a rough estimate.........shoot my an addy. Have some fun......my treat.

[DUBBN]

I have a few of those hooks.

[DOUGSDEN]

Dubbn,
Wow! I like it! There is something about the color gray in the body of a flymph topped with either a very near gray or grayish-blue hen hackle! It really "kills well" (as our pals in Britain say....or used to say) on my local yocals. I can't think of any insect (with the exception of one perhaps which is way smaller than our immitations) that looks in any way, shape, form, or color like the series of gray flymphs! Like the March Brown, one of flyfishings big mysteries!
Receipes tomorrow for the two flymphs that Bill posted for me! Thanks for your patience!
Sleepy D.

[letumgo]

Rest well Doug. I hope you dream up some new flymphs.

[hankaye]

Dougsden, Howdy;

I have been remiss in my attentions, I appoligize. Those are a pair of beautiful flys that were posted.
You are lucky to have a photog. to do them up for you Bill does an excellent job of showing your work off to thier best...


DUBBIN, Howdy;

What's in the mix in that ghosty lookin' fly ??? It is gettin' near All Hallow's Eve ......

hank

[willowhead]

That's a BEAUTY Wayne.....just "fits" that hook perfectly. Very well done..........

Doug..... .....

[DOUGSDEN]

Good morning Ladies and Gents,
First off, Wayne.....Excellent looking flymph that you posted! I esp. like the way you handle dubbing and shape the body of your patterns. I had a great conversation recently with our pal Bill (tie2fish) about setting out (me) to try and solidify each step and procedure in making a flymph. There are many ways to bring together each component of this wonderful fly from the tail to the final head wraps and we all have our own particular way of doing each of these steps. I like the way you do the most important, at least on a flymph, step which is the body and it's contribution to the overall fantastic look of the fly. It is very "buggy" and very alive looking which is what we are all striving for....to please our finny friends below the waters surface. Good job friend!
Yes, I owe a great deal to our friend Bill S. for photographing my patterns! He does it so willingly and with such perfection. Thanks friend! You do good things!
Did someone ask for receipes? Well, here they are. I hope you don't mind the additional commentary!

Dun Flymph
Hook: First choice, Mustad #94842 or the more recent R50U. In looking them over closely, the R50U seems a more quality product than the 94842. Their proportions are nearly the same.
Thread: I have been using Uni-Products Uni-thread in Iron Gray esp. on the smaller sizes #14 and #16. On the larger sizes, Danvilles 6/0 lite gray. Yes, quite a contrast in colors but, it is working out pretty good.
Body: Here's the kicker. Everyone in America has their preference in the furs used for bodies on flymphs. I have settled on Hareline Dubbin's Sheared and Blended Muskrat with Antron. It is an extremely fine dubbing which fits better with the loop method of dubbing that I like. I still use the Clark spinning block and store away some bodies but on this pattern (and in the smaller sizes, this fur and method seemed to work best. I still stuggle with shaping and control of bodies on most every other pattern as well!
Rib: Fine silver wire
Tail: a few fibers from the base of the hacle feahter used or from a spade feather from the same hen cape.

[DOUGSDEN]

Continuing on.....
Hackle: Bill S. and I have had some really good discussions on this subject. The best description I can give is his terminology....."progressive taper". Forgive me Bill if I have misquoted you on this. If you pull off a feather from a #1 grade hen cape, you will see that it looks more and more like a feather from a rooster neck. Longer than they used to be and a fairly even barb length from bottom to top. The feather that I like to use comes from a #2 neck (which is getting harder to find these days!) with the barbs being longer at the bottom for about a third of the way up and shorter in length near the top. When the feather is attached "by the stump" at the begining of the process (as found in Dave Hughes great work Wetflies) and wound backwards thru the thorax at the end, it gives the fly a unique look. The first wrap or two of hackle toward the eye of the hook has longer fibers sweeping backwards toward the bend. The other 3-4 wraps (be conservative, it looks better) have shorter barb lengths again sweeping backwards gracefully toward the bend of the hook and somewhat haloing the fur body when wet. It is a hard thing to achieve and getting harder as time goes on. I am speaking for myself of course. When I started tying these patterns years ago, it seemed easier and I was more consistant in getting "the look" that I wanted. To me, this is the high ideal of what a flymph should look like.
Remember a while back there was some discussion about where and how the hackle should be placed on a std. flymph pattern? There was some very good opinions posted for each method of hackling. The "look" and it's method that I described above obviously covers the "spreading the hackle out over the front one third of the fly" school of thought! I tie alot of other patterns with the "all the turns of hackle at the head of the fly" method and their taking qualities are just as great! Look at the Green Beasty posted above!
And with this, form a small, neat head, whip finish and coat it with your favorite head cement! Green Beasty receipe coming later. I'm exhausted.
Dougsden