FLYMPH FORUM

Hook: Unknown #4 6XL
Thread: Red Uni #6
Body: Plastic tubular "craft string", gold colour with round tinsel inside.
Throat: Strands stripped from organza ribbon
Wing: 2 X yellow hackle feathers with furnace hackle over
1st Hackle: Dyed yellow Indian cock
2nd Hackle: Furnace

Wow, one of my favorite Streamers and tyed so very well! Way to go!

Gorgeous!
I can never get the wing to stand to attention like that. I'm envious.

Kirk

Thanks Wayne, I am not entirely sure what the original is supposed to look like so I am pleased you recognised it!

Kirk, I have always been a bit fascinated by American style streamers, but have never been able to make them look "right". That and the fact I am of Scottish ancestry and never bothered to get the correct materials to tie one off's of many different patterns and made do with what I had. This pattern is fairly simple, compared to a Stevens type. Biggest problem I have had with wings for them is feathers with soft floppy stems, or feathers with a preformed bend/twist in the stem. No matter what I tried I found it pretty hard to have a good looking wing with substandard materials to start with.
I guess it helps not to have to much of a step between the body ending and the wing tie in spot. I tied the pair of yellow in and then the furnace to each side, holding the feathers between thumb and forefinger of my left hand making sure the feathers were in the correct position and square off the shank then wrapped up the stem toward the feather barbs, rather than my usual starting at the base of the barbs and down toward the eye. Maybe that helped?
I am a real novice when it comes to these, but that is how I did this one.

That is a wonderful combination of colors, Jeff, and the whole thing is very well put together for someone who professes to be a novice at tying hackle wing streamers. As for assembling the wing, I have learned recently from a friend of mine that Carrie Stevens actually pre-assembled her streamer wings, using rubber cement to glue pairs of hackle feathers together and tacking on the shoulder and cheek components prior to the final mounting. I have tried that technique, and although it takes some getting used to, it does make certain aspects of wing construction easier, such as getting the centerlines of the various feather components lined up properly.

Here is a Carrie Stevens pattern called "White Ghost" that I tied using the pre-assembly technique:

Great flies guys. Here is another Rangeley streamer the Gray Ghost that I tied a few years ago without the Stevens style wing assembly.

Nice change of pace to see some streamers on the Wingless Wet Fly site, especially when they are as finely-crafted as these. It is a good reminder of the range of tying ability among our members that we rarely see because of the limited scope of the forum. Thanks to Jeff, Bill S., and Bill L.!
William and I sat next to Bruce Corwin at the Arts of the Angler show. Now there's a wonderful artist with an out-of-sight tying repertoire. I have a degree of arachnophobia, so his spiders (the Black Widow kind) were giving me the willies.

Lance

Could I have started a mutiny and turned us into "streamers list"?

Very nice looking Grey/White Ghost ties guys. One I have tried, but will NOT be posting photos of. I am lucky enough to have a very nice Silver Pheasant skin, so you may see one yet.

tie 2 fish, I had read of Carries pre-assembled wings, good idea for a production line and would speed things up for multiple ties. I didn't think it would be worth it for one-off examples, but you might be on to something there.
Definitely a novice, I possibly have more fingers than successful American Streamer pattern ties to my name!

MM,

From what I understand the Stevens wing assembly had a positive effect on how the streamers worked in the water . Something I haven't tested yet.

OH MY! Lovely streamers.

Jeff - Your a natural with these. You may want to check out the Classic Fly Tying forum or the Streamer List forum if you're interested in this style.