Red Tag

[michaelgmcgraw]

For Seatrout or off colored water they would often put a nice big Maggot on the hook.

[Hans Weilenmann]

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!

Jeff,

When I tied up some worm flies for fishing a small lake in the north of England I had the back hook ride point up. Pretty wicked tandem, even on #16 hooks...

Cheers,
Hans W

[DUBBN]

I've gone 30 years without putting a Gold tag on the fly. I will leave my pattern well enough alone.

[Mataura mayfly]

True Hans, I forgot to mention that wee factor with the back hook riding upside down- or more downside up!
It is along the "Demon" and "terror" multi hooked patterns of tandem or triple single hooks that were fashionable in some British ties. The only reference I could find quickly was in Practical Fly Tying by T.R. Henn.

gig, where abouts down under are you? Cocky and Red tag make fair imitations when trout are feeding on the brown grass grub beetle or even blowflies at a pinch.

Dubbin, many tiers leave out the gold tag nowdays, does not seem to detract from the catch rate that I have noticed and I tie/ fish both depending on how lazy I feel on any given day at the vice. One thing I will add though is that over here bronze herl out fishes green herl pattern flies in leaps and bounds, probably because the lowlands I fish mainly have more brown beetle than the native undeveloped high country waters that have higher populations of the green Manuka beetle.

[DUBBN]

Dubbin, many tiers leave out the gold tag nowdays, does not seem to detract from the catch rate that I have noticed and I tie/ fish both depending on how lazy I feel on any given day at the vice. One thing I will add though is that over here bronze herl out fishes green herl pattern flies in leaps and bounds, probably because the lowlands I fish mainly have more brown beetle than the native undeveloped high country waters that have higher populations of the green Manuka beetle.

You sure have been a wealth of information on this matter, and I do appreciate it. As far as the color of the peacock herl goes, I am in the minority. Here on this board, in my western Colorado local, and even amongst my friends. Bronze herl is a curse to me. I want my herl as green as it can get. The Prince nymph, and Red Tag were patterns I tyed in both colors. The Green out performed the Bronze Seven ways to Sunday. My fishing buddies just shook their heads at me as they preferred the Bronze. I am so anti Bronze I traded all of mine for Green to a friend. Just goes to show, we all have our little quirks, but I seem to have the most.

Again, I have really enjoyed your accounts of the Red Tag, and the info you provided. Thank you sir,


Wayne

[hankaye]

DUBBIN, Howdy;

Question, When your friends that swear by the bronze hurl
tye their flys, do they include the tag (gold or silver) .... or not ?????

hank

[DUBBN]

DUBBIN, Howdy;

Question, When your friends that swear by the bronze hurl
tye their flys, do they include the tag (gold or silver) .... or not ?????

hank

They dont tie the red tag Hank. They like Bronze for Prince and PT nymph variations.

[redietz]

Dubbin, many tiers leave out the gold tag nowdays, does not seem to detract from the catch rate that I have noticed and I tie/ fish both depending on how lazy I feel on any given day at the vice.

For some reason, it does seem to detract for me. I'm not sure why, though.

One thing I will add though is that over here bronze herl out fishes green herl pattern flies in leaps and bounds, probably because the lowlands I fish mainly have more brown beetle than the native undeveloped high country waters that have higher populations of the green Manuka beetle.

One thing I've noticed is that, when wet, there isn't as much difference between green and bronze as you might think.

[Mataura mayfly]

That i interesting Bob, both in the gold tag and the difference when wet in the herl.
The bronze you use, is it genetic bronze or dyed/ sun bleached green? There in could lie the fact there is little difference. The bronze I have and have sent to a few forum members is from a genetic bronze bird and I see a good difference in it wet compared to green I have. Perhaps some of the forum members that have some bronze I have sent over can comment?
Wayne, my comments are nothing flash, just idol observations from a pretty average tier...... even more average fisher, but thiings will differ from hemisphere to hemisphere, river to river, state to state in what any given fish will take at any given time or season.
I have enjoyed seeing a post on a fly I have enjoyed both tying and fishing for as long as I have been trying both!

Jeff.

[Hans Weilenmann]

Likely most already know this, but peacock herl material is basically black. The color, green or bronze, we perceive is refractive light.

I believe this to mean is the following: as light diminishes, specifically light in the green and 'bronze' wavelengths - the deeper a pattern with peacock herl as a fly component is fished, the more it will show as its intrinsic black coloration.

What is your understanding?

Cheers,
Hans W