Half Stone Nymph

[DOUGSDEN]

Donald and Dubbn,
I am sorry. I forgot to mention your patterns in the above thread. They are excellent also! My apologies to you both!
Dougsden

[gingerdun]

Dougsden,
I thought this string was done, and then along you come with this relevant information. I never have actually looked at Robson's book, but now I think I must.
My focus right now is to try to get an accurate, photographic record of the 28 patterns that Leisenring gave recipes for in THE ART OF TYING THE WET FLY. That has never been done. But then, I agree completely, these vintage tying formulas should be inspiration for building on the tradition, and not just for copying.

Thanks again for the quote, and the great post!

[letumgo]

Lance - I posted one of the patterns in Leisenring's book a while back (a pattern called the "Doctor Lyte Palmer"). This may be of use to you as a pattern comparison. There wasn't a picture of the pattern in the book, so this is my best interpretation of the pattern.

LINK: http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... yte#p24412

[gingerdun]

Ray,
Thanks for letting me see this. There's a lot on the forum I have never seen.
Your recreation of the pattern is terrific. But, it is different from what Leisenring and Hidy were tying. That doesn't mean that their vintage flies are better. But I happen to have a sample here of a Dr Lyte Palmer tied by either JL or PH, with a very different look. This is good illustration of why photographs are a useful addition to the recipes. (Your fly is the lower one with the green background, for visitors who hadn't seen the link.)

Lance

[letumgo]

Can you show a photo of the overall pattern? I would like to see the construction of the fly, as a whole.

[gingerdun]

The fly I have is not exactly like the one in the black and white illustration from one of the plates in the book—it doesn't have the larger hackle up front. Here is the version from the 1941 edition, which your construction matches pretty accurately. This black and white photo is from the original negative, not the terrible halftone in the book. The body segment that I posted earlier probably is a reliable indicator of how the "dingy-orange worsted wool" was incorporated into the body.

[letumgo]

Thanks Lance. One of the things that always strikes me with the older flies, it how far they used to tye into the bend of the hook. The tags were often well into the bend of the hook. This was also true of many older bucktail patterns. I seldom see this feature in modern versions of patterns. I love seeing the old flies.