Wren

Wren

Tail - Gray mallard 

Tip - Yellow silk

Ribbing -Yellow silk

Body - Light gray floss

Hackle - Brown 

Wing - Brown mallard

Trout - Ray Bergman

Yellow Dun

Yellow Dun

Ribbing - Yellow silk

Body - Gray fur

Hackle -Yellow

Wings - Brown mallard

Trout - Ray Bergman

Dorset

Dorset

Tail - Furnace hackle tips *

Body - Green floss

Hackle - Light brown furnace

Wing - Teal

Trout - Ray Bergman

Don Bastian Note

* Dr. Burke’s detail-oriented paintings reveal that the tail ingredient of ‘furnace hackle’ on the Dorset in the original written recipe listing (normally fibers) is clearly represented as hackle tips on the painting. See the Adirondack, where the tail recipe actually specifies hackle tips, even though Dr. Burke’s painting of that fly shows a tail of hackle fibers. The hackle tip tail adds a unique element and character to both the Adirondack and the Dorset.

Heckham Red

Heckham Red

Tip - White floss 

Tail - Turkey brown 

Ribbing - Gold tinsel

Body - Scarlet floss

Hackle - Brown hen

Wings - Bittern or light brown mottled turkey

Trout - Ray Bergman

Ukraine

Ukraine

Thread - White

Tip - Gold tinsel

Tail - Blue over yellow duck quill

Ribbing - Blue uni stretch

Body - Yellow uni stretch

Throat - Blue over yellow hen hackle

Wing - Blue over yellow duck quill

Head - Blue and yellow sharpie marker

Martin

Martin

Tag - Gold tinsel *

Tail - Yellow and black – married **

Ribbing - Gold tinsel

Body - Yellow floss

Hackle - Deep yellow

Wing - Widgeon or gray mallard ***

Trout - Ray Bergman

Don Bastian Notes

* The gold tinsel tag is not listed in the Trout recipe, but it is visible on the color plate.

** The written recipe for the tail is ‘yellow and black-alternate.’ Differing from the usual listing for a married tail, Dr. Burke’s painting indicates a separation at the end of the tail, revealing a married tail of yellow and black with left and right sides.

*** The wing may also be teal.

Governor Alvord

Governor Alvord

Tail - Dark scarlet

Body - Peacock herl*

Hackle - Brown

Wing - Slate married to cinnamon*

Trout - Ray Bergman

Don Bastian Note

* The Governor Alvord has the unique status of being the only peacock herl-bodied fly in all of Ray Bergman’s books with a married wing. When two colors are listed for a married wing as on the Governor Alvord the sections are normally equal in width.

Golden Girl

Golden Girl

Roderick Haig-Brown, 1940s

Tip - Gold oval tinsel (fine) 

Tag - Orange silk 

Tail - Golden pheasant crest 

Body - Gold flat tinsel

Hackle: Yellow 

Wing - Orange polar bear hair*, two golden pheasant tippet feathers 

Topping - Golden pheasant crest

*I used orange bucktail

Classic Steelhead Flies - John Shewey

The preeminent British Columbia fly-angling historian, Arthur Lingren, produced two editions of Fly Patterns of British Columbia, one of several titles he has released through Frank Amato Publications. The original edition found a waiting audience in 1996, and then in 2008, Lingren again demonstrated his grasp of historical research methodology in an expanded edition timed to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Roderick Haig-Brown, the pioneering, British-born angler who fell in love with the waters of British Columbia and penned some of fly angling’s most poignant and powerful words. Lingren’s expanded volume was subtitled The Roderick Haig-Brown Centenary Edition and it is replete with captivating details about Haig-Brown and other prominent fly designers of British Columbia. 

Of the Golden Girl, Lingren informs the reader that Haig-Brown devised this fly chiefly for winter steelhead; he wanted a simple fly dressed in shades of red and orange that would bear some resemblance to the ornate feather wing Atlantic salmon flies he knew so well from his British upbringing. “The pattern Haig-Brown developed,” explains Lingren, “was a combination of the slim-bodied Red Sandy and the golden pheasant tippet-winged Durham Ranger without many of the frills.” 

Lingren notes that the original dressing had a tail made from the small red feather of the Indian fruit crow (a South American bird of the Cotinga family), but that eventually Haig-Brown opted instead for a golden pheasant crest feather (a “topping,” to use the Atlantic salmon parlance) for the tail. Indeed, the topping-tailed version is the familiar pattern, though the fly looks nothing short of riveting when the golden pheasant crest tail is itself topped with a layer of fruit crow feathers or substitutes, such as small, scarlet-dyed hen neck feathers or likewise dyed golden pheasant throat feathers. In later versions, Haig-Brown also included a tag of orange silk, which is made all the more lustrous if underlain and tipped with flat tinsel. As evidence to that variation, Walt Johnson (in the 1990s) supplied me with copies of steelhead fly recipes submitted to the Washington Fly Fishing Club in the 1950s and 60s, including a page of patterns submitted by Haig-Brown. 

For the Golden Girl, Haig-Brown specifies a tag of orange silk, and says of the fly, “This is primarily a winter steelhead fly. Have also taken cutthroats and summer steelhead on it in sizes down to No. 8.” The other flies he included are the Quinsam Hackle, Silver Brown, and Stickle-Back.

Loyalsock

 

Loyalsock

Body - Pale yellow floss

Hackle - Black

Wing - Black

Trout - Ray Bergman

Widow

 

Widow

Ribbing - White silk

Body - Black silk floss

Hackle - Black 

Wing - Black with white stripe

Trout - Ray Bergman

Waters

 

Waters

Tag - Gold tinsel

Tail - Scarlet tuft

Body - Peacock herl

Hackle - Black or dark grizzly

Wing - Slate goose

Head - White ostrich herl

Waters (fabri-mouches.ca)

Extended Body Grannom Caddis

Extended Body Grannom Caddis 

Balloon Caddis Variant

Hook - Curved or straight shank

Thread - Gray

Body and Thorax Cover - Grey closed cell foam 

Wing - Deer hair 

Thorax - Grey dubbing

From a Davie McPhail Video

Soo Nipi

Soo Nipi

Hook - Mustad Heritage

Thread - Black

Tag - Gold tinsel

Ribbing - Gold tinsel

Body - Black silk floss

Hackle - Light blue

Wing - White

Trout - Ray Bergman

Lake Green

Lake Green

Hook - Mustad Heritage

Thread - white under floss body, black head

Ribbing - Insect green silk (floss)

Body - Yellow floss

Hackle - Light ginger

Wing - Teal

Trout - Ray Bergman

Kate

Kate

Hook - Mustad Heritage

Thread - White under body floss, black head

Tail - Golden pheasant tippet

Ribbing - Gold tinsel

Body - Scarlet and yellow floss

Hackle - Black

Wing - Cinnamon "Orpington"

Trout - Ray Bergman

The color plate shows a gold tag, but it is not listed in the recipe

Fish Hawk

Fish Hawk

Hook - Mustad Heritage

Thread - Black

Tail - Brown mottled turkey

Ribbing - Brown silk (floss) twisted into a rope

Body - Gold tinsel

Hackle - Brown

Wing - Brown mottled turkey, jungle eye

Trout - Ray Bergman

LA ET VOILÀ

LA ET VOILÀ 

(There You Have) Google translation

Bernard Parisien

Rear Hook - Mustad Heritage S80, #6

Thread - Red

Ribbing - Silver tinsel

Body - Blue tinsel

Connecting wire - Beadalon .018 diameter

Front hook - Mustad 9672, #2

Thread - Red

Ribbing - Silver tinsel

Body - Blue tinsel

Belly - White bucktail over silver colored flashabou

Wing - Dark blue bucktail over strands of blue krystal flash

Topping - Peacock herl

Eyes - Painted black over white

LA ET VOILÀ (fabri-mouches.ca)

Golden Rod

Golden Rod

Tag - Gold tinsel

Tail - Scarlet fibers

Butt - Peacock herl

Ribbing - Oval gold tinsel

Body -- Orange seal’s fur or substitute

Hackle - Orange

Wing - A pair of Jungle cock body feather

Wet Flies - Ken Sawada

Golden Rod

Tip - None*

Tail - Crimson quill sections

Butt - Peacock herl*

Ribbing - Gold tinsel

Body - Orange floss

Hackle: Orange

Wing - Jungle cock eye

Don Bastian Note

*The peacock herl butt is listed under ‘tip’ in the written recipes. There is no tip on the Golden Rod but I believe the appearance of this fly could be enhanced by the addition of a gold tinsel tip.

Trout - Ray Bergman

Silver Invicta

Silver Invicta

Hook - Mustad Heritage

Thread - Brown or black

Tail - Golden Pheasant Crest 

Rib - Silver Wire 

Body - Uni- Mylar Silver Body 

Hackle - Natural Red (Brown) Cock 

Throat - Blue Jay Fibers 

Wing - Hen Pheasant Quill

From a Davie McPhail Video

Jock Scott

Jock Scott

Tail - Golden pheasant crest and short scarlet tuft

Ribbing - Silver tinsel

Body - Rear ½ yellow floss, front ½ black floss

Hackle - Guinea fowl fibers

Wing - Blue, yellow, scarlet, & white-tipped turkey – married; peacock sword topping, jungle cock eye 

Trout - Ray Bergman