Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Partridge and Green



Hook:

14-18
Thread:

Green Pearsall’s gossamer thread
Body:

Tying thread
Thorax:

Black and brown hare’s face (optional)
Hackle:

Gray Partridge



In the first edition of The Soft-Hackled Fly (1975), Sylvester Nemes includes a Partridge and Green with and without a fur thorax. The original dressing, no. 2, calls for:

body: Green silk floss
hackle: Gray partridge,”

whereas the Partridge and Green and Fur Thorax is dressed

body: 2/3’s, green silk floss
thorax: Black and brown hare’s face
hackle: Gray partridge.”

Dave Hughes also includes the Partridge and Green in the first edition of Wet Flies (1995), attributing it to Nemes. He dresses it using

“Thread: Green Pearsall’s Gossamer silk.
Hackle: Gray Partridge.
Body: Working silk, or green Marabou silk floss.
Thorax: Hare’s mask fur, or #7 Hare’s Ear Plus, tan (thorax optional).”


This dressing follows Paul H. Young’s suggestion to use a dyed quill body, but substitutes a Blue Winged Olive dyed turkey biot for the body. It adds the hare's ear thorax that Hughes and Nemes recommend.



In Two Centuries of Soft-Hackled Flies (2004), Nemes attributes his first encounter with soft hackles to Paul H. Young, whose self-published book Making and Using the Fly and Leader (1938) includes a discussion of Partridge Spiders dressed in green, orange, and yellow. Young notes that the “Body may be ‘dubbed’ or made of dyed quill which is excellent.”






4 comments:

  1. Another favorite particularly in spring when the green/olive bodied caddis are on the water. I'm partial to the top dressing, myself. Nice work Neil!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mark - I've never really played with the biot-bodied dressing before

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  2. Neil I agree with Mark. That partridge and green is a staple, and for good reason.
    Lovely work.

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