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Glasso Orange Heron

4K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  striblue 
#1 ·
Ok, think I finally managed to get an OK picture (will keep trying to get a better pic in the next few days).

Finally got my hands on some blue eared pheasant and thought I would try an orange heron. Promised myself to learn how tie speys this winter and I am slowly getting it. Still working on getting a small head on the fly. One of these days...

Hook: Nickel Alec Jackson Spey
Tag: None
Rib: Flat silver tinsel counter ribbed with small oval tinsel
Hackle: Blue Eared pheasant
Throat: Teal
Wing: Four hot orange hackle tips
Head: Red
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Honeymoon's Over! :>) Sean is back.

Just kidding; keep the honeymoon going and you'll have a long happy marriage. She's the greatest gift you could every get; 'handle with care.' More years ago than you've been around, an old fellow gave me a great bit of advise: "Take turns loosing your sense of humor." Not your turn: appoligize. Period. End of lesson.

A ps: Joan and I have been together for 20 years ... that's after I had a marrage of well over 20 years. I think about her at the office and still crack a grin. Maybe why I call her the "JoanMeister." Has this 'Old Pony' well tethered.

By the way:

Great tie.
fae
 
#4 ·
Sean,

Use a smaller neck feather for the wings, it will have a marked improvement in the lay of the wing and the streamlined effect a spey fly should have. A smaller feather (the small ones at the very top of the neck are best) will help you to produce a smaller head because the stem is finer. Also, the wing should be shorter, gbarely longer than the body of the fly.

An another tip is to strip off half of the teal feather before tying it in. this allows you to make two or three full turns of the teal without having too much of it. This had the added bonus of having less bulk at the tie off point of the teal; thus, also helping to produce a smaller head.

A floss with a more true orange color should be used, it looks like you used "flame orange". The best floss I have found for this fly is UNI Orange Strecth Nylon.

The body should start in front of the hook point on a spey fly. If you ever get the chance to see a Glasso tied fly or see a copy of Knox's book "Autumns on the Spey", you will readily see that the tags and bodies are started in front of the hook point by about the with of the barb. This allows you to have the classic "hump-shaped wing" of the spey fly. It was Dee flies that started the bodies above the hook point.

Lastly, the ribbing was changed by Glasso in the mid-60's to simply 5 turns of medium oval silver tinsel with no flat tinsel beside it.

Overall, this is not a bad fly. You are well on the way to tying very nice speys. Glad to see you used the nickel Aleck Jackson Spey Hook on it. Not needing to tie in an underbody of silver tinsel makes tying the fly easier and quicker without detracting from it at all.
 
#5 ·
Awesome. Thanks for the tips. Since this was my first real try I was hoping to get some feedback. I really appreciate it.

I am fond of the nickel hooks. I like the fact you can skip the tinsel underbody. One less thing to worry about and it does improve the tying time. Plus I am a sucker for anything silver.

Having trouble locating the stretch nylon you mention. Will try another shop this weekend.

Thanks again and will be posting some more in the coming weeks as I work on refining my technique.

-sean
 
#7 ·
That fly will definitely fish well, a fine tribute to a truly great tyer.

Imagine a principal from Forks WA earning such respect and admiration from the whole fly tying world! In the Bates book, my favorite color plates in the whole book are those from Glasso.

Awesome job Sean, tie me up a dozen for my next visit :devil:
 
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