At the beginning of the l9th Century, when the skilful fly tyers of Limerick created the first full dressed fly for salmon, it was difficult to believe that their multi-coloured inventions could transform a sport so heavily anchored to such absurd and groundless rules, as fly fishing was at that time. These gaudy flies, richly dressed with every kind of dyed silks and feathers, met local opposition on the banks of many famous English and Scottish rivers. They were much derided, and often thought to act in a similar way to a scarecrow, frightening fish away rather than inducing them to take. Authoritative anglers, deep-rooted with tradition, were reluctant to accept such a gaudy style, and the fact that, with cynic snobbishness, it was termed "the Irish fly" compounded such animosity.This was not surprising when observed in context. This was an age in which knowledge of salmon fishing was mostly based on supposition, littered with notions about salmon behaviour (many fisherman, for example, thought that the fish, during its run up the river, continued to feed in the same way of the big brown trout), so the use of those colourful flies would have appear contrary to any reasonable logic. The salmon, considered to be a voracious hunter of the river, was allured with imitations of what the people of that time thought could be its favourite prey - big sedges, Mayflies and small fry. So the artificials commonly used until the beginning of the 1800 were characterised by dull colours similar to the little creatures present in the water. The elegance of these elaborate flies, however, did not take a long to fascinate a number of fishermen, perhaps "catching" them more than the fish themselves. This escalated in the Victorian age, into a form of fly-tying mania, and during this time time a high percentage of beautiful classic salmon flies were born; patterns which are still well known today.
The abundance of rare bird's feathers, coming from many British colonies worldwide, made it possible for fly dressers to give free vent to fantasy, and briefly it developed a fashion with aspects closer to art than to the game fishing. Not only this, a common trend of thought considered the efficacy of a salmon fly depended entirely on two factors: the precision with which the artificial was tied, and the quantity of precious materials included in its dressing. Perhaps, with this concept in mind, John Scott, an expert Tweedside gillie and skilful fly tyer, conceived in 1845 an extraordinary artificial, which became, in time, the most representative emblem of the full dressed fly's incredible complex and shining beauty: the Jock Scott.
History reveals that this fly was born on a ship bound for Norway from Scotland, on which John Scott embarked to accompany his employer, the homonymous Lord John Scott, on a fishing expedition. The Jock Scott fly had a successful baptism, and soon its popularity had reached waters all over the world, when many fishermen considered it one of the most effective, if not the best, artificial fly for the Atlantic salmon. The original dressing of this fly, the one made by John for the very first time and which he dedicated to his aristocratic friend Lord Scott, is the result of dogged enterprise, both for the incredible quantity of time that is required to dress it, and for the difficultly in obtaining the materials.
Today's frenetic pace of life - and apparent lack of time - means that to spend five, six or more hours in front of a vice for the purpose of building a small colourful object would appear to be complete madness. However, to succeed in this "adventure" is an incredibly satisfying experience, and afterwards we can continue to contemplate the results of our labours by framing the fly and displaying its full in beauty on the wall.
The abundance of rare bird's feathers, coming from many British colonies worldwide, made it possible for fly dressers to give free vent to fantasy, and briefly it developed a fashion with aspects closer to art than to the game fishing. Not only this, a common trend of thought considered the efficacy of a salmon fly depended entirely on two factors: the precision with which the artificial was tied, and the quantity of precious materials included in its dressing. Perhaps, with this concept in mind, John Scott, an expert Tweedside gillie and skilful fly tyer, conceived in 1845 an extraordinary artificial, which became, in time, the most representative emblem of the full dressed fly's incredible complex and shining beauty: the Jock Scott.
History reveals that this fly was born on a ship bound for Norway from Scotland, on which John Scott embarked to accompany his employer, the homonymous Lord John Scott, on a fishing expedition. The Jock Scott fly had a successful baptism, and soon its popularity had reached waters all over the world, when many fishermen considered it one of the most effective, if not the best, artificial fly for the Atlantic salmon. The original dressing of this fly, the one made by John for the very first time and which he dedicated to his aristocratic friend Lord Scott, is the result of dogged enterprise, both for the incredible quantity of time that is required to dress it, and for the difficultly in obtaining the materials.
Today's frenetic pace of life - and apparent lack of time - means that to spend five, six or more hours in front of a vice for the purpose of building a small colourful object would appear to be complete madness. However, to succeed in this "adventure" is an incredibly satisfying experience, and afterwards we can continue to contemplate the results of our labours by framing the fly and displaying its full in beauty on the wall.
INSTRUCTIONS
Clamp a blind eye hook into the vice and tie on the white thread, close to the pointed section of the shank. Use this thread to catch in a small loop of a slim twisted silk gut length (this will play the role of hook eye and is how eyes on hooks were formed many years ago). Then, binding down the roots of the twisted gut we wrap the thread down the hook shank and stop it on the bend at the point that is exactly over the barb
At the very top (12 o'clock position) of the hook bend tie in the end of a length of fine oval silver tinsel. But before fixing the tinsel end, strip off a short section of the metal that covers it, so only the core of the tinsel is tied down. In this way, when it is covered by the thread turns, it will not produce any bumps; make sure, however, that the last turn of thread catches the beginning of the metal section of the tinsel
Wrap the thread in touching turns to bring it back to the point of the hook bend which is exactly over the barb. Now make the tip, winding six or seven touching turns of tinsel around the hook shank, stopping at 6 o'clock (hanging vertically). Catch in with the thread then continue to cover the waste end of the tinsel, wrapping the thread until it is over the point
Cut off the waste end of the tinsel, then tie in a length of light yellow silk floss at six o'clock (underneath the shank), with two tight, touching turns then four open turns of thread. Make the tag with the silk, wrapping it first to the tip and then bringing it back to its fixing point, where we tie it at 6 o'clock (under the shank) after we have unwrapped the four open turns of thread
Cut off the waste ends of the tag material, then select two golden pheasant crest feathers of medium size with uniform and well marked bends. If these hackles are twisted or bent, we can remodel them by putting them under a hot water tap and then letting them dry over a rounded surface, e.g. a small drinking glass (this operation also works for the hackle that we will use for the wing cover). Strip off the downy barbs at the base of the two feathers, put the hackles on top of each other, lick your fingers and moisten them and tie them to the hook, fixing them directly in front of the tag, so that their tips extend upwards for a distance equivalent to one and a half times the hook gape
Next, tie a small Indian crow feather (or substitute) over the golden pheasant hackles, setting it with its bright side up
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Select a good black ostrich feather, snip off a herl which possesses very short barbs, and strip off the barbs at its base. Tie this in with the thread, over the fixing point of the tail
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Remove the waste ends of the feathers used for the tail. Wind the ostrich herl three or four times around a short stretch of the hook shank to make the fluffy butt, stopping at 6 o'clock, catch in and trim. Continue by tying in front of the butt the end of a small oval silver tinsel length at five o'clock (again, the tinsel end must be stripped to the core and fixed in a way that the last turn of the thread catches the beginningof the metal section). Thereafter, create a uniform underbody with the thread, wrapping it along the rear half of the hook ("half the hook" here means half that section taken from the butt to the point where the fly head will start). At this point, tie in the end of a golden yellow silk floss length at 6 o'clock (this will form the front of the body), in this case, the fixing operation is again carried out with two touching and then four open turns of thread
Now form the rear portion of the fly body by wrapping the yellow floss down to the butt and then back to the fixing point, where it is tied down after we have unwrapped the four open turns of the thread
Trim the excess floss. Then make five ribbing turns of the oval silver tinsel around the yellow body section
Now select six toucan feathers (or substitute). Cut off, with a good sharp pair of scissors, the downy soft barbs they have at the base. Tie them to the hook, putting three of them over and three under the yellow body portion, taking care that the points of their fibres extend a little beyond the butt and that their bright side is turned outwards
Now, another piece of black ostrich herl is tied in to produce a second butt around the anchor point of the toucan feathers. After that, tie in front of the new butt a length of fine silver twist, followed by one of narrow silver flat tinsel, tying both of them in at the five o'clock position
Take a long black cock hackle with fibres a little shorter than the hook gape; catch its base in hackle pliers kept in the right hand and tension it by pulling its tip with the left hand fingers. Moisten the thumb and the index finger of the right hand and smooth the hackle fibres, pulling them perpendicular to the quill. This "doubles" the hackle which makes for neater, easier and better palmer and throat hackles
The hackle is tied in by its point at the side of the fine silver lace twist. Then create a uniform underbody along the front half of the hook shank with the thread, stopping it a few millimetres before the gut eye
With the same technique described at point 9, we prepare the front body section of the Jock Scott, this time using a length of black silk floss
The black body part complete, make five ribbing turns with the flat tinsel, followed by the silver twist. For a good result, trace the twist perfectly along the left edge of the flat tinsel spirals. Both the ribbing materials must be caught in under the hook shank (six o'clock)
Cut off the waste ends of the black floss, flat tinsel, and fine twist, and make the palmer hackle, wrapping the black hackle behind the ribbing turns, taking care to ensure the hackle quill touches the fine twist, but without crossing it. Now, clear the upper part of the shank by using tweezers to tear off one at time those palmer hackle fibres on top of the body
Select a guinea fowl feather which has a very slim quill and fibres a little longer than the hook gape. Strip off the soft, downy barbs that it has at its base, and double it following the instructions described at point 13. Before tying in, change the thread, catching in the white one with a black one and trim off the white. Tie in by the tip, putting it a little forward of the front of the body
Wind the guinea fowl around a short stretch of the hook shank to create a narrow collar. Cut off the waste end of the quill, separate the feather fibres at the top and, with the left hand fingers, pull them down and back, arresting them in this position with some turns of the black thread
From a pair of white-tipped black turkey tail feathers, cut two opposing segments of fibres of a width of 6 or 7 mm. N.B. their width is determined by the dimension of the hook (the hook shown is a size 4/0). Put the two feather sections back to back and tie them on, exactly over the fixing point of the throat hackle. To prevent these wings from rolling or splitting, tie them down using a pinch-and-loop technique. If this does not produce a good result at the first attempt, release the thread pressure and try again
From the feathers of peacock wing; yellow, scarlet and blue swan (or sub.); speckled bustard (or sub.); florican bustard (or sub.); and golden pheasant tail, cut four fibres from each and marry them by putting their edges together and smoothing with the fingers to interrlock the tiny hooked barbs that run along each fibre. To build the left wing (that one which will appear turned towards us on the hook), take the fibre strips from the left side of the feathers, and vice versa for the right wing. This process is easier if the golden pheasant strips are cut with the quill still attached
Having built the wings, tie them on to straddle the underwing (repeating the pinch-and-loop operation), taking care to see that their ends just touch the tail point of the fly. We complete this step by applying a tiny drop of clear varnish on the thread turns that hold the wings in place
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Now, from opposite peacock sword feathers, cut two long barbs and set them along the side at the top edge of the wings. As shown in the photo, all the waste ends of the feathers are not cut off yet
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From the feathers of barred woodduck, teal flank and bronze mallard shoulder cut the fibre strips to be used for making the wing veilings and roofing: do this by cutting the quill, do not cut the fibres themselves. The width of each strip should be equivalent to the width of a single main wing strip
Using the same technique as used with the married strips, compose the wing veilings by assembling the barred woodduck and the teal flank segments together. Set these at the side of each wing, so their points extend backwards to reach a point directly above the first ostrich butt
Place the bronze mallard strips along the top of the wing as roofing. This operation can be particularly difficult, and to make it easier some authors suggest using micro drops of liquid wax to keep the individual fibres bound together
At this point, tie a jungle cock hackle over each wing veiling: the point of these hackles must reach the first bar of the barred woodduck strip. After that, apply the cheeks, setting a small blue chatterer feather (or substitute) over the middle/lower stretch of each jungle cock hackle. Complete this tying step by applying a tiny drop of clear varnish over the thread turns that keep all the feather roots in place
Select from a golden pheasant crest a long hackle. Remodel it if necessary, with the same technique described at point 5, and, with tweezers, crimp its quill, then strip off all the fibres which are below this crimp. The crimp must be made exactly at the point which the hackle will be tied to the hook: this point is pre-determined by placing the hackle along the top edge of the wing and letting its tip just touch the point of the tail
Now use a razor blade to trim away all the waste ends of the feathers used for the wing, and tie at 12 o'clock the golden pheasant crest hackle. Before tying down the hackle, trim off nearly all the quill which is below the crimp point to leave just a millimetre or so for fixing with the thread
Now, for the horns, choose from the opposite sides of a blue and yellow macaw tail feather select two long fibres and tie them at the side of the wings, placing them in a way that they cover the middle stretch of the wing veilings and their points extend a little beyond the tail
Trim the excess material and with turns of the black thread, compose the Jock Scott head, aiming to give it a bullet shape, and whip finish. The head of the fly can be covered now with two coats of black varnish, one applied a day after the other
MATERIALS LIST
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HOOK: blind eye classic salmon hook
EYE: twisted silk worm gut THREAD: white for the body, black for the wings TAG: extra fine oval silver tinsel and golden yellow floss TAIL: toppings and Indian crow BUTT: black ostrich herl BODY: in two equal halves, the first half, golden yellow floss butted with black herl and veiled above and below with six or more toucan feathers; second half, black floss RIBBING: fine oval silver tinsel over the yellow floss, flat silver tinsel and twist over the black floss HACKLE: a black cock hackle over the black floss THROAT: speckled gallina UNDERWINGS: a pair of black white tipped turkey tail strips back to back WINGS: married strands of peacock wing, yellow, scarlet, and blue swan, speckled bustard, florican bustard and golden pheasant tail; two strands of peacock sword feather above; married narrow strips of teal and barred summer duck at the sides and brown mallard over SIDES: jungle cock CHEEKS: blue chatterer, a topping over all HORNS: blue and yellow macaw |
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