I recently became the owner of Blacker's, "The Art of Fly Making". Reading the book and gazing at the color plates I became somewhat impressed with the Spirit flies. And so 1 thought I would dress the second Spirit fly listed in the book. I read through the dressing listed and quickly discovered that it would be a much more difficult task than first anticipated. The difficulty was more so in trying to decipher the pattern than with actually tying the fly.

Blacker listed 15 salmon flies in his book. Two were actually named "Spirit fly," which are the first and third patterns listed. If you have ever read Blacker's "The Art of Fly Making," you'll quickly notice that Blacker was not very good at describing how to dress flies. Kevin McKenna, in the introduction of the Flyfisher's Classic Library edition, described it as either deliberate obfuscation, or lack of literary skill. In either case, it results in the flies described by Blacker being extremely difficult to dress.

Maybe much has to do with the patterns listed, and the corresponding artist renditions. It seems Blacker listed the dressings as one would list them from memory without first organizing their thoughts. Maybe, he had other things on his mind, like landing a 20 pounder. Or, perhaps, he listed them as one would organize the materials before one started to dress the fly. Or then again, McKenna was right in that it was deliberate obfuscation. Perhaps, to ensure no one would copy his patterns?

To illustrate the problem here is the No 3 salmon fly pattern as written in Blacker's own words: "The wings are made of the following mixtures of feathers, each side of the wings to be alike: brown mallard, bustard, and wood duck; a topping, scarlet macaw, teal, golden pheasant neck feather, a strip of yellow macaw, and feelers of blue and yellow tail; a head of black ostrich; the tail to be a topping, mixed with green and red parrot tail; body is composed of joints, first a tip of silver, a tag of morone floss, a tag of black, a joint of brown, green, and brown-red hackle, puce and red, green and yellow, blue and orange, with a tip of gold tinsel at each joint, a very small red hackle, and two red toucan feathers round the shoulder, and blue kingfisher's feather on each side of the wings.

After reading through the pattern, I quickly became confused. What color is the floss and what color are the hackles? And, did I misread something, or is the tag two colors morone and black? I referred to the plate showing the No.3 "Spirit Fly" actually referred to as "Another of the Spirit Flies that kill so well in the rivers of .Ireland and Scotland," and it was not like what was described. The tail veiling was barred woodduck, not the mixed green and red parrot listed. In an effort to try and find a better description to reference for the dressing, I searched through PryceTannett, Kelson, and Hale, and only found one reference to Spirit flies. That reference was in Hale, however, he listed two Spirit flies. One was a Red Spirit fly and the other was just a Spirit fly. Neither of these seemed to be close to the pattern listed by Blacker.

I searched through Mikael Frodin's, Classic Salmon Flies, History and Patterns and found even more confusion. Frodin listed three Spirit flies, appropriately named No. 1, No.2, and No.3. After reading through the three patterns listed by Frodin, it seems he listed the second Blacker's pattern as a "Spirit Fly".

Blacker made no reference to the second salmon fly as a "Spirit Fly". He provided no name for the fly. Actually he described the pattern and simply referenced the fly to one that "is about as fine a specimen of a salmon fly as ever was thrown into the water, and will kill salmon and grilse". If that is not a fisherman's description, I do not know what is. He simply referred to the fly like any fisherman would a more modem day pattern. Perhaps, as a fisherman would explain any other favorite "emerger" pattern.

Frodin did, however, make some sense of what he calls the No.3 Spirit Fly, and after reading through Frodin's interpretation of the third Blacker's pattern it seems to make more sense now looking back at Blacker's pattern. Here is the pattern for Blacker's "second" Spirit Fly as interpreted by Frodin. Listed as the No3. Spirit Fly by Frodin.

Tag: Silver tinsel and morone silk

Tail: A topping mixed with green and red parrot tail

Butt: Black Berlin wool or ostrich herl

Body: Divided in four equal parts of silk, first puce, red, green and yellow, finally blue and orange dyed silk. Between sections a few turns of gold tinsel are tied in, plus a hackle. The colors of the hackle should be first brown, followed by green and finally puce.

Throat: A very small red cock's hackle, and two red toucan feathers

Wings: Golden pheasant tippets, bustard, wood duck, teal, scarlet macaw, yellow macaw, brown mallard and a topping

Sides: Blue kingfisher

Horns: Blue and yellow tail feathers (macaw)

Head: Black ostrich herl

The first step I like to do when dressing a salmon fly is lay out all the materials. For this pattern I would use the followings substitutes:

Tail: for the red and green parrot, use red and green goose shoulder

Wing: for the bustard use a finely mottled natural turkey tail, for the yellow and red macaw use white turkey tail dyed yellow and red.

Throat: just use a two red cock hackles one small and the other sized to be appropriate for the hook gape.

The only question I had relating to materials was what color is "Puce?" A quick look through a dictionary indicated that it is a color of a "purplish brown." To simply things a dark purple is a very nice color and is the one I selected for the fly. You may wish to search for such a color, or use a dark brown. I like dark purple in some of the steelhead patterns I dress, so purple seemed appropriate for this fly.

After collecting all the materials it is best to start with the wing. I fashion the wing first, then select the appropriate hook for the task. I find that the completed fly looks "balanced" when you fashion the wing and then select the hook, rather than the other way around. Blacker took this to the extreme though in his book. He provided some instructions and a plate or two on how to easily dress a plain salmon fly. I would not recommend it. Basically, you start at the head and work back words. Specially, mount the wing the reverse way and work your way back to the tail. I do not think one could actually dress a fly in this manner. But, it would be interesting to try. Perhaps, on a snowy night in July I will try this.

For the wing on this fly you can simply cut a strip of the three different colors of turkey tail and golden pheasant and marry the four components and be done with it. But, the finished fly will look somewhat plan, particularly when you consider the complexity of the body. So to provide some "artist balance," I would recommend a somewhat more intricate wing.

The wing pattern I like is tedious, but nice when complete. I like a single barb of each color of turkey that repeats six times. I started the wing with a single barb of red, then yellow, then the mottled turkey. This pattern is repeated six times resulting in a wing that is 18 total barbs. Next marry 6 barbs of golden pheasant to the top of the alternating red, yellow and mottled turkey and you have a very nice looking wing that is 24 barbs high. I know I did not go into much detail in marrying the single fibers. I will refer you to an earlier article, in the April 1998 issue of the Flyer by Wayne Luallen on the subject. Wayne, has explained the process as only Wayne can, very thoroughly and with precision of an open heart surgeon!

I will say that since you will be marrying single barbs, it is best to cut at least 8 barbs (referred to here as a strip) from the feather of each color. Then marry the yellow strip to the red strip and remove all but one yellow barb. Then marry the mottled turkey strip to the yellow barb and remove all but one mottled barb. Now remove all but one red barb from the bottom of the wing and you now have three barbs to work with rather than trying to marry single barbs together, which is almost impossible.

Remember to select barbs of equal shape, texture and taper. Both the left and right strips should have the same taper at the end of the wing. Cut the strips from approximately the same location on each feather. If you cut some strips from the top of the feather and other strips near the bottom you will have a wing the will be difficult to mount and the end will look very ragged. The most important point, that is usually over looked, is where you select the strip on the feather. Select the strip from approximately the same location of each feather for each strip. And you will have a greater chance of dressing a fine fly and one you will be proud of.

Typically the golden pheasant will be the limiting factor for hook size on this fly. Turkey tail barbs are generally very long. Golden pheasant tails can be long compared to peacock wing barbs. But, rarely will they be a long as turkey tail. Blacker recommended a size 6 hook for salmon and a size 10 for grilse for this fly. Since most of us like the larger flies. I would select a size 6 hook. Now, the question is what make of hook?

In Blacker's time, the Phillips of Dublin Limerick was most likely the hook selected. These hooks were highly prized at the time Blacker was dressing flies and fishing the Spey or Tweed. A superb reference for these hooks can be found in "The Book of the Salmon" by Ephemera. Ephemera was the pen name of Edward Fitzgibbon a close friend of Blacker. So close of a friend, that when Blacker passed away Fitzgibbon was the only person at Blacker's side other than the doctor. Interesting though, is the absence of the two Blacker Spirit fly patterns in Fitzgibbon' book. The Not and NO. There is a reference to the Ondine. This is the only Spirit fly with a proper name. The three Spirit flies can be identified by the multiple hackled body veilings. If you look closely at the "No.2 Spirit" fly listed in Frodin, you will see that there is no multiple hackled body veilings. Why these three flies are listed in two different references and not all inclusive in Blacker's, is just one of those mysteries that makes history so interesting.

Where were we? Oh yes the hook. If you have a copy of Fitzgibbon's book, you will find one of the best plates of the Phillips of Dublin Limerick hooks. Fitzgibbon describes these hooks as "The best hooks for Salmon-Flies. These hooks that Fitzgibbon's used for salmon fishing were manufactured by Mr. John Phillips, 18. Ellis's Quay, Dublin. Fitzgibbon's considered them the best for all properties-shape, temper, strength. The interesting aspect of the plate is that it was made by the Adlards who were famed for their attention to accuracy and detail. Not like the colored plates where the artist coloring varied day-to-day and book-to-book.

If you do not have one of these hooks, there are several hook makers among the membership that would be glad to provide you one of their fine reproductions (at a fair cost). If you do not wish to use a hand made No 6 Phillips of Dublin Limerick, a size 1/0 Partridge Bartleet is a good choice It is closer to a No. 5 than a No. 6. But, it will be more than adequate for what we are doing.

Now that we have selected the hook. It is actually time to start dressing the fly. When dressing a blind eye hook, you will want to start by attaching the gut eye. Pryce-Tannett has some superb instructions on attaching the gut eye. But, since we will not be fishing the fly it will not be necessary to have the gut eye run the length of the hook shank, particularly if you are using genuine silk gut. But, if you are using mono as described earlier by Marvin, you can dress the fly as was traditionally done. This would give your fly a fuller body and it would be more in the style and look of a fishing fly, which is what these creations are supposed to be!

If you are using silk and attach a short gut eye, taper the ends before you tie in the gut loop or your will have an unsightly budge right in the middle of the last body segment. Now to prevent this you may want to create a tapered underbody.

Perhaps, you are perplexed with why I am describing problems that are many steps on "down-the-road." But, these are important considerations when dressing a fly. You need to think many steps ahead. If you are using a short gut eye, make sure the unsightly ends will be where the throat will cover up the transition. Or use the underbody technique of Michael Radencich to smooth out the transition. Planning your fly will help mitigate problems before they occur.

After you attach the eye, the next step is the tip and tag. Since this fly will have two colors of silk in the tag, it will require a slightly different approach than a single color floss tag. I think the double floss tag is simpler than first thought. I would recommend that when you tie in the tip you leave long ends rather than short tag ends. After you secure the tip wind the thread to a point just above the point of the hook keeping the tag ends under the hook shank.

Now tie in the maroon floss on the bottom of the hook shank directly above the point of the hook with two turns of thread Wrap the floss to the tip and back to the tie in point. Remove one thread wrap, and secure with two turns of flattened thread. Now, tie in the black floss slightly in front of the maroon floss tie off point and wrap the black floss half way down the tag and transition it back to the tie in point and tie it off with two turns of flattened thread. You should now have a tapered tag with two colors of floss. All the floss tie in and off points will be covered by the butt. Make sure when you wrap the floss it is very flat and smooth. You will want to burnish the tag. But, be very careful not to cause the black floss to migrate down the tag. It is best not to burnish the floss with a left to right motion.

At this point you have to ask yourself: How do I want to wing to set on the fly? If you want a low sleek wing, it will require a different tail than that with a high "humped" wing. I like a fly with a sleek wing profile. That is, one that rides low and parallel to the hook shank. Because I want the wing to sit low on the fly, the tail will need to be appropriate for the wing profile.

The tail is very important to the "balance" and appearance of the finished fly. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Use your best golden pheasant crest feathers. For as much time that you are going to take in dressing the multi-jointed body, do not pick a poor feather.

When selecting a crest feather for tailing, I like to select a feather that could be used as a topping for a small fly. I know some dressers like to use a small crest feather because it is easier to tie in. This is because the tie in point is where the feather is the softest and when flattened simplifies the process and looks good. I, however, like a fuller looking tail. By using a larger feather you will have a fuller looking tail that looks more like a mirror image of the topping. A caution when working with the larger feathers, is that the stem is brittle. Be careful when you flatten the stem. Do not overly "work" the stem and it will be fine, and tie in just as easily as a smaller feather.

Before you tie in the tail take some of the curve out of the feather and open up the barbs by nicking the bottom of the feather with your finger nail. This flattens the tail and allows it to leave the tie in point parallel to the hook shank for about a quarter inch. This helps obtain the sleek wing profile.

To be continued in the next issue.