Balmoral and a .... ???

[GR8LAKES FLYER]

Finally finished the six Balmorals that I started mid-week . Just been very busy between family and work lately ....

One of six Balmorals , all were tied the same , using the "blood plumes" of a BEP over the natural black coque feather body hackle .
Hope you like it





I haven't named this one yet , but I think it will be a fall time treasure .





I went with an extended tail (which wild steelhead just love) . It is tied in three parts , natural GP crest , over which is dyed hot orange GP crest and then veiled with a GP tippet feather . Looks to be rather HOT I think




I should also note that the wings are tied broad-side , Dee style for maximum profile . They are still in a "V" formation , just a tighter form .
Hope you like it too

If anyone has any suggestions for a name , it would be greatly appreciated .







Mike

[harley]

Outstanding works of art Mike. Can`t think of a name just yet though.

[ReidFamilyFive]

Awesome as always Mike. Love. The attention to the tail. Nicely done .......

[freecast]

Really like the 'fall time treasure'......it will hunt in my country for sure. I'm going to try some of those tails.

[Wild Bill]

Absolutely outstanding ties-works of art,as your ties-works of art always are Mike.I'm quite certain that you will get many pulls on these beauties!!

Cheers,

WB.

[mlwebb]

Those look terrific, very nice body/hackle/tinsel/rib on the fall treasure (maybe you ought to just call it that), and I will keep that tail idea in mind.
Michael

[DitchDigger]

Great looking ties Mike. That trigger point is awesome and the stealth look fits the tie! The dee wings are a lot higher than you normally tie. It would be neat to know how they run with the tighter profile. Great work Mike.

Phil

[inland]

Really like the un-named Dee. Fall Atlantic salmon would eat that one too...

[Draggerman]

Outstanding couple of works of art

[RobP]

Beautiful flies. Shouldn't the jungle cock be pointing down toward the point of the hook? Of course your hook your rules though. Rob

[ERIK HELM]

Damn. Nice sweet tying. Damn.

[fshnazn]

Oh man...though the Balmoral is a proven classic...the Fall Time Treasure (unofficially official) is simply upper echelon tying. That fly just does it for me.

Swell stuff bro.

Adrian

[GR8LAKES FLYER]

Originally Posted by RobP

Beautiful flies. Shouldn't the jungle cock be pointing down toward the point of the hook? Of course your hook your rules though. Rob

Well , both Murdoch and Garden describe the pattern having cheeks , which is in-line with the body on Dee flies . It wasn't until Kelson described the pattern two years later as to having "drooping jungle" , did that become popular . Either way is fine and staying true to pattern .

The way I see it ..... like Phil noticed , these two Dees (and the other five Balmorals and three ??? ) that I tied have much higher wing sets than I normally do and tied in broadside in true Murdoch fashion . This was done on purpose for the reason of fall time rains on my home river . The rains bring the Steelhead in , but the waters run slightly stained and high . I prefer to swing a bigger profile when these conditions exist . Hence the higher broadside wing . I tied the jungle nails in-line with the body as per Garden and Murdoch to try to balance the wing's high profile . I think the drooping jungle would have accentuated the high wing and would not have been pleasing to my eye . So , it was kind of done on purpose , but still remaining in true "vintage" pattern .

As for the other ??? Dee , that has no pattern .... well having the high set broadside wings , I decided to follow Murdoch and Garden once again . In truth , I have a mixture of wing sets in my Dee box .


Many thanks for the kind words my friends !!
I've said it many times and I will say it again .... you really know how to boost my confidence level with my flies








Mike

[GR8LAKES FLYER]

Adrian , it's going take many steelhead hooked on the new Dee , (kind of like "Fall Assassin" ... ???? ) to up the Balmoral .
Spey Brother Jim was witness to the chaos that fly can produce .








Mike

[RobP]

Mike, Thanks for the history. I just started getting into tying Dees. After searching Murdoch I see what you mean. I guess I'm limited to John Shewey's book at the present. But I like reading the old literature also. Just need to find it online somewhere. Dees, Eagles, Dons....all cool. Rob