Day 99 - Discovery

As a heads up, I've been toying with the idea of moving to a different blogging service. While I like the use of blogger.com, I think the use of Word Press may offer me some better opportunities in the future. Currently I'm posting on both sites, but I think by the end of the year I will be using strictly Word Press. If you'd like, you can visit the new site at: http://www.365flyfish.wordpress.com/

I may have mentioned in passing that I once tied a pattern using filoplume. Filoplume is the webby soft underfeather from the hide of a pheasant. It's incredibly soft and creates perfect gills for nymphs. The downside is that this feather tears apart with little effort so most fly tyers disregard this feather.

Anyway, I managed to find the recipe today by accident. I was searching through boxes in the garage looking for some documents for my wife. As I was searching through a plastic bin of my old youth ministry papers and coursework, I noticed a few pages weren't in binders or folders so I grabbed them to see what their deal was. The deal was that these photocopies were actually patterns that I began tying years ago (close to 7 years actually). Excited about this find, I made a concentrated effort to tie the Filoplume Mayfly for all of you.


The Filoplume Mayfly
Hook: Curved-shank nymph hook, sizes 20 to 12.
Thread: Color to match the body, size 8/0
Tail: A bunch of marabou - olive, brown, black, or gray
Body: Marabou to match the tail
Rib: Copper wire
Thorax: Filoplume from the base of a pheasant body feather
Wing Case: Peacock sword fibers

The other patterns that I will probably tie over the next few days include the Double Sparrow, Terrible Troth, and Iwamasa's Tarcher Nymph. I've admitted it before that I always find fly fishing related items stashed everywhere throughout my house in boxes or bags or tackle boxes or books... the discovery of these patterns make me happy and helps me remember where I started out in my fly tying.

As an FYI, the Filoplume Mayfly was designed by David Klausmeyer and was featured in Fly Tyer magazine, page 32. Unfortunately I'm unable to give full credit to the tyer and/or the magazine as I only have a photocopy of the original pattern and am unable to tell what issue. If anybody knows it, I'd love to be able to update the blog and give credit where credit is due.