Mark Vickers
01-02-2006, 11:45 AM
This is a tying walkthrough of tying a pattern called America, a Rangeley style streamer as tied by Carrie Stevens, a legendary fly tier from Upper Dam, Maine. These patterns were mostly slow trolled behind canoes hoping to hook the monster trout that were frequently found in the area’s reservoirs and rivers.
This pattern is simpler than many of her better known flies such as the Grey Ghost. Most of her flies had silk floss bodies with a ribbing of flat silver tinsel. It was also common for her to tie in a lower body of white bucktail and have four to six strands of peacock herl that ran along the body much like the lateral line of a small fish. She also used decorative feathers such as silver pheasant as a large cheek that gave the appearance of a baitfish’s gills. The heads on her flies also had a red band in the black thread. I’ve omitted this in honor of her trademark.
Keep in mind as you replicate this that Carrie tied all her flies by hand.
“I have never used a vise; I have never seen anyone tie a fly and noone has ever seen me tie one. I have never read or had any fly tying instructions.”
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/carrie.jpg
America
Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens 10 XL H/W Streamer #2
Tag: Flat silver tinsel
Tail: White hackle fibers
Body: Flat silver tinsel
Throat: White hackle fibers
Wing: Two white hackles, outside of which are two red hackles, outside of which are two blue hackles. Saddle hackles work best, but schlappen can be used.
Cheek: Junglecock
Head: Carrie tied these with bands of red, white, and blue. I’ve just used red.
Please note, in the model I’ve tied for you here, I changed up the tag a little bit from the pattern recipe.
First off, tie in your thread near the head. Tie in the flat silver tinsel and carefully wind the thread over the tinsel to the tail. Any bumps or gaps in this stage will be very apparent in the finished product, so make sure your winding is near perfect.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america1.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america2.jpg
Stop at the end of the body above the point of the hook.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america3.jpg
Wind the thread all the way back to the head, again being exceptionally careful to keep your winding smooth.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america4.jpg
Start winding the flat silver tinsel. About a quarter of an inch in from the start, insert some white hackle fibers. Try to lay them out flat to minimize the bump in the silver tinsel. Tie the hackle fibers down with a couple of wraps of tinsel and wrap to the front. Tie off the tinsel. Be sure and not stop too far back from the head. You’ll end up with an extra long head if you stop early.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america5.jpg
At the head, tie in the white hackle fiber throat.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america6.jpg
Now comes the fun part, the wings. This is the defining part of a Rangeley style fly.
Pick the hackles carefully. All of the individual hackles you use should be very straight, no curve to them at all. The longest hackles should be the base layer of white, followed by a slightly shorter section of red, and then again a slightly shorter matched pair of blue hackles. For best effect, see if you can pick thinner hackles for the red and blue. This will allow the colors to show from the layers below.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america7.jpg
Take a very small amount of Flexament and run it down the first third of the stem of the white hackles. Carefully lay the red hackle down on top of that. Repeat this on the red hackle, but only just about a quarter of the way down. Then lay the blue hackle down on that. Finally, just add Flexament to the stem of the blue hackle about half the length of the junglecock eye. Carefully lay the junglecock down on that. You might put a book down on top of this to hold them all in place while the cement dries. The goal here is to line up all the hackles and hold them together. Try to go easy on the Flexament as you don’t want it to leak through and goop up your pretty wings. Another trick is to take pliers and slightly flatten the hackle and junglecock stems. Junglecock has a weird triangular stem that gives lots of tiers fits. This little secret helps eliminate that annoyance.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america8.jpg
After a few minutes, you can pick up the wing sets. Hold them parallel to the hook shaft. You should tie in the wings on the sides of the hook, not on the top like usual. Tie them in and finish off the head.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america9.jpg
Viola, you have just tied an America! This gives you a base idea of how to tie Rangeley style patterns. Feel free to improvise. Here is one that I just made up…
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/flamethrower.jpg
This pattern is simpler than many of her better known flies such as the Grey Ghost. Most of her flies had silk floss bodies with a ribbing of flat silver tinsel. It was also common for her to tie in a lower body of white bucktail and have four to six strands of peacock herl that ran along the body much like the lateral line of a small fish. She also used decorative feathers such as silver pheasant as a large cheek that gave the appearance of a baitfish’s gills. The heads on her flies also had a red band in the black thread. I’ve omitted this in honor of her trademark.
Keep in mind as you replicate this that Carrie tied all her flies by hand.
“I have never used a vise; I have never seen anyone tie a fly and noone has ever seen me tie one. I have never read or had any fly tying instructions.”
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/carrie.jpg
America
Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens 10 XL H/W Streamer #2
Tag: Flat silver tinsel
Tail: White hackle fibers
Body: Flat silver tinsel
Throat: White hackle fibers
Wing: Two white hackles, outside of which are two red hackles, outside of which are two blue hackles. Saddle hackles work best, but schlappen can be used.
Cheek: Junglecock
Head: Carrie tied these with bands of red, white, and blue. I’ve just used red.
Please note, in the model I’ve tied for you here, I changed up the tag a little bit from the pattern recipe.
First off, tie in your thread near the head. Tie in the flat silver tinsel and carefully wind the thread over the tinsel to the tail. Any bumps or gaps in this stage will be very apparent in the finished product, so make sure your winding is near perfect.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america1.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america2.jpg
Stop at the end of the body above the point of the hook.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america3.jpg
Wind the thread all the way back to the head, again being exceptionally careful to keep your winding smooth.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america4.jpg
Start winding the flat silver tinsel. About a quarter of an inch in from the start, insert some white hackle fibers. Try to lay them out flat to minimize the bump in the silver tinsel. Tie the hackle fibers down with a couple of wraps of tinsel and wrap to the front. Tie off the tinsel. Be sure and not stop too far back from the head. You’ll end up with an extra long head if you stop early.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america5.jpg
At the head, tie in the white hackle fiber throat.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america6.jpg
Now comes the fun part, the wings. This is the defining part of a Rangeley style fly.
Pick the hackles carefully. All of the individual hackles you use should be very straight, no curve to them at all. The longest hackles should be the base layer of white, followed by a slightly shorter section of red, and then again a slightly shorter matched pair of blue hackles. For best effect, see if you can pick thinner hackles for the red and blue. This will allow the colors to show from the layers below.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america7.jpg
Take a very small amount of Flexament and run it down the first third of the stem of the white hackles. Carefully lay the red hackle down on top of that. Repeat this on the red hackle, but only just about a quarter of the way down. Then lay the blue hackle down on that. Finally, just add Flexament to the stem of the blue hackle about half the length of the junglecock eye. Carefully lay the junglecock down on that. You might put a book down on top of this to hold them all in place while the cement dries. The goal here is to line up all the hackles and hold them together. Try to go easy on the Flexament as you don’t want it to leak through and goop up your pretty wings. Another trick is to take pliers and slightly flatten the hackle and junglecock stems. Junglecock has a weird triangular stem that gives lots of tiers fits. This little secret helps eliminate that annoyance.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america8.jpg
After a few minutes, you can pick up the wing sets. Hold them parallel to the hook shaft. You should tie in the wings on the sides of the hook, not on the top like usual. Tie them in and finish off the head.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/america9.jpg
Viola, you have just tied an America! This gives you a base idea of how to tie Rangeley style patterns. Feel free to improvise. Here is one that I just made up…
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/flamethrower.jpg