I found this pattern in Hardy's Salmon Fishing, a
book published by Country Life in 1907. Hardy's book contains
one of the most complete set of recipes of all the old books. Only
Major Hale's book has more, and this fly is listed in both. The
format for the recipes takes some getting used to however. I'll
list the recipe below as he does, then interpret it. His method of
listing fly patterns is actually a pretty good one given limited space
with lots of patterns.
There is a scant amount of information on the Hallidale Eagle.
While it at first blush appears to be one of the well known Eagle
Dee flies (the Yellow Eagle, Avon Eagle, and Grey Eagle are the
most familiar), the recipe puts it more in the Floodtide group as
far as I'm concerned, and I've done it along those lines, for better
or worse. The wings, right away, appear to be classic mixed wings
with a golden pheasant tippet underwing, not the strip wings that
typify a Dee fly. I think the point I'm trying to make is that an Eagle
fly is one that has long flowing hackle made from Eagle feathers, not
necessarily a Dee fly, though there is an association there.
I've subbed some PMD maribou here for the Eagle hackle,
as I'm sure that the American Bald Eagle we have in the
vicinity here would have none of my attempting to pluck a
few feathers. I tried something interesting with the wing on
this one. Golden pheasant tail is notoriously difficult to marry,
and is typically just stuck on the top of the wing, almost as
an afterthought. I theorized that maybe single strands would
work better, as it's the stiffness of the sections along with the
twist of the feather that causes problems. Sure enough, while
still somewhat difficult, it married much more easily a strand
at a time. If you look you can see the pattern of the feather,
as I went strand by strand up the quill in order.
There is mohair along the top of the wing, and it just caused me
no end of headaches. I would avoid like the plague any full dress
fly that has mohair on top, with a topping over it. It gets tangled
up in the topping when you go to put it on. If I had it to do over
again I'd use the stuff you can buy in fly shops that is wound like
yarn. It's a bit more "together" to start with, and would have been
easier to deal with.
I'll show the recipe below as it is in the book, then the interpreted version:
Hallidale Eagle (Hardy)
Tag: S. Tsl; Y.F.
Tail: Tpg; Wdgn.
Butt: Blk. hrl.
body: 3/5 L.Y., 2/5 L.O.
Ribs: Double S. Tsl.
Hackle: Golden Eagle dyed Y.
Throat: G.F.
Wings: 2 Tpts.; R & Y swan; G. P. tail; Golden Mhr. on top & Tpg.
Sides: J.C. double
Head: Blk
Hallidale Eagle (Hardy)
Tag: Silver tinsel; Yellow floss
Tail: Topping and widgeon
Butt: Black ostrich herl
body: 3/5 Light Yellow, 2/5 Light Orange [recipe doesn't indicate floss or seal or wool]
Ribs: Double silver tinsel
Hackle: Golden Eagle dyed yellow
Throat: Guinea fowl
Wings: Two golden pheasant tippets; Red and yllow swan; Golden pheasant tail; Golden mohair on top and topping
Sides: Jungle cock double
Head: Black
Credits: Classic Salmon Flies by Mikael Frodin;
Salmon Fishing by John James Hardy; ~ EA
About Eric:
Eric lives in Delaware, Ohio and fishes for brown trout in the Mad River,
a beautiful spring creek. More of his flies are on display here:
traditionalflies.com -- Classic salmon and
trout flies of Europe and the Americas.
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