The fly box · No. 32 of 36
Partridge & Orange
Drowned duns, emerging nymphs and small stoneflies in fast water.
- Kind
- Wet
- Hook sizes
- 12–16
- Season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- For
- Trout and grayling
- At the vice
- An easy tie
The dressing
| Hook | Light-wire wet fly hook, barbless, sizes 12–16 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Orange silk, waxed; it serves as both thread and body |
| Tail | None |
| Body | The orange tying silk in touching turns, ending above the hook point or a little beyond |
| Rib | None in the old dressing; fine gold wire is a later addition for durability |
| Hackle | Brown speckled partridge feather from the back or neck, one and a half to two turns |
| Wing | None |
Tying it
- Wax the silk and start it just behind the eye.
- Prepare a partridge feather by stripping the fluff and stroking the fibres back, then tie it in by the stalk with the tip pointing over the eye.
- Wind the silk in touching turns to a point above the hook point and back again to the hackle.
- Wind the feather back for one and a half to two turns and catch the tip with the silk.
- Bring the silk forward through the fibres to lock them, make a small head and whip finish.
- Stroke the hackle back so the fibres stand out lightly from the shank.
Fishing it
Fish it upstream on a short line through riffles and the necks of pools, casting often and lifting the rod as the fly returns so that you stay in touch. It drifts an inch or two below the surface, and takes show as a flash, a boil or a check in the leader. Later in the season, cast it across and let it swing gently round on 5X (0.15 mm) tippet. The old way is a team of three spiders about a metre apart, with this one on the point.
Where it comes from
This spider belongs to the Yorkshire Dales, where generations of river anglers dressed short, sparse flies of silk and game-bird feather for quick, stony streams. It appears in the North Country fly lists of the nineteenth century and is certainly older than they are. Wet orange silk darkens to a warm brown, and the partridge fibres open and close with the current.