Of
the famous Teal series the Teal, Blue & Silver is the most
visible, specially when the water is coloured.
A
wet pattern that is highly successful on stillwaters, lochs
and rivers for over a century. Often used when the trout and
sea trout are feeding on fry.
Dressing
Hook : 8 14
Tying
Silk : Black
Tail
: 4 5 Strands of Golden Pheasant tippets
Body
: Wide flat silver tinsel
Rib
: Fine oval silver tinsel
Throat
: Bunch of bright blue cock or hen hackle fibres
Wing
: Well marked teal flank
Tying Instructions
1. Take the silk down the hook
to the bend and tie in the golden pheasant tippets. Then tie
in the silver rib laying the waste end along the length of
the shank, so it leaves the under body flat on which to wrap
the body.
2.
Leaving enough room at the eye of the hook for the wing, throat
and head. Tie in the flat silver tinsel. By cutting a wedge
shape at the end, you will find it a lot easier to start off
the body.
3.
Take hold of the tinsel and gently at first, wrap the tinsel
down the body side by side, to the tail, then bring it back
up to the eye making sure it is as even as possible. Tie in
at the head. Don't trim off the waste yet.
4.
Bring the rib up the body in nice evenly spaced turns and
tie in at the head. Now trim both waste tinsels.
5.
You might find by turning the hook upside down in the vice,
the next step is a lot easier. Pull off a bunch of hackle
fibres from a feather. Put them on a hair stacker if they
are too uneven at the ends, and tie them in at the throat,
keeping the head even so the wings will sit better. Trim of
waste.
6.
Turn the hook back upright and then prepare the wing. There
are two ways to do this.
Take a teal feather and stroke the fibres outwards making
the tips lie straighter then cut off a piece 3-4 times the
width of the wing wanted. Roll the feather slip over and over
making a single wing. Line it up on top of the hook keeping
the wing between your fingers and thumb. Bring the silk up
between thumb and wing, over the wing and back down the other
side between wing and finger making a loose loop over the
wing. Pinch your fingers, then pull down on the silk and pinch
the wing to the hook. Repeat. Expose the head a bit still
holding the wing tight and take more turns of silk over the
roots of the wing.
Alternatively. Take a slip of feather from the left feather
and a slip from a right hand feather. Put them together so
they curve inwards towards each other. Place on top of hook
and repeat the method as in previous paragraph. To make the
wing better cut off 2 more slips of feather- one left, one
right as before and place the slips over the first wing, curving
inwards again. This can be done one at a time or both together.
Cut off waste, build a small neat head, whip finish and varnish.
Once the fly
is finished, it should look similar to this.
