This week’s Tying Tuesday stretches across roughly five centuries of fly tying. We open in 1496 with the Hawthorn, a wet fly that appears in one of the earliest written texts on angling and is still simple enough to wrap up in a few minutes at the bench. From there, Charlie Craven walks through Bob Quigley’s Cripple—an emerger that has earned its reputation on technical hatches by sitting half in, half out of the film. Scott Jackson ties Curry’s Red Shrimp, an Irish Atlantic salmon classic built on seal’s fur, oval tinsel, and jungle cock. And Snake River Fly closes things out with the Stolen Valor 2.0, an articulated streamer designed around laser dub and living eyes for anglers chasing aggressive predators.
Four patterns, four very different intentions, all worth a spot at the vise this week.
The Hawthorn
Hook: Standard wet fly hook, sizes 12–14
Thread: Black silk or 8/0 black
Body: Black wool or natural black fur dubbing
Wings: Symmetrical slips from a starling wing
Quigley Cripple
Hook: Tiemco 102Y, sizes 12–18
Thread: 8/0 Uni-Thread, color to match
Tail/Shuck: Amber Zelon or Antron yarn
Rib: Extra-fine copper wire
Abdomen: Single marabou fiber (fuzzy base)
Wing: Stacked deer hair
Hackle: Grizzly rooster
Thorax: Superfine dubbing
Curry’s Red Shrimp
Hook: Partridge CS10/1 or equivalent salmon hook
Thread: Red 8/0 Uni-Thread
Tag: Fine oval silver tinsel and yellow floss
Tail: Golden pheasant tippet feathers
Rib: Medium oval silver tinsel
Body: Red seal’s fur
Middle Hackle: Red cock hackle
Front Hackle: Natural badger cock hackle
Cheeks: Jungle cock eyes
Head: Red thread, finished with clear varnish
Stolen Valor 2.0
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S, size 1/0 (front) and size 2 (rear)
Shank: 25mm articulated shank
Thread: Veevus GSP, 200 denier
Tail: Olive select marabou
Flash: Gold Hedron Flashabou
Body: Olive UV Polar Chenille
Wing/Veil: Senyo’s Laser Dub (olive, tan, white)
Eyes: 7mm Living Eyes (ice)
Adhesive: Loctite Super Glue Gel and Zap-A-Gap
