Classic New Zealand Streamers

[mcnerney]

Chris: Another great looking streamer pattern. Keep up the good work, it is really enjoyable seeing you post these old NZ patterns! Thanks for sharing.

Larry

[HuronRiverDan]

Chris, great job! Those are some great old patterns, keep them coming...

Dan

[Pocono]

Originally Posted by ChrisinselwynNZ

The split partridge

Hook- 2-6
Tail- died cock
Rib- oval
Body- wool or chenille
Wing- split partridge tail
Hackle- brown
Cheeks- jungle cock nails
Head- black

Ill do a step by step for this one as some people may not have seen this style of tying before

1 tie in the tail and rib wind the thread to the shoulder (you don't need to be too pickey because wool is prity forgiving)



2 tie the wool in at this point (thin it 2 strands for #2 hook) wind it to the tail and back and tie off use no more than 3 wraps.



3 rough the wool up, and tie the wing in (the partridge tail that you split and matched it is best if there is as little as posable of the feathers spine left it will tie in better) give it plenty of wraps (you will remove most of them latter) this is important so the wing dosnt move while you tie it down with the rib



4 pull on the tip of the wing so the spine rests along the body of the fly, use you bodkin to split the feather where the rib is going to pass through, from this point on dont let pressure off the wing or it will look bad



5 as you wind the rib forward separate the feather where the rib will pass through until you reach the head



6 when you reach the head with the rib undo the wraps around the butt of the feather and leave 2-3 and tie off the rib tidy the wing up stroke it back too fill the gaps back in (see in this one that the feather has a bow in it because I let go to photograph it halfway along)



7 tie in the hackle fibers as even as you can for the throat and cover the base of the wing leave space for the jungle cock nails, tie the nails in and finish the head and varnish I did two flies as the first had a poor rib because I let go to photograph it

the finished fly



This was one of the flies that people came up with when It was made illegal to fish with Bittern and Kiwi flies (endangered native spicies) you cant even possess thease feathers now or import skins (Bittern) the Moari name for Bittern is Matuku which is how these flies were tied and the method that is still used today but with rooster feathers binding the feather to the shaft of the hook if the feather is no longer than twice the length of the hook then the feather will fowl very seldom. the Split partridge was one of the transition flies that lasted the longest because it is a great fly it only stoped being used because 40 years ago the partridge tails were hard to get and the ones you could get cost a small fortune.

Chris

Chris,

That split partridge is a very unusual pattern; I've never seen anyone split the barbs on a wing with the ribbing before. Nice way to keep the wing tight to the body; which is sometimes a problem with streamers that have a large or a stiff wing. In the water, I've always thought that a wing that's tight to the body does a better job of attracing fish; unless the wing is very flexible, as with most of the hairwing patterns or the hairwing adaptations of the featherwing patterns.

I really like your older patterns; both from a fishing standpoint and from an historical standpoint.

Keep 'em comin'!

Which one do you like best so far?

Pocono

[ChrisinselwynNZ]

Thanks Dan and Larry

Pocono Thanks, the Split Partridge is my favorite so far with the Tongario queen a close second the Tongario queen was the fly I was looking up in my new pattern book (the revamped tie I thought that the old one was worth a try) that made refrence too the others and got me started on the rest of the old flies


The Grey Ghost

Hook- 2-10
Tail- grey cock (soft)
body- silver flat
Wing- grey cock (soft) and tied down with the rib
Rib- silver oval or wire
Throat- grey cock (soft) dont have it too far from the body
Cheeks- jungle cock nails
Head- black tied silm



This is a fly that was devaloped by the tackle firm Kilwell, and is a very good imitation of the white bait in lighter colours big sizes, and smelt in smaller sizes (#8, #10), this fly has survived many years and sill has people that use it today at one stage it was a farorite in Taupo untill the Jack Sprat came along which is the same fly but with a badger wing, and the anglers of the south island never took to the badger wing and still use the grey one (this is a fly that I have had the most sucess with when using long flies as most rivers have white bait and smelt in them) this fly is very diffrent today the head is grey too and the body is any colour you like with fluro green favored and a painted eye of white and black dot (if you plan a trip too low land NZ this fly is a must have).

Chris

[Pocono]

Chris,

Your Grey Ghost pattern is giving me all sorts of ideas for streamers to use up here in the Poconos. I'm becoming a fan of minimally dressed flies; particularly those that do a good job of imitating the local minnows/baitfish.

I think that the tied-down wing works particularly well on that pattern and a silver foil body; ribbed or not, has been one of my favorites ever since I started fishing conventional streamer patterns like the black-nosed dace.

Great flies!

Pocono

[ChrisinselwynNZ]

Thanks Pocono, I tie that one with just the feather too and its still very efective

Craigs Nightime

First tied by Eric Craig in 1930

Hook- 2-8
Tag- red wool
Rib- silver
Body- Black wool or mohair
Wing- pukeko blue breast feathers (tied pukeko style)
Throat- black cock
Wing over- 1 jungle cock nail (newer tie had yellow dyed cock)

I have done a step by step for this fly too as its only common in New Zealand

1 tie in tag, rib, and form body and rib the fly.



2 Tie 2 pukeko feathers in covering the tag with the tips of the feather crossing



3 Tie another set of feathers on top of these ones to get a v shape over the body these are not tied as long as the last ones.



4 tie in one last pair of feathers not quite as long again.



5 Tie the throat in and the jungle cock nail on top to finnish the fly and varnish the fly (once the fly gets wet the wing will cling to the body and look much nicer)



The finnished fly



This is recognised as the first fly to use Pukeko feathers and is still in use today (most tackle shops will have some if its an area that has the oppertunity for night fishing)the jungle cock was always the first to go on these flies this was replaced by yellow cock barbs, which was also dropped for the pattern in use today.

Eric Craig was the first to tie this pattern and was walking the banks of an Auckland river when he came across a dead Pukeko so he lifted some feathers and tied and fished it that night with good sucesses.

Chris

[Pocono]

Originally Posted by ChrisinselwynNZ

Thanks Dan and Larry

Pocono Thanks, the Split Partridge is my favorite so far with the Tongario queen a close second the Tongario queen was the fly I was looking up in my new pattern book (the revamped tie I thought that the old one was worth a try) that made refrence too the others and got me started on the rest of the old flies


The Grey Ghost

Hook- 2-10
Tail- grey cock (soft)
body- silver flat
Wing- grey cock (soft) and tied down with the rib
Rib- silver oval or wire
Throat- grey cock (soft) dont have it too far from the body
Cheeks- jungle cock nails
Head- black tied silm



This is a fly that was devaloped by the tackle firm Kilwell, and is a very good imitation of the white bait in lighter colours big sizes, and smelt in smaller sizes (#8, #10), this fly has survived many years and sill has people that use it today at one stage it was a farorite in Taupo untill the Jack Sprat came along which is the same fly but with a badger wing, and the anglers of the south island never took to the badger wing and still use the grey one (this is a fly that I have had the most sucess with when using long flies as most rivers have white bait and smelt in them) this fly is very diffrent today the head is grey too and the body is any colour you like with fluro green favored and a painted eye of white and black dot (if you plan a trip too low land NZ this fly is a must have).

Chris

Chris,

Are you tying the Split Partridge pattern with a singe feather or is it paired like with most streamers; left and right?

Pocono

[ChrisinselwynNZ]

Originally Posted by Pocono

Chris,

Are you tying the Split Partridge pattern with a singe feather or is it paired like with most streamers; left and right?

Pocono

The split partridge is tied with two slips that have had the patterns matched as close as you can and tied with the colourful side out (if you look closely on photo #3 you can see 2 feathers where the first ones barbs split near the head).

Chris

[ChrisinselwynNZ]

Ewe wasp (aka Taupo wasp)

Hook- 2-8
Tag- silver flat
Tail- golden pheasant topping
Butt- ostrich herl
Rib- oval silver
Body- yellow floss, black near the head
Throat- black
Under wing- Turkey
Wing- Mallard flank
Topping- Golden Pheasant
Cheeks- jungle cock
Head- black



There are sevral stories With this one the first is that the brittish pattern that this was derived from was derived from the Jock scott and no doubt hugely simplified for NZ (you may notice that all the flies have mallard and or turkey wings this is because they were the easy too obtain, and the prefrence of colour are red or yellow for the body, there is also green more recently). The other is that it represents a local wasp but it was most used in sizes 1\0 and #2.

Chris

[Pocono]

Chris,

I like it. Colors work very well together; easy to see the allusion of a wasp.

Brown/cinnamon ostrich for the butt - right?

I'm becoming a fan of the more sparsely dressed patterns; I have a feeling that they're more life-like when on the swing or when being stripped through the water.

Nice, neat job on the head.

Pocono