The history and tying techniques behind one of the sport's standard dry-fly patterns

by Joe Messenger

It was during the days when B-17 s, drake pattern for trout since the late to serve in the U.S. Army, during World B-24s, Mustangs, and Lightnings 1930s, but had not yet settled on a War I. While in France in 1919, he roamed the skies over Europe and name for it, and he sent some of the received a serious wound. He eventu- the Pacific that a letter arrived for my drakes to Neu's friend, Ken Lockwood. ally recovered, and returned home at dad, addressed to "Joe Messinger, Fly When Lockwood recovered from his the war's end to resume his work as a Tyer, Morgantown, West Virgiriia." illness, he headed for Canada and some miner. He began tying flies before his It read, "Dear Mr. Messinger, Please fishing. When he returned, he wrote to military duty, and upon his return send me more of your deer-hair drake my father, requesting more of the flies from the war he continued fishing flies. The trout up in Canada. find he described as "irresistible."The name and fly tying with a renewed outlook them to be ... irresistible." stuck, and in the years to come, the and purpose. Americawas consumed byWorld fly became a favorite offly fishermen Dad's war injuries returned to War II and many of our country's world wide. trouble him in the years that followed fishermen were overseas fighting in that My father was born in 1892, and and he spent several of those years in conflict. Payne, Dickerson and Garri- grew up in the mountains and along veteran's hospitals, undergoing opera- son built fine fly rods then and some the streams of West Virginia. The tions and rehabilitation. He was no progress was being made in the field of Potomac River flows near the small longer able to work in the coal mines. fly tying. But, for the most part, the town of Beryl, where he was born, and Thedoctorstoldhim that because events of the war overshadowed any it provided a stimulating setting for his of the injuries to and resulting infection other achievement worthy of attention. early interest in nature. Many summer in his hip joint, hewould be confined to Art Neu, a friend of my father's days of his youth were spent on and in a wheelchair or, at best, he would have and a champion fly caster, had written the Potomac, both fishing and observing to use crutches for the rest of his life. to dad asking him if he had any new and learning basics that later provided But, dad had other ideas. The doctors trout-fly patterns that he could send to a foundation for the course of his life. released him and told him togo chase a friend who was hospitalized at the As a teenager, my father worked rainbows, and that's just what he had in time. Dad had been tying a deer-hair as a coal miner and was soon after called mind, but his rainbows were of the

AMEIDCANANGLER------54 finny variety. My father's earliest efforts at fly from the spool to rhetyers teeth and the He modified his old Hudson car tying involved bass patterns. Frogs, a tag end is taken around the hook shank so he could operate the clutch with a favorite food of bass, inspired a lure he and hair. Asingleoverhand knot isthen hand lever. He removed the back seat, created with deer hair, called a Bucktail tied to secure the hair to the hook. The built a fly-tying bench in its place. Live Frog (this fly is popul4rly knoum tIS the vise is rotated 180 degrees and the roosters were carried in a coop in the Messinger Frog.--ed.). The early part of threads (tag and standing ends) are trunk of the car, and, no matter how this century offered little in the way of crossed in front of the bunch ofhairand objectionable it might have been to the information or materials for fly tying behind the hook shank so that the roosters, he plucked hackles ashe needed and because deer hair was readily standing end is to the tyer's left and the them. When a rooster was picked clean available, dad made good use of it. tag end isto his right. Pressure is applied of its hackles, a streamside chicken Another bass pattern he created in laterally and down which locks the hair dinner often followed. the 1920s was called a Nitehummer. in place and compacts it, while also Dad made screens to fit in the It had a deer-hair tail, wings and separating the colors. The next bunch rear windows of the Hudson and in- beard, and the body was clipped deer of hair (darker color for the back and stalled a bright dome light over his hair. This pattern was the founda- white for the belly) is now ready to be tying bench. The light attracted flying tion of the Irresistible. tied on. About six bunches of hair are insects at night. They would alight on used to build the body for a size 12 the screens and Dad studied them and UNUSUAL TECHNIQUES Irresistible. The method creates a very made drawings of them, later at- compact and durable fly body. It also tempting to create imitations of them The method dad created for tying deer allows lateral as well as radial color withhook,featherandfur.Withtheaid hair was both unique and original. separation. of crutches ,hefished bydayand worked Bodies are tied by placing the hook in If you are confused, you are not on drawings and tying at night. In time, the vise vertically and with the left alone. I have attempted to explain this he was able to get around well using hand, holding the hair parallel to the technique to other tyers for years now only a cane. hookshank.The tying thread isbrought with little success. It's somewhat likeJ 55 ------MAy· JUNE1991 tying to explain to someone how to pat hackle and white abdomen has con- chances are very good that the fly was your head, rub your belly and whistle sistently taken more trout for me tied by my father. It could be one of "Dixie" all at the same time. (In a than any of the other colors. mine, but he was a much more prolific subsequent article about the Bucktail From an entomological stand- tyer than I am, so it is probably one of Frog, I will describe the technique with point, the Irresistible is certainly not his Irresistibles. graphic detail of the individual steps.) exact. But, that's notso bad. The Adams, Aesthetically, I think Irresistibles I've made a video tape that hopefully perhaps the most-often-used dry fly of tied with a dark back-and-white belly clears up most of the confusion.

WHICH MAYFLY IS IT?

In my father's own words, "The Irre- sistible is an imitation of an egg- laden female drake fly." I am not sure exactly which species of drake fly it is intended to imitate. The original pattern has brown deer hair tails and wings, blue-grey (dun) hair for the back and white deer hair on the underside. The hackle is a dyed claret or wine color. Later, he offered the Irresistible with a brown back and hackle and ginger back and hackle. all time, does not closely match a spe- are more pleasing than those that have The major drake hatch here in cific insect, yet countless trout have a body spun from a single color, but West Virginia, and the east, isthe green been taken on the Adams due to its more importantly, dad's tying method drake (Ephemera guttul4ta). The Irre- effectiveness.There are many flypatterns offered a fly with great durability. sistible does not closely resemble the that fit into this category. Spinning or stacking makes use of a natural in either shape or color. There is single thread to attach the hair to the a western brown drake that is chunkier TYING NUANCES hook shank through the length of and more compact than the eastern the body. The thread is then tied off variety, but Dad never fished in the The basicdifference between my father's with a single knot, either a whip West, so I don't think that would have original tie and those tied by others is finish or a half hitch. If the single influenced his choice of shape or color. the method of tying on the body. As I thread holding the hair to the hook Although I don't know the rea- explained earlier, dad's technique al- breaks or the single knot fails, the son for his choice of shape and color, I lowed lateral color separation and with structural integrity of the entire body do know that fishermen have been few exceptions, the Irresistibles he tied is lost and the fly can come apart. catching trout on the Irresistible for had white abdomens. Spinning deer My father's method used a about fifty years. I realize that if some- hair onto a hook does not allow this modified square knot to attach each one has a favorite fly,they will catch the lateral separation. Stacking does make bunch of hair to the hook. Smaller majority of their fish on that partern lateral color separation possible, but I amounts of hair are used in each bunch simply because it is used more often have never seen a contemporary Irre- because of the two colors that make up and with more confidence than others. sistible tied with a stacked body. I am the fly body. If six bunches of hair are Onmanyoccasionsovertheyearswhile only mildly familiar with the stacking used to build the body, then seven trout fishing, I have given.equal time to technique, and am not sure that the knots (the seventh being a square knot the Irresistible tied in a wide variety method works well on size 12or smaller tied to finish things off) are needed to I Of colors, including pink, but the hooks. If you are in possession of an hold the hair on the hook shank. If the smokey-blue pattern with claret Irresistiblewith lateral color separation, thread should break because of the LAMEIDCANANGLER------56 stresses involved in fishing, very little, if Don't tie on the wings at this stage of shank, this will allow you to remove any, damage results. Also, the thread the operation. some of the hair in front and still have used for tying with dad's method is Apply a drop or two of Dave's a well proportioned finished fly. The heavier and stronger than that usually Flexament over the thread wraps and flat face or shoulder helps the hackle used to spin deer hair on small flies. For allow it to dry. stand at right angles to the hook shank, the last five years or so, I have used Now tie on the body using fairly which helps the fly ride better in the Kevlar thread. coarse deer hair, which trims and floats water and improves it's appearance. The method of tying the tail and better than the fine stuff. I use my dad's Next, de on the wings, using the wings are the same no matter which method of tying which I explained same type of hair asyou selected for the body-tying technique is used. As far as briefly earlier to bring the body two- tail. Use about twice the amount ofhair I know, my father never owned a fly- thirds of the way up the hook shank. that you used for the tail. tying bobbin; he preferred to place the Whatever method you use to tie the Clean the fuzz and short hairs spool of thread on a finish nail driven body, make sure that you cover the from the wing hair and stack it. into his bench top and control the winding at the base of tail with the Tie on the 8/0 thread and bring thread pressure with his fmgers. As a hair for the body. If you don't cover it back to a point halfway between the matter of fact, he didn't even use a vise those wraps; the thread holding the eye of the hookand the body. Makethe for most of the trout flypatterns that he tail on will show and make for a bad wings the same length as the hook shank. tied, but the Irresistible is an exception. looking fly. Hold the hair, tip it toward the Because I'm not the staunch individual Next, take the fly out of the vise eye with your right hand and take that he was, I use a bobbin and vise. and begin trimming the body with three or four loops of thread around straight scissors and taper it back toward it with your left hand. Begin with TYING INSTRUCTIONS the tail. soft or loose loops and gradually add After the body is roughly shaped tension as you proceed. Here's how I tie the Irresistible. Using a with the scissors, I make use of a tech- Release the hair with your right size8 through 16 either Mustad 7957B, nique that I learned from a friend, hand and grasp it by the butt ends with 9671 or Tiemco 5262 hook, attach size Jimmy Nix. (I've also acquired some your left hand. Hold the hair firmly in 8/0 (6/0 for size 8 & 10 hooks) black, bad habits from Jimmy that are not fly- place and take about six more tight polyester thread to the midpoint of the fishing or fly-tying related, but this is a turns around it with the thread. hook shank and wind it back to a point good one.) Use a razor blade for the Stroke the hair back away from directly above the barb of the hook. final shaping of the body. (Razor blades, the hook eye and make five or six Then wind it forward a third of the especially double-edge blades, are extremely tight turns against the front portion shank length. sharp, sousecaution whenhandlingthem.- of the hair. This enables the wings to Select a medium amount offine ed.) Quite subtle changes can be made stand upright. (mask or perhaps coastal), brown deer with the blade and with some practice, Now trim the butt ends of the hair for the tail and pick out the fuzz a nicely-trimmed deer-hair body shape hair as dose to the hook shank as and shorter hair. Can be achieved. possible without cutting the thread. Place the hair in a stacker and Trim the underside of the body Takeseveral more turns of thread around even up the ends. Set the hair atop the a little thinner than the back. This the trimmed ends. hook shank and secure it with several exposes more of the hook gape and Bunch the hair up atop the hook thread wraps at the point where the increases the fly's hooking ability. It shank, and, using a bodkin, divide it bobbin now hangs. The tail should be also helps make the fly ride better in into two equal amounts. the same length as the hook shank. the water. While holding the right wing, Apply slight upward pressure The front of the body should be take two turns of thread around the left on the hair and wind the thread back trimmed to a flat face or shoulder. You wing. Now hold the left wing and take to the point above the barb. Then may shorten the body somewhat by two turns around the right wing. Make wrap the thread up the hookshank to doing this, but if you have taken the sure the loops of thread are down near the midpoint and make whip finish. body two-thirds of the way up the hook (Continued on page 63) 57 ------MAy· JUNE1991 (Continued from page 57) Alaska Eruk's Wilderness Float Tours Customized Flyfishing mDil!ri ~~:~.~Expeditions on l trout, 5 species=~~wof Salmon, Arctic ~\~ Char, Sheefish l \~Jr °4to12daytrips '- 12720 Lupine Rd. the base of the wings. Don't make the fishermen and it has taken lots of trout Anchorage, AK 99516 turns so tight that they Causethe hair to for them. This fly is in it's glory in fast flare a lot. and turbulent water that will sink most Make figure-eight wraps around standard dry flies, and when it's tied The Margaree is Back! the wings and the hook shankro secure properly, the Irresistible offers durabil- Big Intervale Salmon Camp everything and you're ready to tie on ityandlow-maintenanceperformance. the hackle. Sure, I'm biased. Dad was my The Irresistible looks better and hero and my best friend. He never had rides better in the water when it is an axe to grind with anyone and fame heavily hackled, so, depending upon and fortune were not his objectives in the quality of the hackle that is used, life.The fliesthat he created were simply select two or three hackles with fibers a product of his best efforts to enhance one and a half times as long as the the time he spent on a mountain trout RR #1 M.argareeValley hook gape. stream or a pretty bass lake or river. Inverness Co: Nova Scotia Strip the fluff and web from the My father died when I was 22 BOE 2CO CANADA hackle stems. Placethehackles together, years old. He was 74. I'm now 46 and with the butt portions even. I still miss him. I wish some day I could (902) 422-4106 With the dull side of the hackle pack up my gear, take along a little extra facing forward, tie on the hackle stems lunch and head for one of his favorite in the area of the fly between the wings trout streams here in West Virginia. I'd .~ FLY SHOP and body and then wind the thread give awhistle, and he would join me for forward to secure the hackle stems be- some lunch and later we would try our i~iziilij's~~E SERVICE tween the wings and the eye of the luck with the local trout. Come visit your Four Corners Fly hook. Clip off the excess stems-I use As usual, he would open up his Shop or shop from the convenience a scalpel or razor blade for this. Apply a fly box and take out several flies for me of your home through our mail-order catalog. drop of Flexarnent to this area and to use. I'm sure one of them would be For that special vacation{ try a guided allow it to dry. his deer-hair drake fly.I know he'd hand float or wade trip on the San Juan Wind the hackles forward, be- it to mewith a little grin and say, "Here, Riverwith one of Rizuto' sexperienced ginning with the hackle nearest the Joe, try this one. Maybe these trout will guides. Free C%r Brochure wings and take several turns ofhackle in find it to be ... simply irresistible." and Supplies & Equipment Catalog front of the wings. Tie the hackle off 4251 E. Main, Suite F, Farmington, NM 87402 with two wraps and dip off the re- (505) 326-0664 maining tip. Continue winding the hackles, trying not to overlap the hackle that has NICHOLAS' 50 been previously wound. miles SOUTH PLATTE After the last hackle has been of one of RANCH secured, pull all the hackle fibers America's Finest Flyfishing Waters, back, and take several more thread the Headwaters of the South Platte. Joe Messinger is a second-generation professional Average size 18 inches per fish: wraps near the eye of the hook. Ap- Rainbows, German Browns, Cut- ply a whip finish. fly tyer. His father, Joe Messinger, Sr., originated throats, and Brook Trout. The 3 rivers a number of deer-hair flies for bass and trout. Of that make the South Platte: 4 Mile Creek, Place a drop of head cement on these flies, patterns such as the Irresistible and South Fork and Middle Fork. the thread, and you are finished, Bucktail Frog have become standards thatare tied Become a mem- ""-':-\.~;.\1'.. It is in the and fished widely today. Joe stiU ties these patterns ber of the Nicholas' • :..••;,•.. very center using the techniques originated by hisfather. We'll South Platte Ranch, , . of Colorado. The Irresistible has been around for a Flyfishing Only, for t~ . ~artsel. Col., long time. Through the years it has present the tying techniques in greater detail in a $1,500 per year. ~ _ .' In South Park. foture issue when he describes the Bucktail Frog. found a place in the fly boxes of many For Information Contact: Steve Rzepka, Mgr., 1-719-836-2001 (CO) 63 David J. Nicholas, 1-800-654-0343 (OK)