****y Knight nymph

[nfrechet]

here is my feeble version from the basic description in the article

no lynx so i substituted tan hares fur

hackle was trimmed after the fly was completely tied

trimming hackle before or after is the tyers preference

even if this one is tied incorrectly it should still hook a fish. even a blind squirrel will find a nut

kinda hard to tell in the original article

 

[nfrechet]

also reminds me of the "wonder bug"

 

[pugdom]

That looks like more what I was taught

 

[nomad_archer]

Those look great nfrechet. I like the wonder but a lot as well.

 

[Tups]

From "Professional Fly Tying and Tackle Making ..." By George L. Herter. 1958. Eleventh edition. Page396

 

[Tups]

****y Knight: invented by John Alden Knight the well known outdoor writer. Tail: ****-y-bondhu hackle fibers. body: tan fur from red fox belly or from Lynx tail. Hackle: ****-y-bondhu tied Palmer over the body.

 

[Tups]

I have a copy of JA Knight "the Modern Angler". Scribners 1936. No mention of ****y knight. But he wrote several other FF books as well. Don't have those.

 

[nfrechet]

Tups wrote:
From "Professional Fly Tying and Tackle Making ..." By George L. Herter. 1958. Eleventh edition. Page396

i have the 12th edition but its only 188 pages

http://www.premier-pages.co.uk/flies/fly025.htm

 

[Talyn]

I know its been awhile since I posted on the ****y Knight nymph.

I'm visiting family in Butler Co. and fortunately there is a local fly shop (albeit in the process to closing now) that I visited about this pattern. The owner of Murray's Stream Master Fly Shop (Bud) was nice to review the info on this pattern that I posted here and tie up a dozen of them for me.

We used a combination of the original recipe and the example of nomad_archer displayed in post #16 of this thread since it was the closest to what I recalled the ones I used as a kid. We decided to use a #10 XL hook since he was out of #8s since he was out. I'll likely try #8 to #12 XL-2XLs when I give it a try back home.

Of coarse e had to substitute the body material since its not readily available now. I don't have a pic to post yet but may so when I get back home to Montana in a couple weeks.

I think its pretty difficult to exactly replicate something I used 40 yrs ago and from a black/white pic from an old PA Angler article. Nonetheless I have something now to use as examples on my own to play with in tying as I try to move in the direction of the original recipe.

Mr. Murry plans to use it for his fishing and I look forward to catching my first Montana trout on this variant of the ****y Knight. I hope some you other fly fishers can keep this fly (or its facsimile) alive since I don't think these old legacy flies should go extinct. These old flies may not be as fancy as current flies but they deserve to live on, especially since they'll catch fish.

BTW, in a plug for Mr. Murray he has a 30% off sale going on and may have something you may want for a good price. His contact # is: 724-352-4636.

I picked up many flies and some other stuff. I saw several eastern patterns that we don't see out-west to use as examples so I can hope to replicate them for use n MT.

It's unfortunate he's closing but he says the internet market is the cause.

Lastly I took a quick trip up to our old hunting/fishing camp in Elk County and while the streams looked good no one was fishing. Apparently, things aren't the way it used to be when I was a kid with declining interest in fishing by the younger generations.

Regards,