A Synopsis for the Patterns of the 03 Ganaraska Resolution Fly Swap

A synopsis for the patterns of the “2003 Spring Spey Swap”

#1 – Bender Special Spey

Tied By Tom Bender -
Hook: TMC 7989 #6
Thread: Tan #140 Waxed
Body: 3 wraps of Tan #140 Thread
Rib: Gold Ultrawire
Thorax: Olive Chenille
Hackle/Collar: Tan Marabou/Olive Marabou
Wing: Quail Feathers; Underside coated with head cement and smoothed out with fingers.
Head: Black Thread

#2 – Manhattan Beach Spey

Tied By Tom Bender -
Hook: Mustad 36890 #4
Thread: Fluorescent Yellow 6/0 Waxed Thread
Body: Fluorescent Yellow Thread Covered with Medium Pearl Tinsel
Rib: Gold Ultrawire
Tail: Pearl Krystal Flash
Hackle/Collar: Fluorescent Yellow Marabou/White Marabou
Head: Yellow Thread

#3 – Purple Drake Spey

Tied By Tom Bender -
Hook: TMC 7989 #6
Thread: Black 8/0 Uni-Thread
Body: Purple Mylar Braid
Thorax: Medium Black Ultra Chenille
Hackle: Purple Marabou/White Saddle Hackle/Partridge Feather
Rib: Small Silver Holo Tinsel
Collar: Teal
Wing: Teal Wing Feather (Blue Variant)
Head: Black Thread

#4 – Olive Spey

I found this pattern in the Silver Docter Swaps pages! A very traditional tie, and yet really not a lot of effort and not too complex. I think this is a great "practice" pattern. I've only made a couple minor modifications to the pattern based on the materials at hand, using copper ultra wire for ribbing instead of gold oval tinsel and black thread instead of olive.

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied)
Hook - Daiichi 2161, Size 1
Body - Silver Flat Tinsel, Medium
Counter Rib - Copper Ultra Wire, Fine
Spey Hackle - Olive Schlappen, 1 side stripped & tip tied at butt of fly
Throat/Collar - Natural Guinea Fowl
Thread – Black

#5 – Gray Heron – BONUS FLY!!!

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied above)
Hook – Daiichi 2161, Size 1
Underbody - Silver Flat Tinsel
Body - Rear = Yellow Floss, Front = Black Floss dubbed with Black Rabbit Fur
Rib - Silver Flat Tinsel
Spey Hackle - Blue-Eared Pheasant (natural gray)
Throat / Collar - Guinea Fowl
Wing - Bronze Mallard
Thread – Black 8/0

#6 – Golden Spey

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied)
Hook - Daiichi 2161, size 1
Underbody - Silver Flat Tinsel (keeps the yellow floss true to color when wet)
Body - Rear 1/2 = Yellow Floss, Front 1/2 = Black Floss
Body Veil / Underwing - Golden Pheaseant Tippets
Ribbing - Fine Oval Tinsel, Silver
Spey Hackle – Black Spey Substitute (Burned Goose Shoulder)
Wing - Golden Pheasant Crest
Thread - Black

#7 – Krystal Spey

Tied By Tom Bender -
Hook: TMC 7989 #6
Thread: Black 8/0 Uni-Thread
Tail: Calf Tail – White
Body: Medium Pearl Tinsel
Rib: Gold Ultrawire
Thorax: Krystal Chenille
Hackle: White Saddle Hackle or Partridge Feather
Collar: Chucker Crest
Wing: Teal Feather
Head: Black Thread

#8 – MP’s Buckwing Speydace

This is totally a fusion fly; a combination of the Black Nose Dace Streamer and the Spey Style. The use of schlappen will add some movement to the pattern while a simplified Black Nose Dace color scheme gives great potential. I've never liked the red coloration in the Black Nose Dace pattern so I've omitted it. Tie in the Hackle first, then add the wing (this causes the grey schlappen to be pushed down underneath the white bucktail rather than also coming up over the "top" of the fly like a collar).

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied)
Hook - Daiichi 2161 (here tied on a #1)
Body - Flat Silver Tinsel
Ribbing - Fine Oval Tinsel, Silver
Hackle - Grey Schlappen
Wing - White, Black, & Brown Bucktail (layered in that order bottom to top)
Thread - Black

#9 – MP’s 2003

This was another one of my "affordable & fast" spey patterns that I concocted and liked! Again, my goal was to use only materials I had readily available anyways! One tying note; palmer the hackle first and THEN lay down the copper wire (I usually do 2-3 turns of wire for every one turn of hackle); this is to keep the hackle protected as I've found pheasant rumps to be rather brittle.

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied for the swap)
Hook -Gamakatsu T10-6H, size 1 (pictured above on a Daiichi 2161, Size 4)
Body - Black Chenille (pictured above with black floss for smaller sized fly)
Ribbing - Copper Wire
Spey Hackle - Ringneck Pheasant Rump Feather, Natural
Wing - Ringneck Pheasant Breast Feather (aka. the "Heart Feather")
Throat - Black Hackle
Thread – Black

#10 – MP’s Black Laced Spey (in Orange)

Whiting Hackle has this great genetic Hen Hackle called "Black Laced" - basically the feathers are black with a large white center. Via dye they create these phenomenally marked hackles...exceptional for hackle as it creates this gorgeous "black tipped" effect. However, the feathers are STUNNING on their own; I couldn't resist the yellow! I simply HAD to incorporate this into a spey fly, and MP's Black-Laced Yellow resulted. I'm probably going to tie "MP's Black-Laced Spey" in a variety of other colors, as these feathers are dyed in a whole rainbow. Simply switch the dubbing and color of the hackles in the variations (see a few new versions I tied up below)!

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied)
Hook - Daiichi 2161 (Size 1)
Body - Silver Flat Tinsel (sm)
Rib - Black Ultra Wire (med)
Thorax - Antron Hare Dubbing (here in orange, any dubbing type would be OK)
Spey Hackle - Ringneck Pheasant Rump, dyed black
Wing - Matched Black-Laced Whiting Hen Hackle (here in orange)
Thread – Black

#11 – MP’s Simplified Purple Guinea Spey

I found the Purple Spey pattern in Matt Supinski's "Steelhead Dreams" book. This simplified version removes the Black Hackle Tip Wing. This simplified spey is a great use for leftover & smaller spey hackles by tying on a smaller hook, and it's REALLY EASY tie!

Tied by Matt Pedersen –
Pattern (as tied)
Hook – Daiichi 2161, Size 4
Body - Purple Floss (use a silver flat tinsel underbody if you don't want the body to look black underwater)
Spey Hackle - Purple
Collar - Natural Black Guinea
Thread - Black