Anglers who solve a knotty problem with a good tye

He explained to me that some years previously he was travelling up to Scotland and had passed through Thirsk and had just happened to call at a tackle shop, like all good anglers would do, where he had purchased some flies.

One fly that he had bought had proved so successful he had used the pattern on the Test for many years thereafter. This fly had been invented and tied by Derek Stratton and was called Rosemary’s Delight. My southern caller had lost contact with Derek and wondered if I could replicate the fly.

To cut a long story very short, I did better than to tie it for him – after some researching and phone calls, I put him in direct contact with Derek and so was able to keep the friendship alive.

This encounter got the old grey cells working and thinking of how lucky we are, here in Yorkshire, to have a history of fly tyers who have produced great flies, some flies still named after the tyer, which are just as popular now long after the inventor has passed away. In Yorkshire, we have a long history of fly tying and fortunately most of this history has been put down in manuscript or book form. Pritt, Edmunds, Lee and Theakston, to name but a few, have all been recorded as tyers from the past but what about some others?

John Storey was a riverkeeper for Ryedale Anglers’ Club in North Yorkshire in the mid 1800s. He produced the famous “John Storey”. Tom Sturdy, a riverkeeper on the Ure at West Tanfield, invented the Sturdy’s Fancy. Norman Greenwood, an avid fisherman on the Nidd, tied the Sweet William named after his father. Come to think about it, who first tied the great spider pattern, the Williams Favourite? And who was it named after?

Then there is Broughton’s Point. Okay, I will put my hands up, this is not a Yorkshire fly. It was first tied by a cobbler in Penrith but it has become a very popular North Country spider pattern. More recently, Dr Martin Cross of Otley published a book about the flies tied by Jim Winn who was an angler of some note on the Wharfe at Addingham. Jim’s pamphlet/book about his patterns is well worth a read if you can obtain a copy, but I look forward to getting my hands on a copy of Martin’s book.

If we look at the more modern tyers who are still alive, we have Mike Harding, Oliver Edwards and Jerry Lee – maybe none has a pattern named after them yet but all exemplify the art of tying great patterns.

Now we come to the April fly of the month. John Tyzak comes from Lancashire. John is an “off cumden” and lives west of the Peninnes, but we’ll let him off for that. Now John and Dean Andrews, who is a well known TV actor, have produced a DVD on early spring fishing and I was intrigued with the feature on the JT Olive.

Not one to mess about, I tied up a few and off I went to the Wharfe. Having waited till around midday when the main hatch of large dark olives came off the water, on went the JT Olive dry fly.

What a super session – the hatch did not last long but long enough to prove to myself that the pattern works. The simplicity of the pattern is the main feature, long tail fibres with a mole fur body and the wing made from CDC (ducks bottom feathers) should make this fly one that will be remembered.