My journey as a tyer began more than 50 years ago, and my curiosity has taken me down a variety of pathways with different styles of flies tracing back to early times. I’ve had the fortune of meeting and knowing many of the great fly tyers of the past and present and learn along the way. I’ve also had the privilege of learning how to process materials from a few of the greats in the business including my old friend Jack Mickievicz.
Materials have been both a source of fascination and frustration in my pursuit of finding the perfect materials for the flies I tie. This frustration eventually led to learning how to process and prepare materials for my own use. Many a day has been spent over the years learning the nuances involved in preparing, dyeing, bleaching, and blending materials from Jack and others in the industry.
In the end, I had the opportunity to purchase the remaining materials, dyes, and processing equipment Jack had used for the past 50 years with his tying material business. It’s now my honor to carry on that experience under my own banner “Signature Materials”. Signature Materials is a line of tying materials processed in my own shop. They are uniquely different from mainstream offerings and processed with purpose, intention and lessons from a lifelong passion for tying good flies.
Keep your thread tight,
Henry
Goose Biots
I’m very proud of this range of hatch specific goose biots! They are the result of extensive testing and in some cases are made from a mixture of three or more dye shades. Nothing makes a better imitation of a mayfly abdomen than goose biots, and I use these extensively in my Signature Fly patterns for tying up to size #14 flies.
Available Colors:
Baetis Olive Hendrickson Pale Sulphur
Light Baetis Olive Red Quill Sulphur Yellow
Cornuta Olive Rusty Spinner Sulphur Orange
Attenuata Olive Cream Cahill Gunpowder Sulphur
Early Blue Quill Light Cahill Sulphur Spinner
Mahogany Spinner Brown Olive Spinner Pale Morning Dun
Vitreus Pink Stonefly Gold Early Black Stone
Pale Olive Brown Spinner
Four biot strips per pack
4
$
Barred Turkey Biots
Paired left and right barred turkey biots dyed in some great colors! The natural barring adds a nice contrast for segmented fly bodies. Turkey biots are perfect for size #14 and larger flies.
Available Colors:
Quill Gordon October Caddis Adams Grey
Great Red Spinner Isonychia Stonefly Gold
Damsel Olive
Paired left and right feathers
6
$
Caddis Color Alpaca Blends
This is a very unique material with a beautiful natural sparkle. The fiber is selected and dyed to imitate the most common caddis species we encounter on our rivers. Highly useful and specific blends for caddis larva, pupa and adult stages. You will not be disappointed!
Available Colors:
Caddis Green Apple Caddis Tan Caddis
Dark Blue Sedge Hydropsyche Tan October Caddis
Grannom Caddis
One gram per pack
4.50
$
Small Batch Blends
As the name implies, the process of creating these dubbing blends limits their production to small micro brewed batches. Small Batch Blends are a mix of natural fur blends from fox, muskrat, hare and other animals. There are some very unique pattern specific blends produced from natural furs for flies described by earlier tyers like T.E. Pritt, Fran Betters, R.S. Austin, H.C. Cutcliffe and others.
Ausable Orange Muskrat March Brown #11 (Pritt)
Opossum Red Fox Grey Fox
Hares Mask Urine Burn Fox Cutcliffe XXIV
Tups Indispensable Fox Belly Rough Rabbit
Water Rat Substitute Iron Blue Spider Bleached Raccoon
Humphrey's Cress Bug
One gram per pack
4.50
$
Small Batch Nymph Blends
Small Batch Nymph Blends are bleached, dyed and blended natural furs to imitate many of the larva and nymph species found in our waters. 16 imitative blends packaged in 1gram bags.
Baetis Olive Sulphur Pteronarcys Stonefly
Hendrickson Green Drake Golden Stonefly
March Brown Isonychia Perla Stonefly
Cornuta Olive Pheasant Tail Hydropsyche Larva
Jack's Light Sulphur Early Brown Stonefly Rhyacophila Larva
Leech Black
One gram per pack
4.50
$
Coastal Deer Hair
Coastal Deer hair is shorter and more heavily marked than many varieties of deer hair and is perfect for tying Compara Duns, X Caddis, Charlie Boy Hoppers and other flies where minimal flare sets up the fly properly. These are nice 2 x 3” pieces. Let me know in the notes what you are tying and I will pick a nice patch for you.
Natural Hopper Green Dun
Natural Dark Hopper Yellow
Bleached Pale Yellow
2 x 3" Patch
4.50
$
Mallard Flank Feathers
(1/4 Ounce)
Mallard flank with its fine speckling is so useful for tying traditional Catskill style dry flies, wet flies, soft hackle streamers, Drunk and Disorderly’s and other patterns. Offered in quarter ounce bags for serious tyers to give you a good selection of feather sizes and fiber lengths.
Natural Grey Green Drake
Light Dun Yellow Drake
Wood Duck Chartreuse
Pale Brown Olive Olive
1/4 ounce bag
7
$
Mallard Flank Feathers
(1/8 Ounce)
Mallard flank with its fine speckling is so useful for tying traditional Catskill style dry flies, wet flies, soft hackle streamers, Drunk and Disorderly’s and other patterns. Offered in eighth ounce bags to give you a good selection of feather sizes and fiber lengths.
Natural Grey Green Drake
Light Dun Yellow Drake
Wood Duck Chartreuse
Pale Brown Olive Olive
1/8 ounce bag
4
$
Poly X Wing Yarn
If you knew fly tying material guru Jack Mickievicz, this material needs no introduction. Poly X is very similar to Zelon with a very reflective shine, crinkly texture and just the right amount of stiffness to hold its shape. I use this for my “Little Yellow Stone”, Thorax Dun wing posts, mayfly spinner wings, spent caddis and other fly patterns. I have purchased all the remaining inventory of this great material and offer it in Jack’s original shades; plus some new colors I have dyed. This is not sold carded to prevent those annoying kinks!
Light Dun Creamy Ginger Wood Duck
Blue Dun Green Drake Little Yellow Stone
Light Olive Dun October Caddis Caddis Grey Tan
Olive Dun Light Slate Dun Caddis Grey Brown
5 yards per pack
3.50
$
Sparkle Caddis Yarn
The yarns Gary LaFontaine used for his famous “Sparkle Pupa” and “Floating Pupa” are no longer produced, and nothing else is quite the same for tying these highly effective patterns. Most of the materials marketed as Antron are not what they claim to be and do not reproduce the effect that Lafontaine wrote about in his monumental “Caddisflies”. I do have a very limited amount of this authentic material in some of the most important caddis colors. Some of these are my own color formulations dyed to closely match specific caddis species. 3 yards per pack which will tie a lot of Sparkle Pupa.
Caddis Green Pine Creek Caddis Yellow Tan Caddis
Caddis Tan Apple Caddis October Caddis
3 yards per pack
3
$
Honey Bug Yarn substitute (Fine)
Long before the Mop fly, Green Weenie or Walt’s Worm; the “Honey Bug” was a very popular fly in central Pennsylvania and beyond. While the original material is no longer made, I have sourced a substitute that is fantastic and of a diameter that allows tying smaller flies than the original. This chenille absorbs water like a sponge and sinks quickly without requiring weight to get the fly down. I have dyed this in some highly useful colors to imitate caddis larva, cranefly larva, inch worms and others. It also ties some nice mini buggers and leeches. Try a few colors!
Stonefly Brown Olive Natural Buff
Grey Tan Taupe Tan
Cranefly Larva Grey Caddis Green Worm Green
Java Brown Apple Green Inch Worm
Salmon
3 yards per pack
3
$
Fine Wool Yarn
Many older fly patterns specify wool in their recipes for bodies and tails. This is a very fine diameter 2 ply wool that can be separated to tie even smaller fly patterns or chopped and blended with other dubbing furs. This fine size wool is offered here in eighteen very useful colors. Sold carded with 3 yards per card.
Delaware Adams Pale Sulphur White
Caddis Green Sulphur Yellow Ivory
Pine Creek Caddis Cahill Cream Tan
October Caddis March Brown Chocolate Brown
Light Olive Green Stonefly Gold Scarlet
Soft Olive Iron Blue Dun Black
3 yards per pack
2.25
$
Superfine Wool Yarn
As the name implies, this is a superfine wool yarn that will tie flies down to midge sized patterns. Try this on some of your North Country Spiders and Flymph patterns. Sold 2.5 yards per card.
Henryville Special Cahill Cream Soft Tan
Apple Caddis Red Quill Ginger
October Caddis Hendrickson Gold
Light Hares Ear Pheasant Tail Beaver Brown
Hares Ear Isonychia Mahogany
2 1/2 yards per pack
2.25
$
Moose Body Hair
A highly useful hair for tails on larger dry flies and for tying the famous Humpy series dry flies. Rich black hair in a range of lengths. Sold in short ( 1 ½ - 2”) and long (2 – 3”) lengths. Sold in 2 x 3” pieces.
Short Body Hair (1 1/2" to 2" long)
Long Body Hair (2" to 3" long)
2 x 3" piece
