Tucked away deep in my collection of clutter is a few Riker mount boxes of flies from an earlier time in my fly tying career. There was a time when classic and artistic Atlantic Salmon flies were an obsession of mine. For a fly tyer these fanciful creations represent the master’s game and is by far the deepest rabbit hole a tyer can go down. From collecting the classic materials and books from the Victorian period, to developing the techniques to properly prepare materials and assemble them is a list of pursuits within one. At a certain point I lost interest in this game; mostly due to the ethics of a few well-known individuals in the game more than anything else, and I closed the book on that life chapter. Shown here is a heavily dressed Jock Scott I dressed about 20 years ago; tied on a handmade 6/0 Harrison Bartleet iron by Ray Smith, using authentic Blue Chatterer, Indian Crow, Toucan, Bustard and the other specified materials called for in the original recipe. The fly has spent too many years pressed and flattened in a Riker box and I didn’t take the time to steam it back to shape before photographing it and tucking it away again. I’ll post more photos from that salmon fly collection soon. Maybe I’ll get a second wind one day and dig out all those pretty feathers. Who knows? Till then….. www.ramsayflies.com #Regalvise
