Mallard and Claret

[scotfly]

Another Scottish classic. The Mallard and Claret is derived from the Grouse and Claret. The change of winging material is attributed to William Murdoch who is also credited with bringing us the Heckham Peckham series of flys.
A great point fly for a cast on the loch and also a useful Seatrout fly.

Instructions assume right-handed tyers.

HOOK ? Wet Fly 10 ? 16
THREAD ? Black 6/0
RIB ? Fine Gold Oval
TAIL ? Golden Pheasant Tippets
BODY ? Claret Seals Fur
HACKLE ? Black Hen
WING ? Bronze Mallard


STEP 1
Attach the thread and take 5-7 turns then tie in the hackle.



Followed by the rib, under the shank



STEP 2
Take a small bunch of Tippets and keeping the tips aligned tie them in on top of the shank.



STEP 3
Apply a pinch of dubbing to the thread and wrap to form the body. When you reach the hackle take one turn of ?clean? thread past it.



Follow with the rib and tie it off in front (to the right) of the hackle.



STEP 4
Wrap the hackle in touching turns and tie off



Then sweep the hackle fibres down and take one or at most two turns of thread over them to secure them in this position, ready for the wing.



STEP 5
Offer up the wing and tie in, making sure it is on top and parallel with the hook shank. * see note at end of the step by step*



STEP 6
Finally form a neat head, whipfinish and varnish for the completed fly.



Bronze Mallard Wings.

Bronze Mallard is a delicate material and it is quite difficult to form perfect wing slips with it, but the simple truth is you don?t need too.
Whether you take great care and tie the perfect wing or just take a bit of care and tie a reasonable wing, at the end of the day you will be hard pushed to tell the difference once they are in the water.
For more details on tying Bronze Mallard wings and Teal which has similar qualities take a look at the step by step on the Medicine. The process is the same for both feathers.

[Ian_M]

Enjoyed that scotfly.  For some reason I always tied the Mallard & Claret with a tail of GP Topping.  Not sure where I got the dressing or if I misread it or not  

[scotfly]

Dennis always gets the tail wrong Ian,

A cunning ploy  While you concentrate on the wrong tail you don't notice the crap in front of it!  :lol: :lol:

Ian, don't listen to Ardberg, my tails are always correct.... Not my fault if the books are wrong!

[Wildfisher]

I like the open, fibrous wing. I use the Grouse and Claret a fair bit - it's a great fly. I'll try this one as it looks even better

[sandyborthwick]

One of my favourite classics - especially useful up on moorland waters. Some days this fly just ahs no substitute on peaty waters.

Sandy B.O.

[Ian_M]

I use the Grouse and Claret a fair bit - it's a great f

Strikes me that the only difference is the wing and while I agree that the mallard wing looks better, will the trout "spot the difference". With good bronze mallard not so easy to come by (and expensive) does it make sense to save it for flies such as the Dunkeld?

Looking at the photos in the step by step, could we use grouse wing for the Dunkeld,  just another dark brown speckly feather?

Just a thought.

[Wildfisher]

I use the Grouse and Claret a fair bit - it's a great f

Strikes me that the only difference is the wing and while I agree that the mallard wing looks better, will the trout "spot the difference". With good bronze mallard not so easy to come by (and expensive) does it make sense to save it for flies such as the Dunkeld?

Looking at the photos in the step by step, could we use grouse wing for the Dunkeld,  just another dark brown speckly feather?

Just a thought.

not sure the material matters - it's the open nature of the wing I like - could even use softish hair

[Ian_M]

it's the open nature of the wing I like - could even use softish hair

If you like it Fred, then you will fish it with confidence, and that takes a bit of beating.   

I tie Dunkelds (in larger sizes) with soft hair and they work fine.

[sandyborthwick]

I have tied these with Black wings(usually magpie) similar to a butchers wing and it has proved both resilient and highly effective - just another variation for the melting pot.

Sandy B.O.