Greenwells glory (wet)

 

This "must have" pattern was first tied by James Wright in 1854 for Cannon William Greenwell as a river wet fly.

Over time it has been translated into a nymph and of course into a  dry fly which is a must have fly when olives are around.

The tie below is a modern version of the original wet.

Materials

Hook Thread Tail Rib Body Hackle Wings
Tiemco 3769 #10 or #12 Primrose yellow Furnace hackle barbules Fine gold wire Primrose yellow thread Cock y bonddu or furnace Blackbird, starling or woodcock feather slips

Process

A
  1. Starting at the 95% position wind the thread to the bend of the hook.
  2. Tie ina tail of 4 to 6 furnace hackle barbules. The finished tail should be around as long as the shank of the hook.

B
  1. Tie ina length of ribbing material at the bend of the hook.
  2. Then wind the thread backward and forward between the bend of the hook and the 85% position forming a thin cigar shaped body.
  3. Finish with your thread at the 85% position.

C
  1. Wind the ribbing wire forward forming 7 or 8 segments along the body of the fly.
  2. Tie the ribbing wire off at the 85% position and worry off the excess wire..

D
  1. Tie a hackle in with barbules about twice the length as the gape of the hook.
  2. The dull side of the top/shiny side of the hackle should be facing forward so that when the hackle is wound forward the barbules will have a natural tendency to slope back. If the hackle were tied in with the dull side facing forward the barbules would face forward as in a dry fly.
  3. Next step.

E
  1. Take just 2 or 3 turns of the hackle forward of the 85% position.
  2. Tie the hackle off with a couple of firm wraps of thread.
  3. Trim the excess hackle butt away with a sharp blade.

F
  1. With thumb and forefinger stroke the hackle barbules back and lock them into position witha couple of extra firm wraps of thread.

G
  1. The hackle barbules should now be sloping back at around 45 degrees.

H
  1. Select a matching set of feather slips.
  2. Tie them in at the 95% position with the tip of the wings finishing around half way above the tail and sloping at around 45 degrees.
  3. Build up a neat thread head.
  4. Whip finish the head of the fly, trim the thread and varnish the head of the fly.



Last Updated: September 22, 2011
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Categories: Flies, Wee wets
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