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JACK NORRIS AND WONDERWING MIDGES
This morning, when sorting through my chest-of-drawers that
is full of boxes that are full of flies, I found a box of
flies given to me by the late Jack Norris. Jack was the
man who taught me how to tie and fish dry flies and, although
you may not have heard of him, at one time he was considered
amongst the best exponents of the dry fly. That is not only
my opinion; the great and late Reg Righyni and Dermot Wilson
said so too.
Jack was an interesting man. An upholsterer by trade; a
working man who knew the best bargains in cigarettes. A
man who lived for fly-fishing and his two daughters. When
I first met him he fished a CC de France cane rod, Perfect
reel and silk line, but in later years Righyni persuaded
him to turn to Bruce & Walker's first carbon fly rods. I
saw him only one fish anything other than a dry fly. It
was on the Wenning River, the river was in flood, and he
was fishing a worm on his CC de France gear! In the last
couple of summers before he died he looked after a put-and-take
trout lake so that its owner could do his weekly shopping.
He was dismissed when, the owner wondering why so few came
fishing when Jack was in charge, discovered that he would
tell them. before their had paid, 'Oh! It's not worth fishing
here today. Fishing very badly! They would leave and take
profit with them. What Jack really meant, of course, that
the trout weren't rising to the dry fly!
Towards the end of his life Jack was especially interested
in the imitation of adult midges, a group of naturals long
ignored by fly-tyers. The dressing he came up with was simple:
Jack's Wonderwing
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Hook:
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shank length
as natural, fine wire |
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Thread:
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Jack used a single strand
taken from a 15-denier lady's real silk stocking, which
he held tight using the weight from an old bobbin-holder.
I have a stocking given to me by Jack and use it in
demo's. Try Spider-web if you don't know a lady. |
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Abdomen:
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A strand of fine herl,
colour to match natural (most often black or grey so
crow or heron ideal) |
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Rib:
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One strand of pearl Crystal
hair (Jack noted that air bubbles highlighted the segmentation
of a midge body on the water and this was matched by
the rib). |
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Wings:
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to match wings of natural
(white or blue-dun cock hackles, but try mallard flank
to start with). |
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Legs:
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Crimped stiff horsehair
or finest hackle stalk. Jack put in two pairs usually
on the basis that trout cannot count: |
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Thorax:
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Small cock hackle (people
have argued about hackles on dry flies but the fish
confirm the effectiveness here!); colour to match natural.
Jack never used genetic; he knew every poultry-fancier
in Lancashire and scrounged the corpses of their finest
specimens. |
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Hackle:
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White or light blue-dun
cock.** |
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Marc Petitjean's basic CDC 'sedge-midge' pattern and
Troth's Elk Hair Caddis with the hackle removed, we
all soon worked out that trout will take Jack's Wonderwing
when taking other food items. It works as a dry sedge,
a land-bred beetle, a stonefly, a thrips (thunderfly),
a leaf-hopper... just vary size and colours. I have
known it catch a trout that have ignored both the Elk
Hair and MP CDC! It's that good. I'm glad I found that
box of flies.. I'm going to tie some more. Now. Malcolm
Greenhalgh |
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