Tuesday 28 December 2010

Greenwell's Glory

Greenwell's Glory
Another favourite, for the whole season


Partridge and Orange

Partridge and Orange #14
A useful fly at the start of the season and from June onward
this has been one of my favourites for over forty years
Tied with the original Pearsall's 6A

Sunday 26 December 2010

reversed parachute Sno Fly midges

These are going to the US to replace a set lost in the mail
size 24 TMC 508
Rusty brown thread
KrystalFlash rib
Blue dun hackle

Sunday 19 December 2010

Egg laying Midge

Egg layer Grey Boy midge #14 l/s
This one for a balmy spring evening as the light goes
Something for the surface on a spring day #18

Casting for Recovery UK - LAW Vice raffle

The above link will take you to 
Casting for Recovery UK
The link is to the raffle for the LAW vice
Buy yourself a ticket for a good cause at Christmas
Have a good one,
Roy 

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Pink for Casting for Recovery

This one is going in a set of flies for Casting for Recovery in the US.

Sunday 14 November 2010

Free eyes

The eyes of this shrimp are droplets of Clear Cure Goo
painted over with black oil pen
then another layer of CCG acrylic.
CCG supplies available on website.
http://www.reversedparachutes.com/
Free Eyes - yippee.  

Friday 5 November 2010

Reversed Parachute Emerger

My signature fly and my small stream search fly for most of the season

                                           Click the link on the line above for SLIDESHOW detail
It can be tied to represent any emergent insect or wind blown terrestrial
recipe - hook, thread, 5x mono, fur, hackle.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Fluorescent Tube

This photograph shows the fly under indoor light in the upper shot
and under UV light in the lower shot.
Fluorescents have strong presence.

Friday 15 October 2010

Revpara Baetis




Reversed Parachute baetis emerger
Mustad 3366 #18
rusty brown Uni 6/0
blue dun hackle fibre tail
dubbing body
Blue dun hackle

Simple but deadly

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Size 28 Mustad 94840
black uni 6/0
Body - porcupine quill coated in CCG resin
wing - AeroDryWing & a strand of flashabou
Hackle - dun Whiting

Sunday 10 October 2010

shrimps for the grayling

just a couple of shrimps with a bit of weight
these will be very useful when the insect life becomes scarce
 and the weed has died back a bit

grayling time

Saturday 11 September 2010

Gusting SouthWesterly on the Brook

I took a late afternoon trip to the brook today.
It was windy, gusting from the SW so casting was going to be an issue.
The answer was at hand. Armed with the Schliske Slayer and a 4wt line, I started at the bottom of the fishery, took a handful of browns to a pound and three quarter and a couple of chub, on reversed parachute emergers and CDC & Elk's. I fished up to the walk-in and stopped for a break.

Refreshed, I continued upstream, expecting easy pickings..
No such luck. As the sun sped toward the western horizon, the rises were scarce. I took another couple of pounder browns and a five inch brownie parr, a beautiful thing and I returned him gently, soul intact.

The evening drew near a close, nightfall is noticeably earlier every day at this stage of the season.
I will have to get out at every opportunity before September ends and steals the trout season here.

I finished my day at the wooden bridge near the top of the fishery where I had a good brown earlier in the year using stealth tactics to stalk him, then a mad dash, throwing the rod across to the grass, run round, pick it up, fish still on, got him. It was a mad dash in a jungle.


Looking closely at the photograph above you will see my 7ft 3wt leaning up against the tree, which is three feet thick. Problem is, my arms are not long enough to pass a rod around the tree. 

Today I approached with the usual caution. To my delight there was the rainbow which took up residence after my brown moved house. His nose was visible through the rails. This could be a repeat of the earlier game with the brown. He had not seeen me, so I took my time, changed my tippet, tied on a fresh fly, arrow cast it over the rail. Up he comes, suck, pause, strike.
So do I throw the Slayer across to the grass? I am playing a lively rainbow which is jumping, twisting, cartwheeling, running into structure and generally going crazy.
Not on your life will I be throwing this work of art about.
So, all caution thrown to the wind, gusting SW or otherwise, I climb over the rail, playing the trout with my left hand, grab a hold on the vines which grow up the tree, climb around the tree, gripping with the right hand, still playing the trout with my left; he is still on, I am back on dry land and I can have a free run of the bank.
The trout is no match for Slayer, the new tippet is good, the hook holds. Another trout is winkled out from this stronghold.
  
Was that the last cast of the day? Of course not. I took another brown at ten inches on the way back to the lodge, Daddy Longlegs was the victim this time, tied on size 16.
I'll have to get back down soon. Season's end is closing in. Soon I may only dream the memory of the brook until the new spring. Glad I took the trip out today, excellent sport.

Thanks to Matt Schliske for the pleasure of this rod.I have been loath to fish her in this place where it is, in places, seriously overgrown. I will be fishing her more, now that I have gained a better appreciation of the powers Matt instilled in her fibres.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Published March 1992 Trout and Salmon magazine UK

                           I thought I should add a little history of the reversed parachute design.
For a better look,

The first few dozen flies I built fell to pieces as I had no good way of attaching the hackle in this configuration. I designed and tested the Avon Special alongside this one and depended on it for a few seasons while I worked out how to construct the reversed parachute.
My old friend Bashy reminds me that he took the record brown on the wee burn at home on a reversed parachute olive emerger in 1973. That fish at a pound and a quarter stuck in memory. Well done Bashy, tight lines to you.

In later years, around 1976 I had the process refined so that the flies lasted for a few fish and I came to use it for more imitations, midges and caddis on lakes, since I had moved to London where there is little trout fishing in streams.
Later refinements make it virtually indestructable.

I'll be testing some more over the next few days and will attempt to catch a fish to show you.
Here's hoping. :)
Roy 

Saturday 4 September 2010

Reversed Parachute emerger


Welcome to Reversed Parachutes, the home of Roy Christie's fly designs.

This is my signature fly, the Reversed Parachute emerger.
Designed originally to represent a stillwater midge, it immediately proved successful in midge, mayfly and caddis representations. I never could understand how the standard collar hackled dry fly was supposed to work, it needed a radical revamp; this journey has kept me amused during many a long evening at the bench and on the water.
I have developed the design over the last thirty years or so and build it generally from size #8 to the tiniest of smuts. Following my discovery of the internet about fifteen years ago, it has been tested by friends on many streams, rivers and loughs across the globe. In some cases it has become their standard search fly. 

Constructed from simple hackle, thread, fur and a piece of nylon monofilament, it is extremely durable and can be tied to match the hatch, as above, also proving attractive as a beetle, cranefly or other wind blown unfortunate stuck in the surface film.


Here is a pretty brownie I caught on a Danica Reversed Parachute on a wee brook, earlier this year.


The brown was returned to fight another day.

Fighting fish........... click here....
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob9mT8ycukY

I do not hold the record for this fly. It has caught some fine fish for me, some going close on five pounds.
Mike Wilkinson in New Zealand has a five pounder to talk about.
Joseph Stitt will tell you how he took an extremely difficult trout in New Zealand on this fly.
Two friends in the US had some superb fishing, thirty fish each with this design, tied as a Caenis, when the other twenty anglers on that flat balmy lake failed to catch one among them.

Its record is held by my friend Hans Backman from Sweden who used a Vulgata version of this design, size #8, which I tied at a show in Sweden, to capture an Arctic Char of over five Kilos - unless one of you who reads this knows better. The trout and grayling records are unclaimed.
Photographic proof will be required for any bragging .

I have been priveleged over the last few years to attend fly tying shows in many countries to demonstrate this design and my many others. For that I say thank you to my many hosts and to the many excellent people who have attended.


Welcome,


Roy Christie


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