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First published December 2nd 2006 - A couple of years ago
Bergman Conversions
New Streamers
By Tom Giglio
It all started with Raske.
Way back when, before Raske's Streamer Page joined GFF, he popped up
with a feature
where he took some traditional and well known atlantic salmon fly patterns
and adapted them to streamer form. A few years later, we followed that
lead with another feature
where we did something similar, only this time instead of converting the patterns to featherwing streamers, we tied bucktails along the lines of "little
bucktails for brookies".
I guess it's only natural that we followed this path to the classic wet
flies made popular by Ray Bergman's seminal book "Trout". In
the winter of 2004, the gang of streamers@
held a swap of flies where
each tyer would submit a "conversion" of a classic wet fly pattern into
bucktail form, and optionally the pattern tied in it's natural wet
fly form.
Converting a fly from one form to another is certainly an educational
process, as it requires you to look at materials in a new way, especially
the wing materials. A wet fly that calls for a wing of mallard flank or
mottled turkey has no obvious equivalent in a hairwing fly, so the tyer
has to sort through their bins of junk looking for something that strikes
there eyes.
Before we move on to the flies, I think it
is worthwhile to spend a few moments reflecting on the life of Ray Bergman
and his contributions to the world of fly fishing. For that, we turn to
the words of Don Bastian, who's credentials are beyond compare when it
comes to Ray Bergman and his flies.
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Ray
Bergman wrote four books.
Just
Fishing (1932)
Trout (1938)
Fresh Water Bass (1942)
With Fly, Plug, and Bait (1947)
Trout
is the only fishing book ever written to remain continuously in
print for more than 50 years. The first edition was reprinted 13
times. Second edition (1952) revised, enlarged, with two new chapters
on spinning. Third edition of Trout was done in 1978. In the year
2000 the Derrydale Press published a fourth edition with a new forward
by Gary LaFontaine. "Trout" in all its volumes and editions has
sold more than 225,000 copies; a feat that will probably never be
surpassed by a fishing book. The first edition of Trout was entirely
a fly fishing book. When
Trout
was published, it contained the largest collection of illustrated
fishing flies ever published, more than 600 patterns; 440 of which
are classic wet flies. All the color plate paintings in Bergman's
books were painted by Dr. Edgar Burke, noted author, artist.
Bergman
was angling editor of Outdoor Life magazine from 1934 until 1959
when he retired. Born 1981, died 1967. His name and gravesite was
just this past year, placed on a "Cemetery Tour" of notable people
in the history of the area of Nyack, NY, the place where Bergman
was born, lived, and died.
He
operated a mail-order fly tackle business called "Ray Bergman's
Angling Specialties" from 1934 until he retired. He had his own
line of fly tying hooks made by the Martinez Company in Redditch,
England, sold as Nyack Brand, Ray Bergman Fly Tying Hooks. There
were Red Label, Blue Label, Yellow Label, and others.
Before
and throughout his tenure with Outdoor Life Bergman made annual
fishing trips across the UNited States and Canada. He along with
his wife, Grace, fished for all types of fish in nearly every state
in the country. His favorite method was dry fly fishing to rising
trout with flies he personally tied. However, he was not about placing
a worm on the hook when all else failed.
As
Angling Editor of Outdoor Life, Bergman wrote about all types of
fishing with all methods. His position with this popular magazine
at a time when there were no fly fishing publications on the market
had much to do with the fact that Ray Bergman was practically a
household name during his later years of life.
Don
Bastian
March 2006
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Admiral
Tied by Al Grombacher
Tag: Silver Tinsel Body: Scarlet Floss
Rib: Flat Silver Tinsel Throat: Scarlet
Wing: White Saddle Hackles
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Babcock
Tied by Lindsey Grandison
Tag: Gold Tinsel Body: Crimson Floss
Rib: Gold Tinsel Throat: White Bucktail
Wing: Yellow over Black over Yellow synthetic
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Bergman Fontinalis
Tied by Tim Giglio
Tag: Silver Tinsel Body: Grey Floss
Rib: Orange Floss and Oval Silver Tinsel Throat: Mallard
Wing: Orange Bucktail, topped with sparse black bucktail
and
sparse white bucktail
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Blue Jay
Tied by Ron McKusick
Hook: Mustad 3399A #6 Tag: Flat Gold Tinsel Tail:
Golden Pheasant Tippet
Body: Orange Floss Rib: Flat Gold Tinsel Throat:
Orange Hackle
Wing: gray squirrel tail hair dyed kingfisher blue Shoulder:
Asian Kingfisher shoulder feather
Eye: Jungle cock Head: Black Lacquer
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Brandreth
Tied by Bob Petti
Body: Yellow Floss Rib: Flat Gold Tinsel Throat:
Mixed Orange and
Yellow Hackle Wing: Gray Squirrel Tail
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Hopatcong
Tied by Chris Del Plato
Head: Black Tail: Scarlet Schlappen over Yellow Schlappen
Body: Flat Silver Tinsel Rib: Oval Silver Tinsel Throat:
Black Schlappen
Wing: Dark Marten/Sable Tail Cheek: Jungle Cock
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Kineo
Tied by Stack Scoville
Tail: Black, White, Scarlet Polar Bear, mixed
Body: Scarlet Wool Rib: Flat Silver Tinsel
Hackle: Scarlet, palmered
Wing: Scarlet, Black, and White Mixed
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Murray
Tied by Monte Smith
Hook: Daiichi 2340, #6 Tail: Red schlappen Body:
Black silk
Ribs: Medium flat silver, followed by orange silk; counterwrapped
with fine silver wire
Hackle: Orange, wrapped and tied under as throat Wing:
Siberian squirrel tail
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Prime Gnat
Tied by Warren Duncan
Tag: Silver Tinsel Tail: Black Quill Tip: Orange
Floss
Body: Black Ostrich Herl Throat: Black
Wing: Black Quill Cheek: Jungle Cock
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Rio Grand King
Tied by Glenn Seibert
Tail: Yellow Bucktail Body: Black Chenille
Throat: Yellow Bucktail Wing: White Marabou and Pearl
Krystal Flash
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Sassy Cat
Tied by Steve Delaney Jr
Tail: Red Hackle Barbs Body: Peacock Herl
Hackle: Yellow
Wing: Yellow Saddle Hackle w/ Scarlet Hackle Cheek
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Telephone Box
Tied by Richard Connors
Tail: Golden Pheasant Tippet Butt: Peacock
Herl
Body: Orange Floss Rib: Black Floss
Throat: Brown Hackle Wing: Natural Red Squirrel Tail
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| User comments |  |
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This other story related to "swap" might also interest you:
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Submitted May 18th 2008
also Noe, castle arms fly has grade B capes(what you would use if you were goig to fish flies) for 60 dollars.