See the full article about Ancient Pike Flies here
This is the "Common Moon Peacock Feathers Pike Fly"
One and only used for almost a century.
This fly was in every book from 1801 ("Rural sports" Daniel William Barker) to at least 1867 ( “The Book On Angling“ Francis Francis)
It's hard to pin down the real "Peacock Moon Feathers pattern", although I feel like they are all real, just changing to suit conditions or the tyers mood.
Maybe even Kenmure Pike was caught on this pattern.
"Another way of taking Pike is with an artificial fly: many have asserted that they are not to be caught at all with a fly, but as convincing proof to the contrary, the engraving of the skeleton of the head of a Pike is given, which is the biggest taken by a line, orperhaps ever known in this country, and which was caught in Loch Ken, near New Galloway, in Scotland, with a common fly, made of Peacock’s feather, it weighed 72 pounds ( cought 1774 by John Murray,The fish has later been referred to as the "Kenmure Pike")"
I followed 1842 “Blacker's Art of Fly Making“ by William Blacker:
"If you make a pike fly, use large double hooks and gymp, with broad tinsel, and make the body full with pig hair, large saddlecock hackles for legs, wing them with peacock moon feathers, and add two large blue beads over spangles for eyes, and green or red pig hair towards the head. Fasten on the beads with fine copper wire, rolling it over the head two or three times, and also three times through the eyes, and tie down the wire tightly with the silk; roll the pig hair round the silk and then over the head and between the beads, fasten it with three knots, and lay on the varnish."
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