Did you see that article in the Winter 2002 issue of Fly Tyer, on the "Peabody" pattern???? Lemme see if I get this; Capt. Bob Rodgers "Invented" this pattern; A Peacock & Brown Soft Hackle. Unless said Capt. is about 500 years old, He didn't invent it...
No I didn't. Stopped getting magazines some time ago. I tended to save all fishing and gardening mags until my space ran out. Am slowly trashing the garden ones. I figure my fly tying/fishing mags will last another 20 years. Hans' cdc & elk is one of the few new flys I've seen. My Murf's Stimulator is a crossbreed of tyers of the past and hardly a fly I can lay claim to. It works but palmering, hairwings and materials are from others. I can only say I changed the style a bit.
As for soft hackles, simple works for me. The right size, color, a bit of dubbing, a wrap of hackle and maybe a rib and they catch fish. All those other things (like shucks) I question (but do use sometimes).
BTW, Charles Jardine wrote a nice book some years back which includes some antique flyfishing info and pics. Nice coffee table book.
Murf
