Deb
You may recall Iains reference to a book called "A Guide To Salmon Flies" by
John Buckland andArthur Oglesby. There is a smallish section on the Spey and
Dee flies. From what I can make out the hooks reccomended for these flies
were light wire hooks and as such the modern equivelant may well be what we
now call Low Water hooks.
In the book they say that a shop in Aberlour sells Spey flies so I checked
and found the address for the company and it would appear they are still in
business. I will try and get in touch with them to see if they can give us
any info on the pattern of hook used now and back in the old days. With
regard to the Dee hook you have it sounds like a Low Water bend which I
think is more graceful than a normal salmon iron.
Hope this doesnt muddy the water even more for you!!! Just trying to work it
out too.
KP
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Duran" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 2:58 PM
Subject: RE: [VFB] Spey Flies???
Dave
I don't think pictures will come thru on the VFB. You probably have to send
them directly to me or have them posted on a host page.
I've had a lot of posts off the VFB about the Spey hooks. The general
consensus is that they tied them on long shanked salmon irons or what was
available to them at the time. There really wasn't a "spey hook" that I can
find any references to. I have a couple more leads to contact but I've
exchanged emails with some pretty reliable sources. The very rare examples
of hooks I come across that are vintage with a different shape are probably
hand forged. I have a few of these that I may never be able to trace the
maker of. Most likely they were Ghillie hooks or someone in that time just
as crazy as us that made their own hooks. There were a lot of small hook
makers during that time also but as the transportation improved then the
distribution of the major hook manufacturers improved also so the more
obscure hook makers disappeared as well.
I'm still trying to identify the maker of the vintage Dee hook I have. I'm
pretty sure it is a production hook but I'm not sure who the maker was. I'm
only surmising it is a Dee also because I've seen the hook in Schmookler's
book and I think I've seen it in one other salmon fly book identified that
way. It has a more elegant bend than the Alec Jackson Spey hook.
I wish there was a cumulative reference to old hook plates. I'm jumping all
over the place trying to identify some of these.
Deb
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Dave b potts
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 8:22 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [VFB] Spey Flies???
Hello Deb:
I sent some pics of old spey flies and a page from Bucklands book but
have seen no more of the Spey fly thread. Did I get thru? Did you see
the pics? Whaa Happin??
Dave/Oregon
