the Grouse

I was able to go out upland game hunting the other day for the first time in over 35 years. My son and I were able to get a grouse, so I decided to create a fly using exclusively feathers from the grouse we got - with the exception of a piece of copper wire. Hence, the Grouse. Begin with a regular size dry fly hook in the size you want to tie. Lay a base of black thread over the hook. A larger, speckled grouse feather is used for the tail. Strip six or seven fibers from the shaft of the feather and tie them in so they are about a hook length long. I keep the balance of the fibers in place as I wrap back up towards the hook eye - leaving three eye lengths to spare for the soft hackle. Keeping them in place this way will give your abdomen consistency with width. Tie in a piece of small copper wire for ribbing, and secure it back down to the base of the tails. For dubbing, I use the fluffy underfeather of one of the main feathers. Just pick it off, much like you would do on a hare's mask. This is a bit tricky to dub, but it works. Dub these grey feather bits as tightly as you can on the thread. As you dub the fly from the base of the tails to three eye lengths behind the hook eye, some of the fibers are bound to stick up. Go ahead and complete the dubbing of the abdomen. Now you can inspect any fibers sticking up and trim them with your scissors. Next, take open wraps of the copper wire up the hook shank to the point the abdomen ended. Remove the excess. Select an appropriately sized feather to use for the soft hackle. On this pattern, I like the fibers to extend a little beyond the hook bend. Grasp the tip of the feather and stroke an even number of fibers back on either side of the feather stem. With the fibers back and the tip exposed, cut across the tip leaving a small triangle tie in point. Use that point to secure the feather to the hook, and take wraps over it to the hook eye and trim off any excess. Now grasp the feather stem in hackle pliers, pull the feather straight up, and stroke the fibers back towards the hook bend. Take touching wraps - stroking the fibers back with each wrap - until you get to bare stem. Secure the stem and remove the waste. Finally, build a small head with your thread. Stroke the soft hackle fibers backwards and take a few wraps just catching their edge. Doing this will keep the fibers pointing back. Whip finish and you are done!