Parmachene Belle

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steely34
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2009/12/23 11:51:21 (permalink)

Parmachene Belle

   The Parmachene Belle is a classic wet fly pattern that has quite a history to it that dates back to the late 19th century where it was a popular pattern used for fishing for brook trout. It is recorded that an angler caught a 14 1/2 lb. brook trout on the Nipgon River while using this pattern way back then and many famed authors have written about this pattern - Ray Bergman and Nick Karas to name a few. Karas wrote in one of his books that the 'Belle is the perfect fly.
   So being as the arm is in a sling once again and the only thing the wife and doctor will let me do is tie flies - I thought I'd get back into tying some wets. While doing so - I thought I'd put up a tute on this historical pattern. So... here it is:
 
Materials:
 
Hook - Daiichi 1530 wet fly. Size 10
Thread - 8/0 Black
Tail - Goose Quil, Red and white married together
Body - Herl, gold or silver tinsel, green floss
Throat - hackle, red and white mixed
Wing - Goose shoulder, red and white married together
 

 
1. Prepare the tail and wings.
** For the tail I used left and right goose quill. You will need to prepare two different sections as there will be two tails tied in - each curving away from the hook. For the left tail, cut equal sections out of each colored quil making sure that each section comes off the left side of the feather. Do the same for the right tail. Then "marry" them together by placing each section you cut up against the other and stroking the feather. They will stick together if you cut the pieces off the same side. Do the same for the wings
When complete - set the tails and the wing aside.
 
The Tails:
Use goose quill here as it has a natural curve to the feather which helps in the outward curve you need for the tails when tied in.
 

 

 

 
The Wings
I used goose shoulder here.
 

 

 
2. Start the thread just behind the eye and wrap towards the rear creating a good thread base.
 

 
3. Tie in the tails by putting them together with the natural bend of each facing outward. Place them on top of the hook shank, measure for length ( the original pattern calls for this length to be equal to the total length of the hook), adjust, and using the pinch technique with the thread, take one complete wrap. Then on the upward wrap pull snugly, securing the tails.
 

 

 
4. Wrap the thread forward covering the tailing. Trim off the excess, wrap back to the hook bend and tie in a piece of peacock herl.
 

 

 
5. Take five wraps of peacock herl, wrapping forward. Tie the herl off and trim excess.
 

 
6. Tie in a piece of tinsel and floss. Trim off the floss equal to the length of the body as this will help in not creating a "bump" at the tie in point when you wrap the floss forward. Wrap the thread over the floss, ending near the eye.
** Note on the floss - I split the floss in half when I cut a piece off the spool since one entire piece would create too much bulk when wrapping.
 

 

 
7. Wrap the floss forward, covering each previous wrap in half. Then wrap the tinsel forward in equal spaces. Tie both off and trim excess.
 

 

 
8. Prepare the throat material by mixing both red and white hackle material. The length of the throat should be equal to the space between the hook eye and the hook point. Tie this in, trim off excess. As you can see - it's a tad long here. (Must be the #$@% shoulder)
 

 

 
9. Match up both pairs of wings that were created earlier. Tie these in the same way you tied in the tailing by using the pinch method. The wing length should be a tad longer than the distance from the hook eye to the rear of the hook bend.
 

 

 
10. Whip finish off, cement.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that's not quite it..... you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore."

John Gierach

#1

3 Replies Related Threads

    Cold
    Pro Angler
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    RE: Parmachene Belle 2009/12/23 14:08:03 (permalink)
    Beautiful tie. I've been mostly away from both the water and the bench for nearly a month, but this winter, tying some of the older styles of wet flies is on my to do list. This one just got added to the list. The Alexandra is another I want to do.

    Great work, photos, and explanations.
    #2
    norm289
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    RE: Parmachene Belle 2009/12/23 18:16:33 (permalink)
    Nice.  I like the patterns with married wings. 

    "If I'm not going to catch anything, then I'd rather not catch anything on flies." Bob Lawless

    "Something to think about: If you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly." John Gierach
    #3
    Flyguy638
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    RE: Parmachene Belle 2009/12/23 19:26:45 (permalink)
    Another great step by step, gotta love the oldies, esp. married ones
    #4
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