Chickadee
This is a beautiful fly tied by Fred Klein and it has a beautiful story to go along with it. You might remember a post I did about Fred’s fly tying a few weeks back. If not, you can find it here. Anyway, I came upon this lovely fly while browsing Instagram the other day. When Fred posted this fly, he included a story about how this fly came about. It was about his father, who had recently passed away. His name was also, Fred Klein. So in memory of Fred, here is the brief story and recipe behind this fly, the Chickadee.
“My Dad recently asked me if there is a fly pattern named after the chickadee. A man that loved and lived in the woods, he was particularly fond of the wild song birds of winter.
After his passing last week, I walked outside and a friendly chickadee was singing on a tree branch, reminding me of our conversation. I thought that I would tie a fly named after his favorite.”
Materials list:
Tag: Gold Tinsel
Tail: White and Black Goose
Body: White Ostrich
Hackle: Wood Duck hackle
Wing: White and Black mallard
Fred Klein
Fred Klein
What a nice little story. I was dreading reaching the part where you would say the wing was from a dead little chickadee. HAHAHA I love the songbirds also, and especially the winter birds who just seem to appreciate the fact that I am out there feeding them. One time, someone commented to me about how they hate the Starlings. And I just smiled and told them , “I’m a fly tier, the Starlings are very dear friends of mine!” 🙂