HMH Turkey Fly
The HMH Turkey Fly tied by Matt Bagshaw won the HMH Fly Tying Contest that was held about a month ago. I loved the look of the fly, so I asked Matt to send me whatever information he could on it. Below is the information that Matt provided, plus the full recipe. This is definitely a quality fly and I’m not the only one that thinks so. Matt also sent me some other photos of flies he tied in that same style which were the actual inspiration for his superb HMH Turkey Fly. So check it out!
You can follow Matt on Instagram @mattfinfeathers or https://www.instagram.com/mattfinfeathers/
From Matt:
“The flies attached (seen below) were my inspiration for my HMH Turkey Fly entry. I love old speys and dee flies, especially the “Eagle” patterns which is what I was trying to emulate with my entry into the contest.
I was going to base the entire color pattern on wrapping the body with fibers of turkey tail feathers. The mottling that you get when you do that just looks awesome, so after a few test wraps I settled on a turkey tail feather that was close to a “Penciled Palm” turkey, but I believe it was some sort of hybrid of that. Brown, black, dirty orange and tan were the primary colors of the turkey tail feathers, so I opted to highlight those with other natural colors like the Golden Pheasant red breast feathers for the tail (traditional tail for an Eagle pattern), the eagle sub was white turkey marabou (blood quill) that is tip dyed brown like a real eagle’s feathers.
I wanted to set the fly off with a simple but different ribbing, so I opted to go with flat copper which you don’t see a lot, but it is a nice color in the water.
Overall, my passion with fly tying is preserving and evangelizing the use of classics, whether it be Victorian era salmon flies, or classic American bass flies. Seemed natural to have my contest fly be of the same character.”
Materials list:
Tag: Flat Copper Tinsel (metal not mylar, but mylar would work)
Tail: Golden Pheasant breast feather
Rib: Flat Copper tinsel
Body: turkey tail fibers wrapped (opposite way of the rib, so that the rib secures the body)
Body Hackle: hen silver pheasant (Reeves Pheasant)
Throat: Tip dyed turkey marabou and a couple wraps of wood duck
Wing: Brown mottled turkey
Head: I tie all my flies with Pearsalls silk thread, which I use the claret colored thread. Its then varnished with traditional dark orange shellac.
