 | |  | - Hook: Mustad 3906, #10-14
- Thread: Danville's Prewaxed 6/0, black
- Tail: woodcock breast feather fibers
- Body: rear 2/3 flat gold tinsel, front 1/3 orange Angora goat dubbing
- Ribbing: fine oval gold tinsel, over rear 2/3 only
- Collar: woodcock body feather
- Wing: ringneck hen pheasant center tail
- Head: glossy black
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| Riley was born in July of 2002 as the great grandson of Hall of Famer Bozeann's Mosley. Despite being the sole survivor among all his siblings, he has grown strong and continues to be enriched by life. He lives happily now as a member of Troy Harrington's family, spending his days running around and hunting on their property in the quiet rolling hills of the Bluegrass state.  Riley is an English Setter, a bird-dog, and a well-trained one at that! I've been out to the Harrington's and seen him and his mother Tess standing motionless at the edge of the field, pointing some unseen quarry. These dogs love to romp and play, but the business is in their blood.
I was the proud recipient of the first woodcock he flushed, and Riley's Fancy is a tribute to him and the beautiful bird he worked hard to get. | Photo: Troy Harrington | |
| Woodcock are classified as migratory shorebirds, but are common in wooded, brush-filled habitats, much like the ruffed grouse. Their long, pointed bill enables them to "poke around" for worms and other earth-dwelling insects. Their presence is known by the small holes in the ground with white splotches of droppings around. Note the photo at right. The grayish area near center is a woodcock. They hold tight to the ground, and when flushed, rise up erratically making for hard targets and desirable game for bird hunters with pointing dogs. The markings that camouflage them so well in the wild also provide the fly tier with beautiful ginger and brown/orange speckled feathers, perfect for wet fly hackles and wings. Other common names for the woodcock include timberdoodle, wood snipe, woody, and bog sucker. |  | | | Photo: Troy Harrington | | |
Tying Instructions:| 1) Secure the thread to the hook just behind the eye, winding back toward the bend. About two hook-eye widths back, secure the fine oval gold tinsel and lash this to the bottom of the shank as you continue with the thread to the bend. Make the thread wraps as smooth and flat as possible. To help with this, spin the bobbin counter-clockwise (looking down on it), or let it untwist itself. |  | | 2) Select a woodcock breast feather with longer fibers. These feathers have a rich ginger color, and vary in shade on different portions of the bird. Align the barbs on one side and clip a section out. Tie the clump in at the bend on top, winding the thread forward toward the eye. Lash the butt ends to the top of the shank to form a smooth underbody. Clip the excess near the tie-in point for the tinsel. |  | | 3) Trim the end of a section of fine gold tinsel at an angle. If using two-tone mylar, as shown in the photo, keep this in mind... the silver side is facing you, and the trimmed edge is parallel with the hook shank. Wind the thread toward the bend again, maintaining smooth, flat thread wraps. At the bend, tie in the tinsel on the near side of the shank by the trimmed point. The portion to be wound should extend past the tail at an upward angle. Do not overlap thread wraps. |  | | 4) Continue forward with the thread to complete the smooth underbody, about 2/3 up the shank. Pull the flat tinsel up and over to far side, using a fingernail to "fold" it right at the bend. Continue winding the tinsel forward in tight, touching turns. At the tying thread, tie down and clip the excess. |  | | 5) Wrap the oval tinsel ribbing. In tying this in on the bottom, and the flat tinsel on the near side, the wraps should begin right at the edge of the first turn of flat tinsel. Wrap over the flat tinsel following this edge. This covers the "seams" between the flat tinsel turns. Tie off at the thread and clip the excess. |  | | 6) Dub a small thorax with orange Angora goat dubbing. You can substitute other dubbings, but try to get a coarse, shaggy profile, and fibers that are translucent. Antron or SLF dubbing may be good substitutes. Don't overdo the dubbing... the thorax should be just slightly thicker than the tinsel portion of the body. Leave one and a half hook-eye widths of shank behind the eye for the rest of the fly. |  | | 7) Select a well-marked feather from the back of the woodcock. Make sure the fibers near the middle of the feather are about as long as the distance from the hook eye to the hook point.Gently stroke the fibers to the rear, and trim the tip to form a small triangle. Tie this in directly in front of the dubbing. For a close-up, click on the photo at right. |  | | 8) Take two turns of the woodcock feather, tie down with three or four turns of thread, and clip the excess close. Take a tight extra turn to further secure and lash down any exposed clipped end. For the winged version, continue to step 9. Otherwise, build up a nice rounded head, whip finish, and coat the head well with cement. |  | | 9) Trim segments from two matching ringneck hen pheasant center tail feathers. These segments should be 2/3 to 3/4 the hook gap in width. Manipulate the segments so the tips are even. Place the segments back to back and tie in on top of the hook just in front of the collar, length almost to the tips of the tail. Pinch in tight and take a loose turn of thread, working it between the wing and your fingertip on the far side. Pull to tighten the thread, pushing the wing down with the pinching fingers. Take another turn of thread and grasp the butt ends with your right hand. As you pull down on the thread to tighten a second time, pinch the wing and lift the butts slightly. Take another tight turn of thread to secure. Release your pinch and examine the wing; redo if necessary. If the positioning looks good, pinch the butt ends of the wing again and take a couple more tight turns of thread directly over the previous wraps. |  | | 10) Trim the butt ends close and build up a nice rounded head with several threads wraps. Whip finish the thread and clip. Use two coats of cement for a glossy finish on the head. |  | | | |
| Photos: Troy Harrington | 
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