The Butcher Series of Flies

[Highlander]

By way of a wee journal entry I wish to share. Apologies if I have done it before.

The Silver Butcher, I wonder what Messrs Jewhurst & Moon of Tunbridge Wells Kent were thinking when they thought up this pattern.



Dressing:
Hook: 14-10 Thread: black   Tail: Red Ibis substitute  Body: med flat tinsel  Hackle: black hen  Wing: Mallard Blues

Was originally called The Moon fly but by 1838 became The Butcher and since Mr. Moon was a butcher to trade it is assumed that it got its name from that fact rather than from its undoubted fish killing properties. Known throughout the fly fishing world as an extremely good wet fly it accounts for many fish whatever water is alights on. For us older wet fly men it is a fly that is invariably on ?the cast? a banker, a go to fly. Speaking for myself the Silver Butcher & its variants have probably accounted for more Trout over the years than all my other patterns put together.
There is another claimant for The Butcher & that is Andrew Hamilton of Pollockshields. In the Glasgow Herald of 6th December 1929 there is a reference to the said gentleman as a member of the old St Mungos Angling Club circa 1881 that he achieved immortality &  ?invented? The Butcher. In view of the probable 43yrs difference it is more likely he created one of the others, either the aforementioned Bloody or more likely in my view that other well known  Butcher ?The Kingfisher? both of which I will mention below
Why such a killer?, it does not represent anything in particular but is probably taken as a small bait fish or beetle.  It has the red & black "trigger" colours that Brown trout like & this coupled with a silver tinsel body it is not surprising that it is a killer pattern.
A fly that has spawned a few variants all off which are renowned patterns in their own right.  My own favourite is the Bloody Butcher, a red hackled wee wonder.



Dressing: As above but with a red hen hackle
Fished as a tail fly or even as a bob it is a great summer pattern. I find like the Silver version it fishes best tied very sparse a la Clyde Style. I remember a drift on Carron Reservoir where this wee flee raised fish after fish as we drifted across the depths. What they took it for I do not know but take it they did & not the gentle takes of natural but full bodied slashing takes more reminiscent of night Sedge.
Now we come to that other famous name
The Kingfisher Butcher



Dressing: Hook: as above Tail: dyed Teal Blue Body: med gold tinsel  Hackle: hot orange hen. There?s a school of thought that say the wing is Blae but not something I would go along with.
In a ?wee double? did great execution on Loch Leven but not as one would think as a tail fly but tripped through the waves as a bob fly.
Last but not least we have a Hardy Gold Butcher, quite unlike the others which have a wing from ?Mallard Blues. This one has a light brownish wing .
Dressing: Hook: as others  Tail: scarlet fibres Body: Med flat gold Hackle: Hot orange Hen. Wing: Cinnamon coloured quill
From the House of Hardy stable it is relatively unknown in the UK but a discerning group of central belt anglers used it with great success on Loch Leven & other lowland lochs.
Last but not least the little know gold version, not as popular as the others but worth a cast on occasion. I use it in bright sunshine with a good wave & is on a par with the better know Whickam?s Fancy.
A last point, whilst primarily known as a Trout fly I have had good success on The River Leven when I fished a sparse Silver Butcher for the Wee Black Nebs that frequented the tidal reaches of this urban river. Again the lightly dressed Clyde Style fly was successful in these summer waters. For some reason the bigger Sea Trout spurned it but its smaller brethren took it with gusto & many a fine bag of ?-1lb ?finnock succumbed to its undoubted attractiveness. In its larger sizes I am sure Salmon would be attracted but to date any I have taken have fallen to ?The Usual Suspects rather than Butchers. Maybe if I persevered it might be a different story, who knows.
Tight Lines
Alan the Highlander

[silverbutcher]

Great post Alan.
This is the type of thing that makes very enjoyable reading during the close season. It's nice to find out about the origins of flies and how they were fished in the past. And obviously, you've picked a series of flies I'm most interested in.

In a ?wee double? did great execution on Loch Leven but not as one would think as a tail fly but tripped through the waves as a bob fly.

Do you think they would have had more tangles with the double hook catching on the main line? Or would their style of fishing at the time have compensated for this?


Billy

[Clan Chief]

Great post. Really enjoy reading and finding out about the history of traditional style patterns

[Wildfisher]

Good topic Alan. Similar to something you  did for the old Fish Wild a few years back here's the link
http://www.fish-wild.co.uk/old/index.php?setissue=23&database=1&getpage=virtual_fly_box&pid=13

[Highlander]

 Admin.Ach so it is,God was it that long ago. Was not sure if I did do it. I did offer my appology if I had shown it. Same story I wrote then just with afew tweeks. Still lasts the test of time I guess.

Silver Butcher Never did have any problem with tangles, but I am very careful how I mix my flies on the cast. If I was fishing a team of three wee 16 doubles tangles would be no more often that as  12s or 14s singles. It's when you mix fly sizes on the same cast with either heavier or bushier in the "wrong" position that one gets problems. Of course you will get the odd one & I am no different from you guys but with a wee bit of thought on the cast & indeed casting this is more than manageable.
Wet Fy The Forgotten Taper
Tight Lines

[Malcolm]

Used to be my favourite fly up the Barrhead dams some 35 years ago - bubble and size 4(sic) silver butcher. Great!

[Wildfisher]

The good old butcher is a fly that seldom fails anywhere.

[Darwin]

A very good read, greatly enjoyed. 
Thanks Highlander

[Black Pennell]

A great post  :
I wondered if you had the literature that could clarify the trout version of the Dunkeld as some have a palmer and others dont.

[Highlander]

Originator unknown but certainly a cut down version of the gaudy Salmon fly of the same name. Tom Stewart in 50 Popular Flies from the 1950s certainly gives the dressing as having a palmered "henny-cock" though admits that smaller flies can be tied without the palmer without distracting from it's effectiveness I think most tiers nowadays & certainly shop bought versions would disperse with the palmer.
Myself I like palmered bodied flies & add this embellishment to many of my tyings.
Tight Lines