Tups Indispensable
Hook : Wet fly size 8,10,12,14
Thread : Veevus 16/0 light yellow
Tail : Dun hackle or CDL
Abdomen : Red, Cream, Yellow dub mix
Hackle : Dun rooster
Directions :
Fly of the Month 11.19
One of the most famous of all trout flies in the known universe is the Tup’s Indispensable. It is one of the first fly patterns I (Alen) used very successfully as a beginning fly fisher. It was easy to tie, easy to see and it was yellow – the color everyone told me was key to catching Southern Appalachian trout.
Being a new fly tyer, I did not go after a white “Billy” goat (ram) for my exotic materials as suggested by the nostalgia related to the mythical, original recipe. Rather, I readily substituted the prescribed mixture of colors for the pale-pinkish-white dubbing that I had available and the fly seemed to work quite well even with the substitution.
I caught a nice 14-inch brown trout in a tiny 2-foot wide headwater stream, Elk Creek in Banner Elk, on the Tups Indispensable during my first use of the fly pattern. It made me a believer in the fly pattern. This fly pattern is most effective when trout are taking pale midges or mayflies in the late afternoon timeframe.
Tups Indispensable
This nostalgic fly pattern, an English representation of a small watery dun, was created by the tobacconist and a part time professional fly tier R. S. Austin of Tiverton, Devon, England in 1890, utilizing a quite exotic material as dubbing. The name of the fly pattern was the suggestion of G. E. M. Skues, the 1858-born British lawyer, fly fisherman, and author of The Way of a Trout with a Fly published in 1921. Skues is most noted for the invention of modern-day nymph fishing, together with another fly-dresser, C. A. Hassam. The fly was so named because the basic material came from the indispensable portion of a tup’s anatomy. Skues was an early champion of nymph fly-fishing.
The dressing for the pattern was kept a secret by R. S. Austin, G. E. M. Skues, C. A. Hassam and Austin's daughter, Agnes. She took over the fly-tying business after her father's death and continued tying and selling these "Tup's" with just a few minor changes - like changing the use of mohair and replacing it with red seal’s fur.
In Britain for decades around the turn of the century, farmers used a sponge or rag soaked in dye tied to the underside of the ram. They would inspect their flock each morning to see which females had dye-stained on their backs from being 'tupped' by the ram. The original dressing was never truly made public but there is one recipe in which the body dubbing was made basically of the fuzzy wool from the scrotum of a ram or tup, a male sheep that is used for breeding, and which also included combings from a ruby spaniel and some other materials. The recipe called for the body to have a juicy look.
The essential part of the tup dubbing is the highly translucent wool from the indispensable part of a tup, thoroughly washed and cleansed of the natural oil of the animal. This wool is like seal’s fur, somewhat difficult to spin on the tying thread, but a mixture of the pale pinkish and very filmy hare’s fur makes it easy to work.
The fly pattern had gained a very impressive reputation of that period as remarked in a letter, which was sent by George Edward MacKenzie Skues to A. Courtney Williams. Skues writes: “The fly became so popular that Austin became utterly sick of tying it, and one of his customers said that the ‘Dorsetshire Frome’ (river) stank of Tup's Indispensables from Maiden Newton(town) to the sea.”
Upon her retirement in 1934, Miss Agnes Austin gave permission to publish the correct, commercial dressing of Tup's Indispensable to G.E.M. Skues.
The original recipe calls for a mixture of cream coloured seal’s fur, combings from a lemon-yellow spaniel, and a small amount of red mohair. The mohair may be substituted with red seal’s fur as most tyers believe Austin also may have substituted when mohair was scarce. When wet the Tup’s dubbing mixture becomes illuminated throughout by the colour of the seal’s fur or mohair. The entire effect of the body is extraordinarily filmy and insect-like.
G. E. M. Skues writes in the Flyfisher’s Club Journal:
“I believe I was the first angler to use the magic dubbing. I was, at the time, in constant correspondence with Mr. R. S. Austin. The date I do not exactly recall, but, from a note in Mr. Austin’s handwriting describing its first use, I judge the date to have been June 1900.
He sent me a sample on a broken Limerick eyed hook, telling me that with it (the actual fly) he had killed at the mouth of the Loman, where it debouches into the Exe at Tiverton, in two or three successive evenings a number of big trout which the natives there counted uncatchable, one of them exceeding 5lb. another 3lb. 1 oz. another 21lb. and another about 2lb.
Being naturally very much interested I asked Mr. Austin (in returning him the pattern) what was the nature of the dubbing, and he very generously not only gave me the prescription, but also sent me enough of the made-up material to dress several examples of the fly.
I told Mr. Austin that I thought the fly deserved a title, and in his reply, he asked what I suggested. I replied that there was 'So and So’s Infallible', 'So and So’s Irresistible', and so on – ‘Why not Tup’s Indispensable? He said he did not care to name it and for the moment the matter [was] dropped.”
Fly of the Month 11.19
Tom Adams and Alen Baker
References:
Smedley, Harold Hinsdill. Fly Patterns and Their Origins, 1944
Tups Indispensable
Hook : Wet fly size 8,10,12,14
Thread : Veevus 16/0 light yellow
Tail : Dun hackle or CDL
Abdomen : Red, Cream, Yellow dub mix
Hackle : Dun rooster
Directions :
Hook : Wet fly size 8,10,12,14
Thread : Veevus 16/0 light yellow
Tail : Dun hackle or CDL
Abdomen : Red, Cream, Yellow dub mix
Hackle : Dun rooster
Directions :
- Mount the hook in the vise after debarbing
- Start thread wraps at the hook eye and take back to the bend and let the bobbin hang.
- Select six or eight CDL barbs and after aligning the tips, strip from the stem and tie in at the bend while maintaining the barbs position on top of the hook shank. Take the thread forward to past the half mark and return to the hook bend. Trim any waste CDL and let the bobbin hang.
- Make two or three turns of thread behind the tailing and bring the thread wraps in front of the tailing and form a short yellow section to slightly short of the half way mark. Let the bobbin hang.
- The dubbing mix is quite varied historically and the original ram testicle hairs have largely given way to modern versions, along with spaniel tan fur. It is about one third of each being careful not to have too much red. Dub the thread and wrap tight and touching turns to the one third mark. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a tannish dun rooster hackle sized for the hook and tie in after stripping a small bit of barbs to expose the hook stem for tying in. Make four or five turns of hackle and tie off. Trim waste hackle.
- Form a small thread head and whip finish.
Fly of the Month 11.19
One of the most famous of all trout flies in the known universe is the Tup’s Indispensable. It is one of the first fly patterns I (Alen) used very successfully as a beginning fly fisher. It was easy to tie, easy to see and it was yellow – the color everyone told me was key to catching Southern Appalachian trout.
Being a new fly tyer, I did not go after a white “Billy” goat (ram) for my exotic materials as suggested by the nostalgia related to the mythical, original recipe. Rather, I readily substituted the prescribed mixture of colors for the pale-pinkish-white dubbing that I had available and the fly seemed to work quite well even with the substitution.
I caught a nice 14-inch brown trout in a tiny 2-foot wide headwater stream, Elk Creek in Banner Elk, on the Tups Indispensable during my first use of the fly pattern. It made me a believer in the fly pattern. This fly pattern is most effective when trout are taking pale midges or mayflies in the late afternoon timeframe.
Tups Indispensable
This nostalgic fly pattern, an English representation of a small watery dun, was created by the tobacconist and a part time professional fly tier R. S. Austin of Tiverton, Devon, England in 1890, utilizing a quite exotic material as dubbing. The name of the fly pattern was the suggestion of G. E. M. Skues, the 1858-born British lawyer, fly fisherman, and author of The Way of a Trout with a Fly published in 1921. Skues is most noted for the invention of modern-day nymph fishing, together with another fly-dresser, C. A. Hassam. The fly was so named because the basic material came from the indispensable portion of a tup’s anatomy. Skues was an early champion of nymph fly-fishing.
The dressing for the pattern was kept a secret by R. S. Austin, G. E. M. Skues, C. A. Hassam and Austin's daughter, Agnes. She took over the fly-tying business after her father's death and continued tying and selling these "Tup's" with just a few minor changes - like changing the use of mohair and replacing it with red seal’s fur.
In Britain for decades around the turn of the century, farmers used a sponge or rag soaked in dye tied to the underside of the ram. They would inspect their flock each morning to see which females had dye-stained on their backs from being 'tupped' by the ram. The original dressing was never truly made public but there is one recipe in which the body dubbing was made basically of the fuzzy wool from the scrotum of a ram or tup, a male sheep that is used for breeding, and which also included combings from a ruby spaniel and some other materials. The recipe called for the body to have a juicy look.
The essential part of the tup dubbing is the highly translucent wool from the indispensable part of a tup, thoroughly washed and cleansed of the natural oil of the animal. This wool is like seal’s fur, somewhat difficult to spin on the tying thread, but a mixture of the pale pinkish and very filmy hare’s fur makes it easy to work.
The fly pattern had gained a very impressive reputation of that period as remarked in a letter, which was sent by George Edward MacKenzie Skues to A. Courtney Williams. Skues writes: “The fly became so popular that Austin became utterly sick of tying it, and one of his customers said that the ‘Dorsetshire Frome’ (river) stank of Tup's Indispensables from Maiden Newton(town) to the sea.”
Upon her retirement in 1934, Miss Agnes Austin gave permission to publish the correct, commercial dressing of Tup's Indispensable to G.E.M. Skues.
The original recipe calls for a mixture of cream coloured seal’s fur, combings from a lemon-yellow spaniel, and a small amount of red mohair. The mohair may be substituted with red seal’s fur as most tyers believe Austin also may have substituted when mohair was scarce. When wet the Tup’s dubbing mixture becomes illuminated throughout by the colour of the seal’s fur or mohair. The entire effect of the body is extraordinarily filmy and insect-like.
G. E. M. Skues writes in the Flyfisher’s Club Journal:
“I believe I was the first angler to use the magic dubbing. I was, at the time, in constant correspondence with Mr. R. S. Austin. The date I do not exactly recall, but, from a note in Mr. Austin’s handwriting describing its first use, I judge the date to have been June 1900.
He sent me a sample on a broken Limerick eyed hook, telling me that with it (the actual fly) he had killed at the mouth of the Loman, where it debouches into the Exe at Tiverton, in two or three successive evenings a number of big trout which the natives there counted uncatchable, one of them exceeding 5lb. another 3lb. 1 oz. another 21lb. and another about 2lb.
Being naturally very much interested I asked Mr. Austin (in returning him the pattern) what was the nature of the dubbing, and he very generously not only gave me the prescription, but also sent me enough of the made-up material to dress several examples of the fly.
I told Mr. Austin that I thought the fly deserved a title, and in his reply, he asked what I suggested. I replied that there was 'So and So’s Infallible', 'So and So’s Irresistible', and so on – ‘Why not Tup’s Indispensable? He said he did not care to name it and for the moment the matter [was] dropped.”
Fly of the Month 11.19
Tom Adams and Alen Baker
References:
Smedley, Harold Hinsdill. Fly Patterns and Their Origins, 1944
Tups Indispensable
Hook : Wet fly size 8,10,12,14
Thread : Veevus 16/0 light yellow
Tail : Dun hackle or CDL
Abdomen : Red, Cream, Yellow dub mix
Hackle : Dun rooster
Directions :
- Mount the hook in the vise after debarbing
- Start thread wraps at the hook eye and take back to the bend and let the bobbin hang.
- Select six or eight CDL barbs and after aligning the tips, strip from the stem and tie in at the bend while maintaining the barbs position on top of the hook shank. Take the thread forward to past the half mark and return to the hook bend. Trim any waste CDL and let the bobbin hang.
- Make two or three turns of thread behind the tailing and bring the thread wraps in front of the tailing and form a short yellow section to slightly short of the half way mark. Let the bobbin hang.
- The dubbing mix is quite varied historically and the original ram testicle hairs have largely given way to modern versions, along with spaniel tan fur. It is about one third of each being careful not to have too much red. Dub the thread and wrap tight and touching turns to the one third mark. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a tannish dun rooster hackle sized for the hook and tie in after stripping a small bit of barbs to expose the hook stem for tying in. Make four or five turns of hackle and tie off. Trim waste hackle.
- Form a small thread head and whip finish.