Tups Indespensable
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
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: Tiemco 3906 size 10,12,14,16
Thread: Cahill Uni 8/0
Tail : CDL Yellow fibers
Body : Yellow thread at back with Tups dub mix to thorax
Hackle : Cream color hen hackle
Directions :
Hook: Tiemco 3906 size 10,12,14,16
Thread: Cahill Uni 8/0
Tail : CDL Yellow fibers
Body : Yellow thread at back with Tups dub mix to thorax
Hackle : Cream color hen hackle
Directions :
- Debarb the hook and mount in the vise. Make tight wraps from one third back of the eye to the hook bend. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select six to eight CDL fibers and after aligning their tips, firmly pull away from the stem as a group maintaining alignment in your left hand. Transfer to your right hand with the tips protruding from the pinch hold. Measure the length of the tail by using the hook shank length as a guide. Transfer the fibers back to your left hand and hold directly above the hook shank immediately forward of the hook bend. Make two soft wraps of thread for position while carefully keeping the fibers on top of the hook shank. Verify the length and adjust if necessary. Begin applying firm pressure as the thread advances toward the eye. Too much pressure close to the hook bend could result in the tail flaring. Once the tail is bound , cut away any waste lengths and take the thread back to the hook bend in tight and touching turns. Advance the thread toward the eye to about one third from the hook bend and let the bobbin hang.
- Advance the thread to the tail and make tight touching turns to one third from the bend. Dub the thread and advance to the two thirds mark.
- Tie in the hackle after stripping a quarter inch of the barbs to expose bare stem. Once tied in, advance the thread to the eye and wrap the hackle in tight touching turns.
- Tie in the hackle and form a small thread head. Whip finish.