Catskill Dry Flies

By Terry Hellekson

When I was a young man I often heard the term "Catskill Dry Fly." Due to the context in which this term was used, it implied a very special class of dry flies. Even after I had obtained some of these flies from the Dettes and the Darbees I was still at a loss in trying to determine what made these flies so special as apposed to other like dry flies.  As time went on I finally had the opportunity to ask some of the tiers in the Catskills to define a true Catskill Dry Fly. I certainly got a mixed bag of answers, none of which defined these flies adequately enough to put them in a specific class of their own.

Simply put, a Catskill Dry Fly can only be defined as a dry fly that has been either tied by a fly tier in the Catskills or a fly tied specifically for Catskill waters. Ever since Reuben R. Cross started gaining recognition for his style of upright divided wings on dry flies around 1935, fly tiers from around the globe have been trying to emulate his style. In the years that followed dry flies tied in this style came to be known as either conventional or standard dry flies and they came and still today come from the vises of tiers everywhere, not just in the Catskills.

It may be surprising to some to learn that the term was adapted by writers and others outside of the Catskills and frankly it often became awkward to those living in the Catskills to even try and defend such a term. I found that most of the people that I had contact with in that region were very humble individuals. Most were very good fly tiers and didn't need to glorify their flies. One such person was Elsie Darbee. Elsie and her husband, Harry, started tying together in the mid 1930s and built a good following. I certainly admired Elsie for her stamina and I have known only one other tier she could equal, Wayne "Buz" Buszek. Both could spend long hours at the vise producing a large quantity of flies and the first fly of a particular pattern they tied would always look the same as the last one taken from the vise—they were all uniformly equal and of the same high quality.

My friend, Glenn Overton, and I were discussing Elsie's unique fly tying abilities last summer and he informed me that he had a set of her flies. This set of flies was one of twenty-four sets of flies that Elsie had tied from Art Flicks book, Art Flick's Streamside Guide (1947). Glenn purchased the flies from Elsie in April 1975 when he was living in New York. You can rest assured that they are tied correctly as Elsie was a personal friend of Arts.

Light Cahill 

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, sizes 12-14.

                Thread: Cream.

                Wings: Barred lemon wood duck tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Light ginger hackle barbs.

                Body: Dubbed with cream fox fur.

                Hackle: Light ginger tied on as a collar.

Coffin Fly

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, sizes 8-10.

                Thread: Olive.

                Wings: Barred mallard tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Three black rabbit whiskers.

                Body: Porcupine quill.

                Hackle: Very light natural dun tied on as a collar.

Cream Variant

                Hooks: Mustad R48 or Tiemco 921, size 12.

                Thread: Yellow.

                Tail: Cream hackle barbs.

                Body: Cream hackle stem.

                Hackle: Cream tied on as a collar.

Gray Fox

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, size 12.

                Thread: Primrose.

                Wings: Barred mallard tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Ginger hackle barbs.

                Body: Dubbed with fawn colored fur from red fox.

                Hackle: Light ginger and light cast grizzly tied on as a collar mixed.

Hendrickson

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, size 12.

                Thread: White.

                Wings: Barred lemon wood duck tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Dun hackle barbs.

                Body: Dubbed with pink fur from a vixen red fox. (Color is caused by

                urine burn.)

                Hackle: Dun tied on as a collar.

Red Quill

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, size 12.

                Thread: Brown.

                Wings: Barred lemon wood duck tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Dun hackle barbs.

                Body: Neck hackle stem from Rhode Island Red cock.

                Hackle: Dun tied on as a collar.

Gray Fox Variant

                Hooks: Mustad R48 or Tiemco 921, size 12.

                Thread: Primrose.

                Tail: Ginger hackle barbs.

                Body: Cream hackle stem.

                Hackle: One light ginger, one dark ginger and one grizzly tied on as a

                collar mixed.

Blue-Winged Olive

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, sizes 16-18.

                Thread: Olive.

                Tail: Dark dun hackle barbs.

                Body: Dubbed with a blend of olive synthetic fur and a small amount of

                muskrat fur.

                Hackle: Dark dun tied on as a collar.

Dun Variant

                Hooks: Mustad R48 or Tiemco 921, size 12.

                Thread: Olive.

                Tail: Dun hackle barbs.

                Body: Rhode Island Red hackle stem.

                Hackle: Dark dun tied on as a collar.

American March Brown

                Hooks: Mustad R30, Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1180, sizes 10-12.

                Thread: Orange.

                Wings: Barred lemon wood duck tied upright and divided.

                Tail: Dark ginger hackle barbs.

                Body: Dubbed with light fawn colored red fox belly fur.

                Hackle: Dark ginger and dark grizzly tied on as a collar mixed.

(Flies and photo of Elsie Darbee are courtesy of Glenn C. Overton)