Swept hackle, wingless, all purpose fly
If you could only have one fly pattern in your fly box, what would itbe? Would you choose a dry fly or a nymph?
If that pattern could be modified to matchmany insect hatches, or if it could be fishedas a dry, wet, nymph or streamer; would it bemore likely to be your pick? What if someonedesigned a fly that would fit almost all occasions with only a slight modification in size, hook or materials, but the tying stepsremained the same? Would that earn this fly a place in the hallowed halls of your fly box?In my case, it earned this fly the right to its own fly box.
This pattern was featured in the fall 1998 issueof Fly Tying Magazinefrom Frank Amato Publications. It’s called a SHWAPF(swept hackle, wingless, all purpose fly). It’s asimple fly to tie and a simple fly to fish. You canchange any number of materials to change the looks andattributes of the fly and still tie it with the same simple steps. It can be a salmon fly, a dry fly, a wet fly, a streamer or a nymph depending on the length, sizeand style of hook or the materials used.
You can add a bead head, change the body materialsor hackle materials and still use the same simplesteps to tie a shwapf that looks very different than the one you tied the last time. That’s thekey to this simple fly, it’s adaptable enough to match almost anything you want it to match. That’swhy it’s called an all purpose fly.
I first designed this fly to chase brookies in my native Montana waters. It was so easy to fillmy fly box with fish catching flies in verylittle time, that it became a favorite of mine. That gave me more time to fish and freed me from the tying bench more often. I like that idea! Need a caddis, mayfly or ant imitation? I’ve used the Shwapf for all of them. Royal Shwapf? Yup, that one too.
As always Al Campbell - Thanks!
Ron & Beth
If that pattern could be modified to matchmany insect hatches, or if it could be fishedas a dry, wet, nymph or streamer; would it bemore likely to be your pick? What if someonedesigned a fly that would fit almost all occasions with only a slight modification in size, hook or materials, but the tying stepsremained the same? Would that earn this fly a place in the hallowed halls of your fly box?In my case, it earned this fly the right to its own fly box.
This pattern was featured in the fall 1998 issueof Fly Tying Magazinefrom Frank Amato Publications. It’s called a SHWAPF(swept hackle, wingless, all purpose fly). It’s asimple fly to tie and a simple fly to fish. You canchange any number of materials to change the looks andattributes of the fly and still tie it with the same simple steps. It can be a salmon fly, a dry fly, a wet fly, a streamer or a nymph depending on the length, sizeand style of hook or the materials used.
You can add a bead head, change the body materialsor hackle materials and still use the same simplesteps to tie a shwapf that looks very different than the one you tied the last time. That’s thekey to this simple fly, it’s adaptable enough to match almost anything you want it to match. That’swhy it’s called an all purpose fly.
I first designed this fly to chase brookies in my native Montana waters. It was so easy to fillmy fly box with fish catching flies in verylittle time, that it became a favorite of mine. That gave me more time to fish and freed me from the tying bench more often. I like that idea! Need a caddis, mayfly or ant imitation? I’ve used the Shwapf for all of them. Royal Shwapf? Yup, that one too.
As always Al Campbell - Thanks!
Ron & Beth
posted by Ron @ 11:35 AM
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