I recently tied a few Greenwells/Glory for the forthcoming season, put them in my box and never thought much else about them until I posted a pic of one of my patterns on a well known social media page! That was when the confusion started! As I was told that the pattern I displayed was not a Greenwell's Glory at all as I had included a few light furnace hackles for a tail. I was informed that the original dressing of the Glory didnt have a tail and that I had infact tied a Greenwells wet which includes a tail. Perhaps someone was just having a laugh? So off I went to my bookshelf to try get a definitive answer on the correct dressing! Stan Headley's book of Scottish Flies and John Reids Clyde Style Flies both suggest a tail. However there is no mention of a tail in Bert Sharpe's Let's fish the Clyde and Tom Stewart's Fifty Popular Flies. Still confused I reached for A.Courtney Williams' Dictionary of Trout Flies in an attempt to clear up the puzzlement. A
Recently Ive been filling a row in my fly box with these wee fellas! The Blae & Black. Trout flees dont come more traditional than this. A Scottish wet fly pattern of great repute for early season brown trout! Its origins are hard to track down as they appear to have been lost in the midst of time. It is however believed to be centuries old and used extensively not only in Scotland but South of the border and across the Irish sea too. Its famous on the Clyde with the wing in the usual Clyde style upright position and as the season progresses a lighter shade of blae is preferred. It is a recommended pattern for the top dropper on lochs when midge pupa are hatching! The Old Timers at Hillend swear by it early in the season. However this probably dates back to the time before our club water introduced rainbow trout. A fly worth having where ever wild brown trout exist! It's a very simple dressing that is basically a black pennel with a wing and is the third fly in a trio of patte