Black Pennell

Category: Wet Fly

Tied By: Christian Andrews
Body Part   :   Material
Hook   :   #12 – 14 wet / nymph
Thread   :   black
Bead   :  
tail   :   Golden Pheasant tippet
rib   :   silver wire
body   :   black thread
front hackle   :   stiff black (but it’s a wet fly) 2x gape

Notes:

Mary Orvis Marbury has the brown, green, and yellow pennell illustrated by her father Charles Orvis in her book Favorite Flies and Their Histories (1892). It is possible she did not include the Black Pennell because H. Cholmondeley-Pennell himself said the best colors (or maybe that’s “colours”) to fish are brown, green, and yellow.

Notes:

The body is firm and slim, just thread wraps.
The front hackle is sparse, per Cholmondeley-Pennell’s description, slightly longer to 2x the hook gape.

The fly can be tied in the colors he preferred: brown, green, and yellow. Per the illustrations by both H. Cholmondeley-Pennell and Charles Orvis, the tail, body, and hackle on these are the named color. There is no rib in the illustrations.

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