Mr. Misiura, thanks so much for posting this. I desperately need a refresher on tying the Sparrow. It’s been a long time since I tied one. After I get back in practice, I plan to tie quite a few to donate to charity, probably Wounded Warriors (other suggestions welcome). The Sparrow is one of my favorite Gartside flies. Note to anyone who hasn’t fished the Sparrow: Try dangling it in the water, & you will see how lifelike it is. Fish love it. Jack lived on a limited budget. Money, aside from rent & a little food, went to fishing trips & gear, so he tried to use every bit of a bird skin or hide, hence his using the aftershaft plumes. He even used his cat’s fur for dubbing on trips when away from his home material supply. Tip: pheasant feathers are used in a lot of flies, so I made a habit of pulling out the unused aftershaft plumes & storing them by color in small containers. In addition to the Sparrow, they can be used in other flies & as a substitute in small sizes for more expensive feathers like ostrich. - Thank you again & may you & yours be well.
Your right about Jack he and I spent many hours talking at the shows ( 20 yrs at least ). He was a great guy and I try to keep his memory alive with his patterns.
In black he called it the Eastern Star. It's what I call a 3-Way Fly - tail -body-hackle. Get it? A 3 Way. I like to tie the head from black ostrich plume, a la the "Casual Dress," to give that nice, dark contrast up front. Thanks Jim. Great work, as always David Hutton Palmetto Fly N Fish (facebook) South Carolina
The aftershaft grows from the back and bottom of the feathers, Fold the skin in half and you'll see them stand out. Watch my video on the pheasant skin.
