While browsing the Web I ran across a couple of wonderfully tied flies that were in the style of Queen of the Waters. This type of fly is a very old fly dating back to the 1800s. Instead of rewriting that history here, I suggest heading over to Don Bastians blog about Queen of the Waters to read about it. I have also added his Queen of the Waters Rangelely style Streamer below. Yet another example of fly tying craftsmanship. You can read more about it in Dons same blog post.
After seeing these flies, I just had to post about them here. According to Mike Vallas book, Tying Catskill-Style Dry Flies, palmer dry flies like Queen of the Waters evolved and were quite popular in the Catskills. Today the Queen of the Waters fly is tied more as a showpiece than for fishing. Around the time Catskill style dry flies were gradually developing, a version known as the fanwing became popular. This type of dry fly floated well and was easy to see.
The Catskill style Queen of the Waters recipe is as follows:
- Hook: #10-14 Allcock 04991 or Mustad 94840
- Thread: Tan 8/0 Uni-Thread
- Wings: Mallard Flank
- Tail: Medium to dark ginger
- Body: Orange silk with fine gold tinsel ribbing
- Hackle: Medium to dark ginger, palmered
