About the flies
Where do the names for the unknown, unnamed, or unusual patterns come from?
Most of the unnamed, unknown, or unusual patterns by Carrie G. Stevens are missing the names given by their originator. A shorthand name was created which generally indicates where the fly was found in my search for these works. As more information about these streamers surfaces, it is likely that the true names will become available. For example, Pattern #25 was initially tagged as “Ph I - 01”, until a specimen of this streamer was observed mounted on the original card bearing the fly name.
The name prefixes “Ph I”, “Ph II”, Ph III”, or “Ph-IV” are abbreviations of the designations used in the article by Graydon R. Hilyard and Leslie K. Hilyard titled “Carrie Stevens: A Fly Tyer’s Progress”, in The American Fly Fisher, Spring 2002 p11, and reflect the progression of Carrie Stevens streamer design in the Mallory-Palmer collection, now in the Rangeley Outdoor Heritage Museum. Much of that collection also appeared in the Mallory-Cullen collection, when owned by Steve Cullen, in the book Forgotten Flies by Paul Schmookler and Ingrid Sils.
The Ph I (Phase I) patterns are most likely Carrie Stevens early works which are the numbered patterns, but have not yet been found with the card that carried the pattern number. For example, Pattern #25 was first discovered in the Mallory-Cullen collection, but was observed mounted on the card bearing its name in 2017.
Ph II (Phase II) adds the Jungle Cock cheek, about ½ hook shank length, sometimes herl underwing, and a heavier hook. Several have shoulders made from heron (we won’t explore the legality…) and are presumed to be the next stage in Carrie Stevens development of her streamer architecture.
Ph III (Phase III) adds a sparse throat, but still has no shoulder.
Ph-IV (Phase IV) are the Carrie Stevens streamer architecture as we know it, with a shoulder, shorter Jungle Cock cheek, 4 or occasionally 6 wing hackles, and a throat built up in 3-4 parts.
GDB as a prefix indicates the flies are from a wallet owned by G. Donald Bartlett, a client of Wallace Stevens, publisher of Willimantic (CT) Chronicle. Now in the Rangeley Outdoor Heritage Museum, donated by his daughter, Joan Bartlett Fraser. The astute reader may note Carrie Stevens named 3 flies after Mr. Bartlett, the Don’s Delight, the Don’s Special, and the G. Donald Bartlett.
Other streamer name prefixes:
R - in Rangeley Outdoor Heritage Museum collection
FFMC - in the Mallory Cullen collection in the book Forgotten Flies by Paul Schmookler and Ingrid Sils
Unnamed # - published in the book Carrie Stevens by Graydon R. Hillyard, or in the book Forgotten Flies by Paul Schmookler and Ingrid Sils and the accompanying poster, or at on-line auction sites (e.g. Lang’s)
All others indicate flies from private collectors who generously allowed me access to the streamers to record the patterns
Where are the recipes from?
The recipes were created by first-hand observation of the original Carrie Stevens streamers. In this process I found there were differences of opinion between my assessment of materials, and some published recipes for the same fly. After re-examination of the physical specimens in question, I elected to use my (sometimes corrected!) first-hand observations. A few of the recipes were created from analyzing photographs when the original streamer was not available, generally those from on-line auction sites when the fly was not subsequently located in a collection that I could access. Additionally, the streamers noted as Unnamed in the book Forgotten Flies* by Paul Schmookler and Ingrid Sils and the accompanying poster were not physically located, so the recipes are from the book.
*Schmookler, Paul, Sils, Ingrid V. Forgotten Flies. Millis, Massachusetts: The Complete Sportsman, 1999.
What are the parts of a Carrie Stevens Streamer?
The streamer recipes on this web site use element definitions shown in the figure
How these streamers are constructed and some modern affectations
My dressings of these unnamed, unknown, or unusual patterns by Carrie G. Stevens use the historical construction methods.
Antique silver (silver-plated brass) tinsel, and counter-wrapped ribbing. The tag and ribbing are from the same piece of tinsel, with no intervening tie-down wraps, except for patterns with tails where the tail is tied on after the tag is constructed and before applying the ribbing.
The underbelly, underwing, and throat materials are properly spaced so as to not crowd the head of the fly, permitting the wings to lie along the body.
Throats are tied on in small bunches of hackle fibers, generally I use 4 bunches (center, left, right, and center) with each bunch tied on slightly forward (towards the eye) of the previous bunch.
Wings are preassembled into left and right wing assemblies, as Carrie Stevens did in the mid- and late- stages of her tying career. I tie the wing assemblies on using tying wax on the thread (tying wax is mostly rosin, some beeswax, and a little olive oil) which softens under thread pressure and hardens when the pressure is released. Tying wax has been used since the 1870s or before, and was required to manage the slipperiness of silk thread. The wing assemblies are tied on at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock position on the shank, and envelop the hook shank and slightly obscure the body.
In full disclosure my streamer flies have some modern affectations.
I use a fly-tying vise. Mrs. Stevens, it is reported, tied all her streamers in hand.
I use available hooks, generally not the Allcock 1810 Extra-Long Shank used by Carrie Stevens for most of her work. The Allcock hook factory was a casualty of WWII, and the hook has become exceedingly rare. The Allcock 1810 Extra-Long Shank hook, when available, commands a hefty price. I favor the Limerick bend, so most of my size 1/0 streamers tied for presentation use a reworked Edgar Sealy 1797B. Occasionally I will use a vintage Mustad 3907B or the Gaelic Supreme Mike Martinek hooks, both beautiful sproat bends. The Martinek hooks are a replica of the Allcock 1810, with a slightly different eye angle. I tie the early works (“Ph I” and numbered patterns) on a vintage Mustad 3907A. That hook is a light wire sproat bend with a classic barb design, similar to the hook used by Carrie Stevens for her earliest works.
My work uses white Danville 6/0 spun nylon thread, not the 2/0 silk thread originally used. I find this thread can be flattened to avoid bumps and lumps in the thread wraps.
For floss bodies, I prefer to use Rayon floss, slightly less likely to get damaged in handling than the original silk, but I will use silk upon request.
Underbellies and underwings (typically bucktail and peacock herl) are tied on with medium to loose wraps to avoid flaring, followed by adjacent tight wraps forward to keep the material in place. In at least some dissected streamers, it has been observed that Carrie Stevens applied the tight wraps first, then wrapped back towards the hook bend with looser “keeper wraps” to keep the materials from flaring.
A few of the dressings done earlier in this adventure used tufts of hackle fibers matching the wing, tied on above the throat, prior to mounting the wing assemblies, to stabilize the wing. This method was taught to me by my mentor, Mike Martinek, and has since been abandoned in favor of using tying wax on the thread when tying on the wing assemblies.
Wing assemblies are tied on using the thread used for the head. Some examples of Carrie Stevens flies used the white thread used in the construction of the body and throat to tie on the wing assemblies, after which Mrs. Stevens switched to the head color thread (typically black or red) to complete the head.
I do not apply the red band to the head of the fly. While a topic of friendly debate among leading streamer tyers, I view applying the red band as forging her signature on the work. An exception is for unusual band designs on the head, such as red-black-red-black, or red-white-blue, where I consider the head ornamentation as part of the design.