Tup's Indispensable 　 English　《fly》

　 British wet fly.　It is also called Tup's for short.　The fly-tier R.S.Austin who lived in Tiverton made this fly in 1900, and it has been considered an imitation of the pale watery (mayfly) spinner, or the red spinner.　Since G.E.M. Skues was so pleased with this pattern and christened Tup's indispensable, it spread rapidly and became popular, and orders were rushed to Austin.　As "tup" indicates a male sheep in heat, the name of the fly means a bag of tricks (scrotum).

　 There is an interesting sequel.　The body material of the fly - the hair on the bag of tricks (scrotum) - had been kept a secret for a long time, and was revealed to the public for the first time in 1934.　That was 20 years after Austin's death, while the period his daughter handled the exclusive sales of the fly.

　 It is interesting to note that the hair of a bag of tricks was not used as a fly material for the first time.　The book "The Driffield Angler" (1806) written by Alexander Mackintosh contains a description of the whitish hair grown on the bag of tricks of male sheep that was used as body material of the Green Drake.　It is a wonderful material that has a dusty yellow color that is translucent when it gets wet.　Austin is supposed to have read this old book that had been published about a century before his era.

　 A British joke claims that this fly can catch female trout more frequently than male trout.　It is a famous fly and various variations such as dry fly and nymph fly were made.　Refer to color and XX page.

【Tying Material】Original

hook: # 16

thread: yellow

tail: cock hackle fiber of light blue (honey dun) which sparkles in yellow

body: mixture of white fur which has grown in the bag of tricks (scrotum) of

　　male sheep, lemon fur of Spaniel (dog), cream-colored seal's fur, and a

　　few pinches of yellow mohair. expose a tying thread at the rear end of the

　　body.

　Addendum: Yellow mohair was changed to crimson seal's fur by the opinion

　of Skues in later years.

hackle: cock hackle of light blue (honey dun) with yellow gloss

【Reference】English trout flies, 1969 (1967).　Collins illustrated dictionary of trout flies, 1998 (1995).　The new encyclopedia of fly fishing, 1999 (1986).　The essential G. E. M. Skues, 1998.　Nymph fishing for chalk stream trout, 1960 (1939).

→pale watery, red spinner, Skues