The Butcher Clan.
by Kuba Chruszczewski
My first real fly fishing gear - a lightweight American fiberglass rod (I think it was about 8 feet long), an English reel, a sinking line. All as a gift from my uncle's grandfather in London. When was it? A very long time ago... I was fifteen years old. And a terrible passion for fishing.
My young fly fisherman's kit was completed with black hip waders about two numbers too big, and of course flies. Here there was a problem. At that time I could not even make the simplest fly. All that was left was what was available in stores. There wasn't much of it, the quality of the products was, let's say.... hmm, so-so. But what was to be done. There were fish waiting in the Rab, I didn't know much about choosing a fly either, I just chose something by eye and fished. At the end of the leader there was one fly, on the fly-line there was another one, and with the method that few people remember nowadays (Józek Jeleński still fishes this way sometimes), called „on a soak” I managed somehow. The method „on the soaked” is, in short, that after bringing wet flies below the angler, in a place with stronger currents and undulating surface, one lifts the rod and leads the leader in such a way that the fly at the end of the set is just below the surface, and the fly on the trout dances on the surface or a few centimeters above the water. You can slowly pull the set towards you, and then you can flip it across again, and so on. This method allowed me to catch grayling, which at the time I didn't know how to catch on a classic wet fly, and I didn't even know about the existence of a dry fly. And just one warm summer evening, fishing with the above-described method, I caught a few undersized grayling, and one, definitely larger, did not give me a chance. Today, years later, I can no longer reliably assess its size, but more than 40 it certainly was. And in those days, such graylings dreamed of me at night.
Thanks to this event, I discovered a midge that later brought me many good fish, and since it was available in stores, I always tried to have a few in my box. We are talking about a classic, somewhat forgotten fly with the menacing name Butcher( butcher), also sometimes called Moon's Fly. It attracts attention mainly because of the interesting material used for the wings. They are made from the dark blue-black, metallic shiny ailerons of the second-order mallard duck. While these feathers are very striking, they are one of the nastiest laying materials known to spinners. Finding feathers that are willing to let themselves be properly combed, arranged and attached to a hook is a difficult and sometimes hopeless task. We simply don't have feathers of the right quality most often. There is a way around this. It is necessary to tie the wings by arranging them in the so-called package: a wide, triple-width wing strand is folded into three and tied from the top to the hook. The fly will not have an elegant, classic profile. On the other hand, I guarantee - it absolutely does not bother the fish. They, by the way, from the most beautifully worked out wet fly, especially made of such a delicate material, can quickly make an unimpressive brush.
A method of making a fly similar to the Butcher, and equally effective, is to use in place of the duck's darts a properly selected hair, such as that of a polar fox. This is laid out much easier, of course, and gives a structure that is very durable and works well in fast water. And it allows you to make a large fly, on a long streamer or salmon hook - this possibility in the case of ailerons we do not have, from them you can make a wet fly of a size at most within the limits of #8. Do flies made this way deserve to be counted among the noble lineage of Butchers? I don't know, this problem I leave to the purists to solve.
Classic Butcher has several variations, here are some of them, all battle-tested. And one experimental one that is still waiting in my box for its moment.
Photo 1.
Butcher ( Moon's Fly)
Petiole - red rays
Torso - silver flat lamé
Wrap - oval silver lamé
Blackberry - black hen
Wings - dark blue-black darts of the second order of the mallard duck.
Photo.2.
Bloody Butcher
Tail - tippets rays
Torso - silver flat lamé
Wrap - silver oval lamé
Blackberry - red hen
Wings - dark blue-black darts of the second order of the mallard duck.
Photo.3.
Kingfisher Butcher
Tail, trunk, wrapper, wings - like Butcher
Blackberry - in the original kingfisher feather, substituted for the blue rooster neck feather
Photo.4.
Golden Butcher Hairy V.
Long shank hook
Tail - tippets rays
Torso - gold flat lamé
Wrap - gold oval lamé
Blackberry - red hen
Wings - fur from the tail of the black polar fox
Arms - Jungle Cock
Photo.5.
Silver Butcher Hairy V. (This one has not yet been tested. Maybe I'll show it to our summer trots, maybe next season I'll try it on one of the Scandinavian rivers).
Hook - salmon double, gold
Trunk - tip of silver oval lamette, flat silver scrolled with gold oval
Blackberry - black with long rays
Wings - fur from the tail of the black polar fox with the addition of blue and navy Flashabou
Arms - Jungle Cock
Polish 
English