The Queen of Waters (150 year old wet fly pattern)

[@50Squirrel]

Personally, I liked the fly with single sided hackle. Great looking fly Sir!

[@cheflexx778]

Good morning Matt! Def like the lighter hackled one better.. good tie.

[@diecastrejuvenation7779]

Love these historic flies! Really quite elegant. Mary Orvis' book is probably my favorite because of the age. Always cool to use a fly that some one over 100 years ago would have fished with.

[@RyanAshley419]

Dadgum, that's a good looking fly. I am going to have to give this one a whirl.

[@burtonbrocious171]

Good looking classic wet fly matt they will always catch trout it was great to meet you at the fly tying symposium i had a great time tks 😊

[@jimholland1592]

Good morning Matt☕️☕️ I am kinda digging the one with half the hackle but that just me. We are out near Asheville then heading to Nashville. This year has flown by. Enjoy the symposium and bring back some good info 👍

[@bigdaddy99929]

Nice looking fly. Like them both but thinner a bit more. Love the colors. Thx Matt!

[@fredrickwaldon1579]

Wow it’s like two different flies!Hello Matt happy Sunday.I hope this Sunday tying doesn’t keep you from fishing but we sure thank you

[@leemowers9395]

great look for an old school wet fly, thanks for sharing Matt.

[@jimgollach6202]

I like the thinner hackle much better, I think the orange body shows out a lot better, that's just me. I think both of them would work. Thanks Matt! Enjoyed watching. 👍

[@MichaelDavis-x5i]

When I tie this one I use real slik. But using orange over the foundation thread usually results in the orange color to become much darker when the fly is wet. So I use white silk as a base then apply the orange silk over that. The norange silk will maintain its brilliancy when wet.

[@edwardmlotkiewicz2343]

Great wet fly and another great video. This fly is also in Mike Dawes book "The Flytier's Manual" along with the similar Wickham's Fancy. If the Queen of Waters is tied using a wire rib and without a tail, it closely matches a Wickham's Fancy. The original Queen of Waters appears to have been tied with hen hackle. I prefer that but with a more open Palmering. Thanks again for another great video.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Ed! I didn't even pull out Mike Dawes' book but I'm looking at it now. And yep, there it is! His definitely looks like it's tied with a rooster hackle. And good call on this being very similar to the Wickham's Fancy. Dawes even mentions that it's tied the same way as the Wickham's. Great note my friend!

[@Jd-yc3gw]

Good morning Matt. ☕️time. Nice old fly. I prefer the heavier hackled version but then I’m not the one the fly has to impress. I likely wouldn’t last long as a fish. 😁. Been a beautiful weekend here. Unless something goes sideways we are heading south tomorrow morning. Hopefully I’ll be watching your next video from somewhere in Idaho. Hope you had a great weekend. Take care.

[@allenaviation5746]

Great looking fly Matt. I like the soft sparse hackle version.

[@TheCopperVillageAngler]

I am with those who like the thinner hackle, but, like you said, they both will fish!

[@MyItalians]

Morning Matt As they say less is better. I personally like the full feather hackle. Thanks for sharing and serving.

[@jamesvatter5729]

Good stuff, Matt. Definitely like the 1/2 hackled one.

[@JohnAmidon-c6r]

I say hen hackle. Rooster hackled, it looks like a Stimmy! Thanks, Matt.

[@johnnylightning1491]

I'm kind of with you on this one Matt, I'm not sure which one I like better. I say let the fish decide. I can see a few different colors on this one. Keep the good stuff coming buddy.

[@edwardchavez5627]

Good Sunday Morning Sir Matt, WOW ... for me the one you tied on the video. The Orange body is more visible still giving the half Hackle the ability to flutter in the water. A masterful piece of work this morning Sir Matt thank you.

[@yvonpoitras916]

Yup I like the one with less hackle , but its 2 beautiful tie Matt !

[@hirkojs]

Great pattern. I like to looks of the lesser hackle myself. Either way I’m certain they’ll both get attacked profusely. Mega Thx Matt !!!

[@denismcmahon8053]

nice tie matt,the one with the sparse hackle will fish better and higher in the water.i would probably rib it with gold or silver fine wire just to give it a littlt more robustness.keep them coming.

[@davehall2160]

Both look good, but I think the half hackle looks better Hope you had a great weekend, and thanks for the video, Matt

[@johngallagher5821]

Nice fly Matt, I like the thinner one better.

[@michaelmerlino6753]

Love the classics and the obscure.Use a little head cement at the wing bases it helps keep the a whole lot less unruly (just another little thing in my dust bin of a brain.

[@joutdoorsmen23]

Awesome job I think both will go awesome job Matt

[@timothymcdougald21]

I vote for the fly with the single sided hackle.

[@vrich3733]

Awesome Matt thank you!

[@kenb4685]

Fantastic work Matt. Thankyou.

[@hankremer6606]

Thinner hackle looks better…in my opinion. I love the old school wet flies. We often forget how productive they are until we use them on stream.

[@garrisonh]

I think I will try a hen hackle and a half, slightly thicker in front.

[@ZacharyBobbie1611]

Thank you for the awesome video, Matt! I enjoy the historical aspect of the fly! Thank you! Tight lines!! 🎣🎣

[@huntingmissouri5420]

Nice looking bug. Thanks for sharing Matt!! I will have to tie some up.

[@Wyamike734]

Relaxing Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and watching a great video. Hard decision between the heavy vs light hackle . To be honest I think they both will work equally well. Have a great day and be safe.

[@marshallbaldwin8960]

Great streamer pattern! I can see lots of color options for this. Thank you Sir Matt.

[@laytonmarvin3790]

Nice choice of patterns. Soft hackles are killer this time of year. After seeing both flies with full dress and half dressed, I'm leaning towards the full dressed pattern. I'm assuming both will fish well, but for me, giving the fish a larger portion is best. As always, thanks you for sharing, and have a marvelous weekend.

[@FlyTyer1948]

#2 because it’s likely to have more motion & a more impressionistic minnow appearance when stripped. 👍

[@chasselynch5733]

I love these classic patterns Matt great job my friend

[@thomasdurkin8719]

I'm liking that last one better.

[@robchapman5366]

That is a great looking fly Matt. Thank you.

[@martyrothman3933]

Thanks Matt for everything

[@ybarrajc]

Another nice one Matt I could see using it both ways. I like them both, I think either one of them will catch fish. Have a blessed day my friend.

[@MichaelDavis-x5i]

I am very impressed that you found this fly pattern Queen of the Waters. This must be tied with mallard or wood duck hen flank hackle sparsely. This results in movement of the fibers attracting the fish as something that''s alive. I have tied and used this one for over 60 years now and have many of these in my fly box in different sizes size 8 and smaller. I use a base of white silk then orange silk over that. A refusal will usually happen if the palmered hackle extends beyond the barb. This fly works extremely well if fished patiently and allowed to sink for at least five minutes untouched, then one quick 4" strip. Oftentimes, he will already have it in his mouth! I haven't seen anyone in the last 45 years using this very deadly pattern. Unfortunately, many outstanding flies have been lost to antiquity. It's highly recommended that you tie these according to the old Bergman pattern recipe and change nothing, that is IF you want excellent results.

[@SavageFlies]

Great comment! I love digging up and researching these old patterns, but you're right in that there's not a lot of experience out there in how to tie (or fish) them anymore. I've seen this pattern in a few books now and they all look quite different. I appreciate the note and you sharing your knowledge!

[@MichaelDavis-x5i]

@@SavageFlies The thing is that back in Ray Bergman's time, cock hackle feathers, like Whiting Farms were not available to anyone. I remember in the early 1960's what was available was India Necks and barnyard chickens. Therefore, most of Bergman's flies with primarily wet flies with hen hackle. I have never tied the Queen of the Waters with dry fly materials. I use soft hen hackle and have had excellent results with it. Having said that I might try it with genetic rooster hackle and see what it does. Since 95% of the feeding is done underwater the wet fly version has caught many trout over the years. Interestingly, you are looking up these old patterns! Many of these wonderful flies have gone by the wayside and are long forgotten. There should be an impetus to savvy anglers to start tying these because there is one fact... these flies haven't been seen in many decades by the fish! They are NEW to them and are interesting to the fish!

[@tompeterson559]

I agree, single sided hackle! It's a good looking fly.

[@DarrellOlson]

I prefer the thinner hen hackle. The Rooster version was not a hit for me. Well done.

[@chasselynch5733]

I tried tying up this pattern with a red holographic tinsel body ,worked well for mountain brookies

[@mattsflytying2816]

Much much better with only half hackle it will swim better the heavier the material the higher the fly will float. Sparse is good nice fly i sure love the old flies. That pattern could be used swinging as an October caddis thanks for sharing

[@jimwilliams-wb9um]

The half hackle looks nice but to me, the full hackle would work well on the Madison for the fall run.

[@joeduca8582]

Hi Matt! First of all thanks for your military service. I'm feeling like Goldilocks on the choice of full hen or half stripped. Somewhere in between would be "just right" for me, although I wouldn't shy away from the heavier hackled one. It's tough to tie from a drawing. The drawing in M.O.M.'s book looked like It had a couple wraps of the palmered hackle as a collar. Those photos in the F.F. book confused me. Was #335 dark winged Queen hackled with rooster and the lighter winged #336 hackled with a hen? Both hen? #336 looked slightly thicker fibered like hen. I wonder if Don Bastian tied those flies. Also you'd have to consider the quality of hackle when Bergman tied in the 30's compared to what we would use today. I love these videos because they make me think and research. Or better yet, I'll just say great fly and try to tie some with what I have Thanks Matt, you're the best👍

[@BB1872]

I wonder if this could be tied as a spider pattern?

[@MichaelDavis-x5i]

Try North Count Flies Partridge & Orange. Have fun!

[@drewrawcliffe5593]

Also see Bob Church imitations for Trout for this pattern which includes a red tail of cock hackles