Treacle parkin...
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dezza
Well-known member
Ah, the Treacle Parkin, named after the Yorkshire cake of the same name.
Hook: 12 to 16 wet fly
Thread: Pearsalls brown gossamer
Tag: Orange wool
Body: Peacock herl wound carrot shape
Hackle: Ginger henny cock, about 4 turns.
Can be fished dry or wet, very good for grayling, beloved of TK Wilson, Reg Righyni and Arthur Oglesby. I remember spending a few hours in the company of Tag Barnes and Reg Reghyni on the Aire many years ago.
Reg Righyni was a wool broker based in Leeds. He was an extremely wealthy chap and one of the few people who could afford to run a Bristol car. His father was a French army officer who was killed in WW1.
Hook: 12 to 16 wet fly
Thread: Pearsalls brown gossamer
Tag: Orange wool
Body: Peacock herl wound carrot shape
Hackle: Ginger henny cock, about 4 turns.
Can be fished dry or wet, very good for grayling, beloved of TK Wilson, Reg Righyni and Arthur Oglesby. I remember spending a few hours in the company of Tag Barnes and Reg Reghyni on the Aire many years ago.
Reg Righyni was a wool broker based in Leeds. He was an extremely wealthy chap and one of the few people who could afford to run a Bristol car. His father was a French army officer who was killed in WW1.
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mikeshaw1979
Well-known member
Yes - his father died of his wounds.
R.V.Righyni was born at Bradford 27 June 1912; brought up by his mother, a Yorkshire girl, and her parents. He entered the wool trade, as reported, quickly making his mark on the Bradford Wool Exchange.
He served a coarse fishing apprenticeship under the late J.H.R.Bazley. A great match fisherman in those days. Reg learned early water lore at the feet of this master and always acknowledged his indebtedness to 'Baz'.
The Righyni grayling-float is a lasting legacy - still going strong, marketed to this day by the Grayling Society.
Reg was adamant that the Treacle Parkin had to be dressed with an orangey-yellow tag. Fished dry and highly prized as a trout fly in Derbyshire (September) as well as Yorkshire. He prefered a #16, to a 14, for grayling (see Chapter 33 - A Case for Fancy Flies in his book "Fishing Reflections").
R.V.Righyni was born at Bradford 27 June 1912; brought up by his mother, a Yorkshire girl, and her parents. He entered the wool trade, as reported, quickly making his mark on the Bradford Wool Exchange.
He served a coarse fishing apprenticeship under the late J.H.R.Bazley. A great match fisherman in those days. Reg learned early water lore at the feet of this master and always acknowledged his indebtedness to 'Baz'.
The Righyni grayling-float is a lasting legacy - still going strong, marketed to this day by the Grayling Society.
Reg was adamant that the Treacle Parkin had to be dressed with an orangey-yellow tag. Fished dry and highly prized as a trout fly in Derbyshire (September) as well as Yorkshire. He prefered a #16, to a 14, for grayling (see Chapter 33 - A Case for Fancy Flies in his book "Fishing Reflections").
dezza
Well-known member
Peter Stone thought JHR Bazley to be the greatest British freshwater all-round angler of all time.
Bazley's achievements were staggering. He won the National Championships twice, and was exceedingly successful in many other matches. He caught a great many big fish including barbel on the Yorkshire Rivers, 30 pound pike and huge roach on Hornsea Mere and some of the biggest grayling ever caught in Yorkshire.
In addition to all this he was an extremely competent fly fisherman.
Definitely the "Walker" of his time. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
Bazley's achievements were staggering. He won the National Championships twice, and was exceedingly successful in many other matches. He caught a great many big fish including barbel on the Yorkshire Rivers, 30 pound pike and huge roach on Hornsea Mere and some of the biggest grayling ever caught in Yorkshire.
In addition to all this he was an extremely competent fly fisherman.
Definitely the "Walker" of his time. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
Sean Meeghan
Well-known member
The Treacle Parkin is a variant on the red tag and should be tied as such replacing the red tag with a yellow or orange tag (cf John Roberts, Fly Fishing for Grayling).
Righyni certainly favoured an 'orangey yellow' tag, but I suspect this may have been for more for visibility when fishing the pattern dry than anything else:
"Let us look at a few examples of the exploitation of the fancy fly principle. Frequently the floating artificial moves from a brightly shining surface int the shade of a tree. The dark fly that could be seen well against the light background can be easily lost when it enters a very dull area.
But with the Treacle Parkin, for instance the darkish brown of the hackle and the greeny bronze glow of the body show up well where the surface is bright, while the glow of the tag can be easily detected against the dark background."
From A Case for Fancy Flies, The Creel, date not known. Reprinted in Fishing Reflections - Thoughts on Salmon, Trout and Grayling Fishing, Reg Righyni, Edited by John Winter.
I first discovered Righyni in the dusty recesses of the central library in mucky old St Helens. He's partly responisible (together with climbing and Rugby League) for me living where I do now. I'm now able to fish the waters he fished, with people who knew him. I do suspect that if modern materials were availble to him the TP may well have had a fluorescent tag!
Righyni's favourite grayling flies were the Sturdy's Fancy and Bradshaw's Fancy. Being a philistine, my favourite is a heavily weighted bug od indeterminate parentage!
Righyni certainly favoured an 'orangey yellow' tag, but I suspect this may have been for more for visibility when fishing the pattern dry than anything else:
"Let us look at a few examples of the exploitation of the fancy fly principle. Frequently the floating artificial moves from a brightly shining surface int the shade of a tree. The dark fly that could be seen well against the light background can be easily lost when it enters a very dull area.
But with the Treacle Parkin, for instance the darkish brown of the hackle and the greeny bronze glow of the body show up well where the surface is bright, while the glow of the tag can be easily detected against the dark background."
From A Case for Fancy Flies, The Creel, date not known. Reprinted in Fishing Reflections - Thoughts on Salmon, Trout and Grayling Fishing, Reg Righyni, Edited by John Winter.
I first discovered Righyni in the dusty recesses of the central library in mucky old St Helens. He's partly responisible (together with climbing and Rugby League) for me living where I do now. I'm now able to fish the waters he fished, with people who knew him. I do suspect that if modern materials were availble to him the TP may well have had a fluorescent tag!
Righyni's favourite grayling flies were the Sturdy's Fancy and Bradshaw's Fancy. Being a philistine, my favourite is a heavily weighted bug od indeterminate parentage!
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dezza
Well-known member
I have the feeling that certain of Righyni's contemporaries used the tie the Treacle Parkin with an arc chrome (fluorescent orange) woollen tag.
In actual fact I now tie a lot of my hackled dry flies using a "henny cock" hackle. The stiff cock hackles you get with the expensive genetics are not always a good idea, and trout find such flies more difficult to mouth.
For the uninitiated, a henny cock hackle has very soft fibres.
In actual fact I now tie a lot of my hackled dry flies using a "henny cock" hackle. The stiff cock hackles you get with the expensive genetics are not always a good idea, and trout find such flies more difficult to mouth.
For the uninitiated, a henny cock hackle has very soft fibres.
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
treacles and fluff..
Where are the moderators when you need one?
Treacles,stiff cock hackles,difficult to mouth??????????????????????
Where are the moderators when you need one?
Treacles,stiff cock hackles,difficult to mouth??????????????????????
mikeshaw1979
Well-known member
Treacles,stiff cock hackles,difficult to mouth??????????????????????
Te-he..!!
Reg Righyni wrote in Chapter 23 'Dry-fly Fishng': "There are several kinds of liquid preparations on the market but not all are suitable for immediate application while actually fishing and few of the others are capable..."
Super steely shiny cock hackles would dry with a flick or two... No "genetics" in those days. Those from a 3 or 4 year old rooster were prefered.
Back to Reg: "One particularly good method is to melt a little silicone line grease on the end of the finger and stroke this onto the hackles or hair of the fly."
Some of these patterns are popular on the Dee and upper Severn in Wales. Brought over by Yorkshire anglers. John Storey was another on Righyni's list.
Moc Morgan lists most of the dressings, he also lists the yellow tag alternative as, in Wales, can 'Coch-y-Bonddu' or 'furnace' be substituted for a dark red hackle.
I've posted a plate on Welsh grayling patterns from his Flies of Wales (click twice in top left corner to open in super size).
The one true Welsh innovation is the 'Severn Ke' a derivative of the Ke-He loch pattern of from the Orkneys, no grayling there, the white hackle aids visibility and the mixed orange GP tippet/red wool tag hedges any bets on which colour best brings grayling up on the day.
Anyway - I hope this is of interest.
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