Here's the story on the Purple Shadow and some recycled material from a post I made on Fly Tying Bug a few months ago:
This fly is the "Purple Shadow" - or at least a slight variation on the original simplified to tie a little quicker for fishing. It's a pattern by Bob Baker and I'm a believer! You should see this baby glow on a dark, cloudy day in tannin coloured water
http://www.flyfishingnb.com/bobbaker.htm
Recipe as tied:
Hook: Partridge Bartleet Supreme Salmon CS10/2
Head: Uni 8/0 Red
Tag: Uni Oval tinsel Gold
Tail: Golden Pheasant Crest
Butt: Fl. Orange Floss, Red Ostrich herl
Body: Danville Floss, Fuscia
Rib: Uni Oval tinsel Gold
Wing: Purple squirrel tail
Collar: Purple hen Hackle
(This version is tied with a larger collar than Bob's)
My good friend Paul knows Bob quite well and got this information about the Purple Shadow's origin:
'Hello Paul - The "shadows" were born after talking to Eric Baylis one day on the phone re some of the vagarities of salmon and I remarked "who knows?" - to which he replied "Only the Shadow knows for sure" - in reference to an old radio show. That, and a line from a poem about the Atlantic salmon by local poet Chris Grant : "Shadows hang suspended in the waters changing light " inspired the thought " Wow - What a great name for a salmon fly"
Accordingly I sat down at my bench, thinking - What will it look like ? This was the first time I had the name before the creation, and it took a while, but slowly the Black Shadow was born, shortly after the Silver version, and since I had always liked purple as a fly color (Purple Pinware, Smurf and Czar to name three previous successful ones), the Purple Shadow followed shortly after. Results soon spoke for themself. tight lines, Bob'
So thanks to Bob for the great story of this patterns' origin and also to Paul for doing all this behind the scenes detective work!
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