Andy Dear | Monday, 12 December 2022
This week we'll look at one of the more unique patterns in Bubba's repertoire, "The Tan Grizzly Cree With Peach"
The Tan Grizzly Cree pattern has always intrigued me. It's one of those interesting patterns that doesn't resemble anything specific, but due to the marabou collar and layered wing stack, REALLY comes alive when it's in the water. I have often used this description when describing many, if not MOST of Tim Borski's patterns, and in my opinion, this is a unique skill that not all fly tyers possess.
I suspect that John was shooting for an impressionistic pattern that when submerged, had a vague resemblance to either a large shrimp or crab. I've experimented with this pattern several times, and tend to favor a slightly sparser/shorter marabou collar than the tie that is in John's photograph. I love the unique color pattern that the cree over grizzly provides, and the sparser collar ensures that most of the focus is on the blended pattern in the feather stack, and not the marabou collar...but again this is just my own personal preference.
Rounding out this pattern is a traditional "keys style" head that can be tied with traditional thread or with John's Krystal Flash head technique. Note that when using a Krystal Flash head with this particular color pattern, his preference was for copper, which pairs well with the copper barring in the outer layer of the cree wing. This another one of those patterns that lends itself to a myriad of color variations and combinations.
I have included the recipe sheet and a reference picture below
Hope you all are having great week!
Andy
