Tiger Nymph
It was this quote which flashed through my mind when, on a February 2003 trip, my B.C. host Keith Dyer asked me whether I would be interested in petting a Siberian tiger. A live tiger, that is, not a rug ;-)
“Sure!”, I replied, any trepedation about this encounter swept aside by excitement.
Such it came to pass that I made my acquaintance with the beautiful Kisa, an encounter depicted above. A meeting between one of the world’s supreme predators and a Low Countries flytier, which in its aftermath spawned the creation of the Tiger Nymph.
- Run the thread down the shank, tie in a, shortish, bunch of cree hackle fibers and a doubled section of black 6/0 tying thread.
- Trim the butts to half shank and tie down to make a level underbody. Dub on a thin noodle of cat underfur.
- Wrap a slenderabdomen coverin the rear half of the shank.
- Rib the abdomen in evenly spaced turns.
- Trim excess.
- Tie in four or five peacock herl strands.
- Cut a small bunch of guardhair from the back of a pine squirrel pelt. Remove most, not all, of the underfur and hand-stack the tips if needed. Tie in the bunch of squirrel on top of the herl tie-in position, tips pointing back over the abdomen, at desired legs length.
- Trim squirrel butts.
- Dub some more cat underfur, slightly heavier noodle.
- Wrap a thorax, making sure to leave some space for the front legs and head.
- Cut a small bunch of guardhair from the back of a pine squirrel pelt. Remove most, not all, of the underfur and hand-stack the tips if needed. Tie in the bunch tight up against the thorax, tips pointing back over the thorax, leg length slightly longer than rear legs.
- Trim squirrel butts.
- Parting the bunches of squirrel in equal halves, each in turn, by pressing the edge of your thumb nail down on them, pull the peacock herl over to form a wing case. The hearl and thorax will make for a permanent separation of the leg portions. Tie down the peacock hearl at the eye.
- Trim the peacock herl, and form a neat head. Finish off the Tiger Nymph with a whip finish, trim thread and a touch of head cement.
- Top view.
- Bottom view.
Tying instructions:
