Flights of fancy

Today at work I spent most of my afternoon photographing items in our collection belonging to the late Jack Gartside, including several flies not only tied by Gartside but invented by him as well. He was an creative and innovative tyer, and the more I hear about him from his friends and peers the more I wish I'd had the chance to meet him.

Anyway, these are just a few of the patterns he came up with over the years. He tied them in a wide variety of color combinations and sizes; I picked these particular flies solely based on how well I thought they'd photograph against the backdrop I was using:

The Chicken Poop (yes, really):



The Gartside Bug:



The Slider:



A Secret Minnow, ie one tied using his secret material in the wing:



And perhaps his best-known creation, the Gurgler: