Jungle Cock

I have to admit, I'm a real sucker for Jungle Cock on a salmon fly. 

While many successful flies don't use it, I automatically think of the Cascade and Ally's Shrimp of extremely successful salmon flies that don't use Jungle Cock, there are so many flies that, by not using it, they just don't look correct. Almost unfinished in fact. 

Having already stated, in previous blog updates, my respect and admiration for those who invented some of our most successful Salmon flies, there are flies that I won't even begin to tie if I haven't any decent Jungle Cock to finish them with.

One of those is the Green Silk Shrimp. Lawrence Cunningham's famous pattern from my own River Faughan.  I read on the online Salmon Fishing Forum once that a contributor to the forum had spoken to Lawrence's brother about the correct shade of green to use for the rear body.  His answer was that the actual shade of green wasn't all that important, as long as it stayed the same shade when it got wet.  What he did say though, was that the fly MUST have Jungle Cock and if it didn't, it could not and SHOULD not, be called a Green Silk. This was the level that some held the material too.

It is a good few years since I last bought a Jungle Cock cape.  I have four or five capes among my materials but they are all very used with very, very few, usable eyes left in them. 

For the past year or so, I've been picking through the various old capes, looking for one half decent feather that I could split down the middle to make two slim eyes on some of my larger flies. 

Four well used Jungle Cock Capes

I begun the process of looking for a new Cape at the end of 2018. It has become a bit of a minefield.

I remember buying my first jungle cock cape for £25 from my local tackle shop, Tom's Tackle on the Ardlough Road in Londonderry.  It must be around 25 years ago.  Through the years I have bought several capes as and when I needed them.  The last one I bought, must have been about 5 years ago, cost around £40. 

With no tackle shops local to me now, I've been looking online to try to get a new Cape. I can't believe the prices some websites are asking for capes these days.  Some are asking £130 for a cape.  Even if I could afford to pay that, I don't think I could justify it.

A Foxford Shrimp tied with a single Jungle Feather that was 'split'.

Around Christmas of 2018 I ordered a cape from an online retailer for £50.  When it arrived, I opened the envelope and looked at the cape.  I didn't even leave it down.  I went and got another envelope and sent it straight back again.  There was literally only a few of eyes on the cape, of any size, that were not badly split.  Please do not take this as any slight on the reputation of the supplier.  I have bought items off them before and since and their products are first class.  It was the price I could just about afford at the time and their better quality capes were outside of my price range.  I got a refund with no hassle whatsoever.

It got me thinking about the flies I tie and whether they actually need Jungle Cock or not.  I know the answer is no.  I have caught fish on flies that didn't use jungle cock.  How many salmon have been taken on patterns like the Ally's Shrimp or Cascade that were tied without it?  Indeed there have been quite a few successful Irish Shrimp patterns that were originally tied without jungle cock including the Apache, Gold Bug and John Anthony shrimps.  

An Apache Shrimp tied without Jungle Cock

I begun to look for more patterns that do not use Jungle cock.

One of those I found was the Brolly's Gold Shrimp. I have seen this shrimp a few times over the years but had never tied one. Then one appeared on my Facebook feed one day. I thought I'd give it a go. 

I changed the tying slightly. It is a personal thing but I don't really like flat silver or gold bodies on my salmon flies and much prefer using oval tinsel in touching turns. 

I had tied the rear body with the yellow and orange middle hackles. Tied the front body and was putting on the front yellow and orange hackles and I was thinking, "what a gaudy looking fly". It just seemed too bright and 'in your face' to be something I'd be comfortable fishing with. 

Then I tied on the Golden Pheasant breast feather on top. What a difference it made to the fly. It went from a loud, gaudy, shocking looking brute, to a more toned down, muted, absolutely stunningly beautiful pattern. The addition of the GP breast feather really was a master stroke by the creator. 

Brolly's Gold Shrimp

It is now a firm favourite of mine for bigger water that is carrying a bit of colour. The gold shining through the orange and yellow really glows like a flame in the water. 

Many of the more traditional Scottish patterns have not really used Jungle cock either. Patterns like the Willie Gunn for example. Although some do include include Jungle Cock in their tying of them.

So why do I have such an interest in jungle cock and try to use it as often as I can?

It was around 8-10 years ago. A friend of mine was running a charity event for the local hospice. I said I'd tie him a few flies that he could sell, or raffle, or auction or whatever he felt would raise a few pounds for the event.

I started tying the usual set of Irish shrimps. Things like Curry's Red, Bann Special, Foxford etc. As I finished them and varnished them, I stuck them in a piece of polystyrene to allow the varnish to dry. I had maybe 8 or 9 tied at this time.

I was tying in an old shed at that time with really bad light, even during the day. I went into the shed one evening just as it was getting dark outside. There was virtually no light at all in the shed.

I was standing near the tying bench when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something that I really couldn't understand what I was actually looking at. It was almost a glow. I switched on the tying lamp and it was the set of shrimp flies. Of all the different colurs used for hackles, different tinsels used for bodies and ribbing , in the poor light, the only part of any of the flies that stood out in any way, was the Jungle Cock feathers. It made me wonder if the actual colours used in the patterns were important at all if the Jungle Cock was the only discernable feature that stood out in poor light. With our dark, peaty, waters. Maybe the Jungle Cock is more important than many think?

I finally took the plunge recently and ordered myself a new Jungle Cock cape. There were just so few usable feathers on any of my old capes. Even to split a feather. 

A close up of what the standard of my Jungle Cock had become

I was on Facebook and saw an online retailer post pictures of capes they had available and I just went ahead and ordered one. This is the cape at the top of the post. It was quite expensive but is an absolutely beautiful Cape with very, very few splits on any of the eyes. I am now spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing eyes and wings for my flies again.