Aglaia.
Known in the Greek mythology as one of the three graces, daughters of Zeus, Aglaia was the goddess of beauty, splendor and glory.
This pattern comes from Edward Fitzgibbon’s “The book of the Salmon” from 1850 which was published under pseudonym Ephemera. The book features many fly patterns and as the last patterns the three graces Aglaia, Thalia and Euphrosyne. Aglaia is tied on a bit shorter hook than the other two and is noted as being a famous summer evenings fly.
I followed the pattern pretty closely although the body hackle is pretty regular in length as opposed to short mentioned in the original pattern. I also omitted the herl head as I’m planning on fishing this fly and I’m not a big fan of herl heads on fishing flies. I’ll list the pattern as in the books for reference.
Aglaia. — Body, all of silver tinsel, ribbed
with gold twist; black ostrich tag, tipped with gold ; tail, a small topping and a few fibres of the
wood-duck’s feather ; black hackle, thin and short
over body, teal hackle at the shoulder. Wings,
two toppings, bustard, cream-coloured turkey and
wood-duck feathers, and black ostrich head.
Hook, No. 7. A famous summer’s evening fly.
