This is a review of the variations

of Tup’s Indispensable.

Copied from A. Courtney Williams - A Dictionary of Trout Flies (1950)

 

After considerable reading and search through a variety of sources,

 I found this account the most comprehensive, and it needs little from me.

 

The dressing of this deservedly popular fly was the invention of a professional fly-tier, R. S. Austin, who first produced it in about the year 1900.

He was a tobacconist at Tiverton and only dressed and sold flies as a

sideline. The creation of this pattern was his greatest achievement and even before his death 1911 it had gained a great reputation in this country.

 The credit of naming the fly so aptly must be given to Mr. G. E. M. Skues, who was one of the two individuals to whom the inventor confided the secret of the dressing; the other was Mr. C. A. Hassam, a keen amateur fly-dresser who produced some beautiful work.

  The Tup is fished wet or dry as an imitation of the smaller pale wateries, although, with slight modification in the tie, it may be used throughout the season to simulate a number of duns, spinners, and nymphs. Fished sunk, it is useful for tempting bulging trout, whilst as a floater it is equally good on rough mountain streams as on clear placid rivers.

  In fairness to Mr. Austin and later his daughter (who carried on the fly-tying side of his business after his death, dressing nothing but the Tup) the original dressing of the fly was kept secret by those to whom it had been entrusted, for many years. A few years ago, on her retirement, Miss Austin gave Mr. Skues permission to publish the correct dressing, Mr. Hassam having died a little time before.

 In the intervening years (although naturally experienced fly-tiers were able to make a fairly good guess about the ingredients of the fly), all sorts of weird creations were made and sold as Tup’s Indispensable in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for this fly, which rumour had it was something out of the ordinary. As the correct dressing is still not widely known, the position is much the same today and some most extraordinary patterns masquerade under the Tup marque. They range from the quite unbelievable to the totally impossible.