1/ Tie
in your thread just behind the hook eye. Wind back
to a point roughly1/4 to 1/3 along the hook shank
and towards the rear of the fly. This is the point
at which you will tie in your Hi-Vis wing post.
Use the photo to the right to gauge exactly how
far to take the thread. Once you are happy with
the way it looks proceed to Step 2.
2/Take
a small pinch of Hi Vis and tie in. The easiest
way to do this is to pick out half as thick a bunch
as you want to use but at least double the length
eg. two hook shanks in length. Tie it in flat with
half extending to the left and half to the right
when viewed from above as in the accompanying photo.
3/
Now grip the Hi Vis and hold it vertically in place
while several horizontal wraps are used as a base
to tie the hackle on. Trim the wing to suit. When
this is completed wind the thread back evenly towards
the rear of the hook to where the tail will be tied
in. This point should be just above the barb of
the hook.
4/
Select a small bunch of Microfibbetts equal in length
to the hook shank. Tie in as shown to form a tail
and remove the excess tail filament stubs. The tail
should be roughly equal in length to the hook shank
although some like to tie approximately 1.5 times
the hook shank length to imitate the naturals more
precisely.
5/ Next
up pinch a small amount of dubbing from the packet.
Form a slightly tapered rope starting thin and gradually
getting thicker. It may take several goes to get
the right amount but once you are familiar with
the particular hook size you are tying the fly in
you should be able to grab the correct amount pretty
much first time, every time.
6/ Start
winding this rope of dubbing you have constructed
forward towards the upright wing you made in Step
3. Generally you will be winding forward, each successive
turn just to the front of the previous one. However
use your judgement and if you have to wind more
or less depending on how the tapered body is coming
along. Once this is completed wind the thread forward
just in front of the wing.
7/ Find
a good feather from your cape. I would recommend
using one from a cape and not a saddle as the tapering
of these feathers makes for much nicer parachute
style flies. Tie it in at the back of the wing with
the shiny side facing slightly towards you and upwards.
This will greatly help when winding it in later.
Trim the excess Feather stub and bring the thread
forward to the hook eye.
8/ Once
again grab a pinch of dubbing, this time a much
smaller one as we are only making a much smaller
section than in Step 6. Now this looks different
to the way many are used to tying in their parachute
patterns and tying off at the front of the fly.
I tie mine in horizontally around the base of the
wing post and I have yet to find a neater looking
or stronger way of doing it.
9/ Now
wind this dubbed rope back towards the wing. This
body should also be tapered as in Step 6 with the
thinnest part first getting thicker to match the
body size around the wing post. When it looks right,
as in the accompanying photo, move on..
10/
Wind the hackle around the wing post in
a counter clockwise direction. Use between three
and five turns with each successive turn beneath
the previous one. When complete take the thread
and make three horizontal turns catching the hackle
feather and locking it in place. The first over
the feather, second under and the third over it
again. Remove the excess hackle feather. Bring the
thread forward to the hook eye keeping it on top
of the fly. If you want pull it down hard so that
it bites into the dubbed body and is obscured. Add
a couple of half hitches behind the hook eye and
Voila!
10b/
This is just a photo from above to give
you an idea of the amount of hackle required. This
is about the perfect amount for most parachute dun
ties. Also notice the slightly tapering body just
like the real thing.
The
Pattern
This is just a parachute
tie to match a Mayfly found in good numbers in the Goulburn
River early each season. They can hatch anytime in September
and October depending on the weather conditions and
are highly prized by the fish. By this we mean they
like them a lot! They can hatch anytime from lunchtime
onwards and particularly good hatches occur in the late
afternoon and evening. Getting the colour reasonably
right is important as it is so different to so many
of the duns we get. Probably the best thing about this
dun is that it is a large #14 and is therefore easily
seen by the angler and a suitable imitation is also
quite easily tied.
