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Bushy's Dun - Rust   The Sunset Beetle   

Hook: Tiemco TMC-100 #12-18

Thread: Dark Brown 6/0 - 8/0

Wings: Grizzle Hackle Points

Tail: Micro Fibbets brown or Hackle Fibres: Split V

Body: Wapsi Awesome Possum Natural Nymph Dubbing :Rusty brown

Hackle : Dark Brown Cock Hackle

1/ Firstly start by wrapping base of thread to a point roughly one third the length of the hook shank behind the hook eye. At this point we will tie in the wing post around which we will wrap our hackle. Make the wraps nice and tight and with each successive one snug against the last, just to get used to doing it. Step 1

2/ Take your grizzle cape, preferably a cheap, webby one as used in saltwater tying. This will provide you with hundreds of wings and also the materials to make many midge balls without blowing the budget. Cut off two grizzle hackle points of similar dimensions and hold them back to back. Measure them off against the hook shank so that you have a wing roughly equal in length.

Step 2

3/ Tie the hackle points in as shown (please excuse the out of focus shot). Wind in being careful not to flare them out by using too much pressure. As you wrap away from the feathers towards the hook eye gradually increase the tension. Trim off any excess from the feather stub and move on.

 

Step 3

4/ Now use the thumb and forefingers of your left hand (for right handed tier) to stand the wing upright as desired. Pinch it off in this position and use your right hand to wrap a thread base horizontally around the base of the wing. Every few wraps throw one in that goes around the base of the hook as it will make it all the more stronger. This is the base upon which the parachute hackle will later be tied..

Step 4

5/ Take the tailing material of your choice tie in as shown. The tail length should be roughly equal to the length of the hook shank. The tail should be tied in a SPLIT V configuration. That is when viewed from above it should be in the shape of a V starting at the rear of the fly. This can be done in several ways although with the microfibbets some simple manipulation as you tie them in or even after will achieve the desired look.

Step 5

6/ Here we can the see the Split V configuration we talked about in the previous step. This is a wonderful technique to use in combination with a parachute hackle as it helps to float the fly perfectly. We would recommend though that you tie the tail rather sparse as the fish see a lot and a bulky tail often results in refusals, the fly soon looking twice its size.

Step 6

 7/ Now we can start to make the body. Take a small amount of dubbing and apply it to the thread. Form a thin rope by dubbing (rubbing the dubbing and thread between you fingers in the one direction until it forms a rope). If you are a little more skilled try and form this as a tapering rope, starting thin and getting marginally thicker along its length.

Step 7

8/ Use the newly formed rope of dubbing to construct the rear body section of your fly or abdomen as it is widely known in fly tying circles. A nice, neat body should be the result and if you finish with something like we have hear you have done it well. Leave the thread hanging below the wing ready for the next step.

Step 8

9/ Take a hackle feather of the correct size. Strip any unwanted bits from the feather and tie in so that it sits somewhere between parallel to the hook shank and forty five degrees as well as pointing to the rear. In this case tie it in so that it is on the far side of the wing. Then wind the thread to just behind the hook eye.

Step 9

10/ Now dub a small rope again as in Step 7. This can again be slightly tapered but either way build up the front body section (thorax) by wrapping the dubbed rope back towards the wing. Add more wraps in the one plane if need be the closer you get to the wing to achieve the desired result. Once you have done this remove any excess dubbing that you may have and go to the next step.

Step 10

11/ Wrap the hackle around the wing post as shown. Do this by winding horizontally in an anticlockwise direction around the post with several turns of hackle, each successive one beneath the previous turn. When you have done this tie off using the thread to catch the hackle against the base of thread on the wing post. Hold the hackle down and way from the fly (on imaginary line between angled vice head and and wing post base) and use clockwise wraps around hackle and wing post base to secure. Pull the thread to the hook eye when done and finish with a couple of half hitches.

Step 11

12/ Here is the finished product as viewed from above. You will notice that the parachute hackle is not overly dressed. Just enough to float the pattern. Also notice the tapered body starting thin at the rear and gradually getting more bulky.

 

Step 12
   

The Pattern

This is a brilliant pattern and it has brought us great success over the last decade. It was sold commercially as Bushy's Emerger and we have not seen anything about it in print so about five years ago we altered its name to more suitably describe its design. Make no mistake this is a dun pattern and one of the deadliest ones around.

This fly accurately imitates a number of duns the world over. Especially in the smaller hook sizes the rusty brown colour combined with low riding body and prominent wing have seen this fly excel. One the Goulburn it is among three dun patterns that take the most fish year after year and it also fishes well on all other rivers we travel to. The Swampy in springtime and the Mitta Mitta in autumn are favourite locations.The Bushy's Dun up close and personal

Perhaps the best fishing we have had came via this pattern in December 2001 (last year) when in search of fishable water we drove the length and breadth of the South Island only to find everything in bad shape. Remembering a little tailrace river similar to our own Goulburn that may not be affected we drove on and were rewarded with what can only be described as minimum flows and clear water. This river has a very large fish population (browns and rainbows) and we had never seen it like this before. At about 1/10th its usual flow rate we had a peaceful few days wading and fishing the slow glides where before you risked life and limb just walking the edges.

The fish were rising from mid morning until dark; every day. Each pool had maybe 10-15 fish rising and all were in the 1.5 - 4lb range with the odd better fish thrown in for good measure. A good dun hatch would gather momentum, weaken, strengthen etc all day long and the Bushy's Dun size #16 worked a treat, as it matched the hatching mayfly perfectly. The first full day we had started off wet but soon left us with overcast, mild and windless conditions. We have never seen fishing like this before and may never again.

I was filming most of the morning and only stopped when I had run out of tape. In one A good rainbow on the BDmorning I shot three hours of footage of a heap of fish being hooked and landed or dropped and we lost count of how many fish were landed just shortly after lunch. Our estimations for the full day, as I fished on after the film ran out is about 130 fish. I got 17 on the evening rise alone although most were about 1.5-2lb. At one stage the land owner came down and watched Geoff hook about seven fish in just over an hour all on this dun pattern. Suffice to say that he now has a good supply of them compliments of a CARE package courtesy of GVFFC and we will return sometime late this year for a second round, this time with a lot more film!

We would advise you to carry this fly in several sizes and in two colours. The grey Bushy's Dun that we previously featured is the other version you should always have handy and is you carry these versions and a Rusty Tailrace Dun and Parachute Adam's in the sizes #12 - 18 you will have most hatches covered.

The Bushy's Dun has never been a secret as far as we are concerned. Those of you who visit our Fly Fishing Centre would know that we are pretty generous with our advice. For those of you who are yet to be acquainted with this pattern take the time to get to know it. It really is a special one.

~Antony