Body: (thorax and abdomen) 50/50 mix
of Scintilla Ernest Schwiebert Signature Series Colour
#70 and Scintilla Multi Purpose Dubbing Colour #14
Wing:
Hi-Vis light Chocolate
Hackle:
Brown and Grizzle
Wingcase:
Evasote Foam
Marker:
Design 2 Art Marker Colour # D-85 Walnut
1/ First
off wrap a nice even base of thread starting from
near the front of the hook and extending to the
point where you are going to tie in your first part
of the fly, the trailing shuck. This point should
be roughly level with the barb on the hook. Once
this is completed go to the next step.
2/ Take
a small amount of Hi-Vis and tie in at this point.
The amount should be just enough to add a sparkling
effect at the rear of the pattern. The length should
roughly be equal to one half to three quarters the
hook shank length. When this is secure trim the
excess Hi Vis and lay a couple of extra turns of
thread to cover the clipped stubs.
3/ 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. You may need to
add more as you go.
4/ Start
winding this rope of dubbing you have constructed
forward towards the upright wing you made in Step
2. 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. Stop about one fifth the hook shank length
short of the hook eye.
5/ Grab
a smaller section of the darker Hi Vis. Tie in a
very sparse amount angled at 45 Degrees to the rear
of the fly. This represents the emerging wing of
the Mayfly trying to escape his nymphal shuck. This
is more for the anglers benefit as it gets lost
in amongst all the other materials later in the
piece. Trim the excess Hi Vis and proceed to Step
6.
6/ Now
find a piece of foam. Use Grey or Brown if you can
source it out but don't despair if you cant. I have
used white in this instance because many will not
have the brown that would be preferred.. Tie in
a substantial block of foam of about 7 - 10 mm in
width. Angle this upwards and slightly to the rear.
Take several turns to make sure it is secure and
then trim the excess hard against the hook.
7/ Tie
in two hackle feathers. Feel free to use feathers
from a saddle if you want as with this pattern it
is not a big issue. Tie them in one atop the other
shiny side towards you and make sure they are on
the far side of the foam post. Trim the excess feather
stubs and bring the thread forward. Now proceed
to Step 8.
8/ Once
again we need to make a rope of dubbing. This will
be used to complete the remaining body of the fly,
the thorax. Apply less dubbing this time as you
are only required to tie a much smaller section.
Still use the mix of two dubbing colours to get
the correct colouration of the pattern.
9/
Wind the dubbing rope forward and back
making sure you get a nice tapering thorax. It should
be thicker towards the foam wing and thinner nearer
the hook eye. Be sure that when you have finished
constructing the thorax that the thread is left
at the base of the foam. This is where we want it
to aid in tying off the parachute hackle.
10/
Next wind in the hackle. Being careful
not to break the hackle wind it around the foam
wing in a counter clockwise direction. Use
between two turns of each with 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. Repeat for second feather.
11/
Now take the foam wing and turn it into
a wing case. Gripping the end of the foam between
the thumb and forefingers of your right hand pinch
a small bunched up wing case, like in the photo,
and transfer to the same fingers on your left hand.
Pinching this in place wind about five turns of
thread behind the hook eye locking the foam down.
You can even add a couple of half hitches behind
the hook eye to be sure.
12/
Trim the foam as close to the hook as possible
but be careful not to clip the thread or the actual
foam of the wing case. If done correctly your wingcase
should look like this. This is pretty much the completed
fly. This fly floats extremely well with heavy hackle
and foam as well. But the key is that most of it
sits well below the water like a real emerger. Add
a couple of half hitches to complete.
13/
Finally find a waterproof marker, if like
me you used a white foam you must do this. If you
used a dark grey or brown you can skip this part.
Use your marker to dull the bright wingcase. Do
this several times if you must to get the correct
look. Some may wish to leave a bright wingcase for
sighting purposes but I prefer to darken it and
fish it with a more visible parachute dun pattern.
The
Pattern
This pattern has proven
itself over the past few years. Initial prototypes of
it did extremely well and I have sort of settled on
this tie (for now!). The combination of a low sitting,
always floating fly that has most of its body sunk down
below the surface is very effective. Add to this the
trailing shuck and wing stub that flashes just like
the natural and you have a fantastic emerger pattern
for Tasmanian Dun fishing. Best effort for this pattern
was 1 hours fishing for 5 fish between 3-5 lb while
others with more traditional patterns struggled to move
a fish. So tie a few up and try em in Little Pine or
the Cowpaddock and let me know how you go!
