Bodkin / Patterns

Adams Variant

Dry Fly · Trout · Advanced · 2 versions

As tied by Savage Flies

  • Hook dry fly, standard length, barbless, 12 (description: #12-16)
  • Thread Black 12/0, 70 denier

Materials

  • Tail Golden pheasant tippets or deer body hair (natural undyed deer hair used in the video)
  • Rear hackle Grizzly, undersized
  • Body Yellow ostrich herl
  • Wings Grizzly hackle tips
  • Front hackle Grizzly and brown front hackle

How to tie it

  1. Start black thread and take it to the back of the hook.
  2. Tie in the tail of natural undyed deer hair (the recipe also allows golden pheasant tippets) and trim the butts at the front.
  3. If the deer hair flares at the back, make a few very loose wraps over it, then tighter wraps going forward.
  4. Catch in an undersized grizzly dry fly hackle just in front of the tail for the rear hackle, undersized so it does not close the hook gap.
  5. Wrap three or four turns of the rear hackle, tie it off where the thread is, and trim.
  6. Tie in the yellow ostrich herl, wrap it forward for the body, and tie it off, leaving room for wings and front hackle.
  7. Tie in two grizzly hackle tips as wings, a little longer than the front hackle, and secure them spent, splitting them with a finger and making figure-eight wraps.
  8. Trim the waste to clear the hook eye.
  9. Catch in a brown and a grizzly dry fly hackle behind the wings, about 1.5 times the hook gap in length.
  10. Wrap the brown with three or four turns behind the wings and a couple in front, then wrap the grizzly through it, zigzagging it so it traps few barbs.
  11. Catch off the hackle, add a few extra wraps, leaving room to whip finish.

Other versions

1 more in the app: As tied by Davie McPhail.

Tying videos

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