Bodkin / Patterns

Baby Darter

Streamer · Baitfish · Trout · Smallmouth Bass · Largemouth Bass · Advanced · 1 version

Joe Penich

  • Hook Ahrex HR413 classic single, 1
  • Thread Black at the rear, white for the body, brown marker on the head Semperfli Nano Silk 12/0, Uni-Nylon 70 denier white

Materials

  • Lead wire, 0.025 (folded, one piece each side)
  • Small flat embossed tinsel Gold oval tinsel (Matuka-style rib)
  • Ice Dub Olive ice dub (rear body, split thread)
  • Ice Dub Orange ice dub (front of the dubbed body)
  • Rabbit strip Brown with black bars (Matuka wing)
  • Ice Dub Shimmer Fringe Brown dubbing (sparse, over the wing)
  • Fox fur strip, dyed Olive ostrich herl (split-thread collar)
  • Rabbit fur, natural Natural case (split-thread collar)
  • Rabbit strip, dyed Yellow with orange tips (throat)
  • Partridge body feathers Natural partridge (2, gills)
  • Glow Bug yarn Beige glow bug yarn (3 sections split into 4, spun head)
  • 3D eyes, 5mm Olive d eyes mm (2)
  • 5-minute epoxy and head cement

How to tie it

  1. Lay a short base of black thread on the straight part of the hook even with the point and set it aside; that black band is your reference for where the Matuka tie-down will land later. Start Uni-Nylon 70 denier white over it and bring it back to the front.
  2. Fold a piece of 0.025 lead wire over a bodkin so it holds its shape, set it from underneath so a leg runs down each side of the shank, and bind it parallel with firm wraps. Flatten with smooth pliers, cement it, trim the ends on a taper and build the thread up over them so there is no step.
  3. Tie in small flat gold embossed tinsel from underneath and run it back to the black thread for the Matuka rib.
  4. Spin olive Ice Dub in a split thread, brush it out and wrap it with firm edge-to-edge turns, sweeping the long fibres back as you go, then finish the front of the body the same way in orange. Brush the whole body out and pull the fibres down.
  5. Measure a brown barred rabbit strip so the hide is about twice the length of the dubbed body, trim the hide flush at the fur and taper it, then tie the tip in in front of the dubbing. Pull the strip tight over the body, part the fur at the black thread and lash the hide down to the bare hook with about a dozen wraps.
  6. Wrap the gold tinsel forward Matuka style at a slight angle, using a bodkin to separate the fur so the rib does not bind the wing down, and secure it in front. Add a sparse pinch of brown Shimmer Fringe on top of the wing.
  7. Build the front in split-thread collars: olive dyed fox fur, then natural rabbit fur wrapped as a collar with fibres swept back, then a yellow-and-orange rabbit throat from underneath and two partridge body feathers as gills on the sides. Spin beige Glow Bug yarn as a head in four pieces per wrap, pack it, comb it out at right angles, trim it flat on the sides and tapered top and bottom, colour the top with a brown marker, and epoxy a 5mm olive eye onto each side.

Tying videos

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