Bodkin / Patterns

Baby Perch

Streamer · Baitfish · Smallmouth Bass · Advanced · 1 version

Joe Penich

  • Hook Kamasan B940 hook, 1
  • Thread white Semperfli Nano Silk 12/0 and 18/0

Materials

  • Weight (.025 lead wire, folded under the shank)
  • Rib Orange permanent marker (small flat braid)
  • Body Yellow mcflylon (Ice Dub in a split thread)
  • Wing Yellow with black bars (rabbit strip, matuka style)
  • Collar hackle Brown hackle (hen hackle, folded)
  • Second collar Dyed olive material (fox fur spun in a split thread)
  • Flash Green holographic tinsel (Ice Dub Shimmer Fringe)
  • Throat Dyed orange material (rabbit strip)
  • Gills Dyed olive grizzly hackle (2 hackle tips, stacked concave)
  • Head Beige, topped black (glow bug yarn, packed and trimmed)
  • Eyes Silver metal tape (5 mm 3D eyes in epoxy)

How to tie it

  1. Start 12/0 thread where the head will meet the wing, lay a base back to the barb, then fold.025 lead wire in half and bind it under the shank, using your index finger as a guide. Cement, flatten with pliers and make at least two passes of thread over it.
  2. Switch to 18/0, mount a small orange flat braid at the rear, then spin yellow Ice Dub in a split thread and wrap the body forward.
  3. Prepare the barred yellow rabbit strip: hide trimmed flush, cut on a taper, thickness reduced with curved scissors. Which the tyer calls the best tool for this step.
  4. Tie the wing in by the tip at twice the length of the dubbed body, then pull it back, part the fur down to the reserved 12/0 thread and bind the hide there with a full-hand whip finish.
  5. Rib the wing matuka style with the orange braid, separating the fur with a bodkin. He notes this is mostly for effect. The real strength comes from that rear thread lock.
  6. Fold a brown hen hackle and wrap it as a collar, wrapping thread back over the stem to reinforce it, then spin dyed olive fox fur as a second collar, add green Shimmer Fringe, an orange rabbit throat and stacked olive grizzly gills, tapering the thread as you go.
  7. Build the head from beige glow bug yarn (four pieces per segment, packed forward to the eye) comb it out at right angles so the fibers are dense, trim the sides flat and the top and bottom tapered, colour the top black and epoxy the 5 mm eyes in.

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