Bodkin / Patterns

Barbless Parachute Black Gnat

Dry Fly · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

As tied by Dressed Irons

  • Hook Mustad R50 standard dry fly, 10
  • Thread Black UTC 140 denier

Materials

  • Tail Black rooster hackle barbs (rooster neck dyed black), 10 to a dozen
  • Post 2 mm foam (yellow in the video)
  • Hackle Black rooster saddle dry fly hackle
  • Body Life Cycle dubbing, black

How to tie it

  1. Put the hook in the vise and de-barb it.
  2. Attach the black 140 denier thread behind the eye and wind a thread base to just past the barb.
  3. Peel off 10 to a dozen black rooster hackle barbs and tie them in as the tail, a shank length or slightly longer, with one wrap underneath to support them; trim the excess about halfway down the shank.
  4. Bring the thread forward to about two-thirds or three-quarters up the shank and tie in a strip of 2 mm foam as the post, with the end going about halfway down the abdomen; wind the foam down.
  5. Build a small thread dam in front of the foam to prop the post perpendicular to the shank.
  6. Wrap the thread up the foam post about an eighth of an inch to build a rigid base for the hackle, and leave the thread there.
  7. Tie in the black dry fly hackle by its base, with a bare stem to wind around the post, then bring the thread back down.
  8. Dub the body with black Life Cycle dubbing, skinny at the back and fatter toward the post, finishing with the thread at the base of the post.
  9. Wind the hackle around the post, at least half a dozen and up to eight turns, each below the last.
  10. Lash the hackle off at the base of the post with the thread and make a four or five turn whip finish up around the post.
  11. Trim the foam post about an eighth of an inch above the hackle.

Tying videos

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