Bodkin / Patterns

Big Intervale Blue

Salmon/Steelhead · Wet Fly · Salmon · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Mustad salmon single, 6
  • Thread Black 8/0

Materials

  • Uni-French oval tinsel Silver oval tinsel (small, one piece (tag and rib))
  • Golden pheasant crest Golden pheasant crest (1 feather (tail))
  • Floss Black floss (body, 3 passes)
  • Soft hackle/schlappen fibers Silver doctor blue (small bunch (throat))
  • Squirrel tail Gray elk hair (small stacked bunch (wing))
  • Head cement Clear head cement (one drop)

How to tie it

  1. Start the black thread just past the hook point.
  2. Tie in one length of small oval silver tinsel and lock it with a couple of very tight wraps. The same piece forms both the tag at the rear and the rib.
  3. Tie in a golden pheasant crest tail with a couple of soft pinch loops first (tight first wraps twist and splay crest), adjust its position, then bind it down firmly.
  4. Tie in the black floss and make three passes (back, forward to the return, and back again) to build a smooth, even body; keep the floss away from the hook point and don't disturb the tail.
  5. Wind the tag/rib forward in about five evenly spaced turns, keeping the short tag turns at the rear underneath; fold the end over, bind down, and trim.
  6. Tie in a soft silver-doctor-blue throat under the shank, ending just short of the hook point; pinch-loop it into position.
  7. Stack a modest bunch of gray squirrel tail, remove strays, and tie in the wing reaching back to the tip of the crest tail. A soft first wrap keeps it on top, then bind down tight (squirrel is slippery).
  8. Whip finish a neat head and apply head cement.

Tying videos

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