Bodkin / Patterns

Champlain

Streamer · Baitfish · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook 3X heavy, 7X long streamer hook, #2 (streamer)
  • Thread White (head coloured black with a marker) 6/0

Materials

  • Mylar tinsel Gold oval tinsel (One strand for the rib)
  • Floss Yellow floss (Enough for a smooth body)
  • Bucktail (or red saddle hackle on smaller hooks) Red saddle hackle fibers (Sparse throat)
  • Bucktail White bucktail (Small bunch for the lower wing)
  • Bucktail Yellow bucktail (Small bunch for the upper wing)
  • Peacock herl Natural peacock herl (Four or five strands for the topping)
  • Black permanent marker Black ostrich herl (For the head)
  • Head cement Clear head cement (A drop)

How to tie it

  1. Lay a thread base along the shank, stopping short of the eye to leave room for a substantial head.
  2. Tie in the mylar tinsel at the back of the thread base with the silver side showing so gold shows when wrapped, then move it underneath the shank.
  3. Tie in the yellow floss at the same point, keeping it underneath, and rotate the vise as you work so you can check that nothing is riding up the sides.
  4. Wrap the floss forward and back in flat, tightly abutting turns to build a smooth body; flatten the floss with your fingers as you go to avoid a ropey body.
  5. Wrap the tinsel rib forward from the rear of the body in evenly spaced turns and tie it off at the front.
  6. Invert the fly (or the vise) and tie in a sparse stack of red bucktail as a throat, about a hook-shank long: one soft wrap, pull back, then tight wraps.
  7. Start colouring the thread base black with the marker now, before the head builds up, so no white shows through later.
  8. Tie in a sparse bunch of white bucktail on top as the lower wing, longer than the hook, using a soft wrap then tight wraps; then add the yellow bucktail over it to the same length. Trim the butts on an angle to reduce the lump.
  9. Lay four or five peacock herls on top with the tips even as a topping, bind them down carefully (herl always fluffs when tied in), then take a soft wrap at the rear of the head to gather the wing.
  10. Build and blacken the head, whip finish, and add head cement.

Tying videos

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