Bodkin / Patterns

Extended Body Paradrake

Dry Fly · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook standard dry-fly hook (TMC 100), 8-12
  • Thread olive 6/0 6/0 (140 denier)

Materials

  • Tail Dark moose body hair (few fibers)
  • Extended body Elk hair wrapped over a leader-core, ribbed with thread (1 clump)
  • Rib Olive thread (cross-wrapped) (-)
  • Wing/Post Dyed olive elk hair, upright (1 clump)
  • Hackle Olive (grizzly) dry-fly hackle (1 feather)

How to tie it

  1. Tie a clump of elk hair to a short length of mono/leader core at the eye with the tips extending back over the bend, then wrap thread out along the hair to form a tightly wound extended body reaching a bit more than half a shank past the bend.
  2. Cross-wrap olive thread back up the extended body to rib and segment it, then return to the hook and secure; add a few moose fibers at the tip as the tail.
  3. Stand a bundle of dyed-olive elk hair upright at the front third as the wing/post and secure it.
  4. Tie in an olive dry-fly hackle at the base of the post.
  5. Wind the hackle parachute-style around the post in 4-6 turns.
  6. Tie off under the wing, whip finish, and cement. The extended hair body plus parachute hackle let the fly sit flush in the film like a big natural.

Tying videos

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