Bodkin / Patterns

Fore & After

Dry Fly · Trout · Intermediate · 2 versions

Savage Flies dressing

  • Hook dry fly, 12-18
  • Thread Black

Materials

  • Tail Golden pheasant tippets
  • Body Yellow floss
  • Hackle Grizzly (aft) and Brown (fore)

How to tie it

  1. Lay a base of Black thread all the way back to the bend.
  2. Grip a Golden pheasant tippet feather by the tips, slide scissors in and cut out about eight fibers, then pull the rest of the feather away so the tips stay aligned. Tie them in at the bend about a hook shank long, checking with a couple of wraps. Do not let them wrap down around the bend. Bind the butts forward.
  3. Strip a few fibers from a small Grizzly dry fly hackle to expose bare stem. Catch it in at about 45 degrees and pull it back so the bare stem sits right at the tail.
  4. Advance the thread to just forward of the hook point. Wrap the Grizzly hackle forward six or seven turns to the point, back the thread up a couple of turns to catch it, trim, and add a couple of securing wraps.
  5. Take the thread back to about a third of the way back from the eye. Tie in the Yellow floss with a loose wrap pulled tight, then wrap it down over the grizzly and back, and down and back again for a thicker body, watching the hook point. Tie off with a couple of wraps and snip.
  6. Tie in a Brown dry fly hackle sized to the hook or one size bigger, barbs between one and one and a half hook gaps, with a little bare stem showing. Trim the butt.
  7. Start the Brown hackle slightly on the yellow floss and wrap forward as many turns as fit, about eight, to the head. Sweep the fibers back with your fingers as you tie off, trim any pointing forward, and snip the excess.
  8. Push any butt ends up with a fingernail, take the thread right behind the eye, build a small ramp, whip finish with four or five turns, fluff the hackle back out, and add head cement.

Other versions

1 more in the app: Tyer Recipe.

Tying videos

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