Bodkin / Patterns

Fullback Napoleon

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Reference Recipe

  • Hook 1XL curved nymph hook (e.g. Daiichi 1760), 12 (10-16)
  • Thread olive 70 denier

Materials

  • Bead (slotted/spiral) Gold bead (7/64 in)
  • Pheasant tail fibers Natural pheasant tail fibers (~8 (tail, shellback and wing case))
  • Ultra wire Gold wire (small, 1 strand (rib))
  • Seal-type dubbing Brown/olive/black seal type dubbing (body and thorax)
  • Partridge feather Natural partridge (1 (soft hackle collar))

How to tie it

  1. Slide the bead onto the hook, secure the hook, start the thread and dress the shank down to the bend.
  2. Tie in about 8 pheasant tail fibers at the bend for a short tail, leaving the long butts extending forward; wrap back over them to lock.
  3. Tie in the small gold wire for the rib at the bend, then carry the thread up to the 3/4 point on the shank.
  4. Dub a slim, slightly tapered abdomen forward to the 3/4 point.
  5. Fold the forward pheasant tail butts over the top as a shellback, kept centered on top, and secure at the 3/4 point.
  6. Spiral the wire forward over the abdomen in 4-5 evenly spaced turns to segment it; tie off and helicopter the excess free.
  7. Fold the remaining pheasant tail tips back out of the way and dub a slightly thicker thorax over the front quarter.
  8. Fold the pheasant tail forward over the thorax as a wing case, tie it down behind the eye, and trim the excess.
  9. Tie in a small partridge feather by its tip and take 1 to 1.5 turns for a soft-hackle collar; secure and trim the stem.
  10. Whip finish and add cement (an optional hot-spot collar can be added at the head).

Tying videos

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