Bodkin / Patterns

John Schultz Balanced Damsel

Nymph · Trout · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Mustad 32833BLN steelhead, 10
  • Thread Olive 8/0

Materials

  • Balance pin Straight pin, cut to length (1)
  • Weight 0.020 lead wire (about 12 wraps)
  • Eyes Two glass beads on heavy leader, knotted at the ends (1 pair)
  • Tail Olive marabou (short)
  • Body Hareline Micro UV Polar Chenille, olive or brown olive (as needed)

How to tie it

  1. Lash the cut straight pin along the shank so it extends past the eye and carries the balance point forward.
  2. Take about a dozen wraps of 0.020 lead wire over the shank and bind them down.
  3. Knot two glass beads onto a short piece of heavy leader to make the eyes and figure-eight them in.
  4. Tie in a short olive marabou tail. Keep it short, since a long tail is not what this pattern is built on.
  5. Wrap the micro UV polar chenille forward as the body, stroking the fibres back on each turn.
  6. Finish behind the eye without crowding it, whip finish and cement.

Tying videos

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