Bodkin / Patterns

Juicy Lucy

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook 4X-long hook (Daiichi 1270 or equivalent), #12
  • Thread Black 6/0 (Danville)

Materials

  • Sparkle 'dubbing enhancer' fibers Olive ice dub (A small piece for the shuck, plus enough to load a dubbing loop for the body)
  • Wire, extra small or small Red wire (One length to counter-wrap the hackle)
  • Dry fly hackle Brown (grizzly also works) (One feather sized to a #12, palmered)
  • Elk hair (cow or bull) Natural with black tips (One stacked clump for the wing)

How to tie it

  1. Start black 6/0 thread and run it back to the bend.
  2. Tie in a small piece of the crinkly sparkle dubbing material right at the hook bend as a short shuck and even it up.
  3. Tie in the extra-small red wire at the bend and leave it hanging.
  4. Make a dubbing loop and load it lightly with the olive sparkle dubbing (the loop grips far more than you expect, so use less than you think) break the fibers up, then spin it tight.
  5. Wrap the loop forward to build a tapered, crinkly body, pull any excess fibers back out of the way and trim the loop off at the front.
  6. Tie in the brown hackle at the front of the body and palmer it back to the bend in open turns.
  7. Counter-wrap the red wire forward through the hackle, locking each turn of stem down, tie it off at the front and helicopter it away. Back-wiring is what keeps a fish's teeth from destroying the hackle.
  8. Stack a clump of elk hair and tie it in with the black tips ending just beyond the bend, tightening down gradually so it doesn't spin. Bring the thread forward under the butts to lock the hair, then finish the lock by wrapping up over the section you are about to clip.
  9. Whip finish, then clip the butts off at the same angle as the eye of the hook and tidy the head.

Tying videos

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