Bodkin / Patterns

Mattress Thrasher

Dry Fly · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook 3XL nymph or hopper hook, #10-16 (shown: #10)
  • Thread Black Your go-to size (70 denier)

Materials

  • Antron/synthetic dubbing (body) Black dubbing (Enough for the rear two-thirds)
  • Deer hair or comparadun hair (wing) Natural deer hair (One stacked clump)
  • Silly legs / rubber legs Pumpkin (orange and yellow with glitter) (One 2-inch piece, folded)
  • Dry fly hackle Grizzly hackle (One feather, slightly undersized, 4-5 turns)
  • Antron/synthetic dubbing (thorax) Yellow or orange antron synthetic dubbing (A pinch)

How to tie it

  1. Mount a size 10 3XL hook, pinch the barb, and lay a black thread base back to the start of the bend.
  2. Wax the thread and dub the rear two-thirds of the shank with black Antron dubbing, tightening up any loose wraps as you go.
  3. Stack a clump of deer hair and tie it in at the front of the black body as a wing, measured back to about the bend of the hook; use one or two medium wraps rearward to control the flare, then tighter wraps forward.
  4. Trim the deer hair butts at a taper and build a smooth thread underbody over them for the thorax.
  5. Fold a 2-inch piece of pumpkin silly legs so the ends line up, lay it against the near side and then the far side of the shank with loose wraps, adjust so the legs come off the sides and reach back to the rear of the fly, then lock them in with tight wraps.
  6. Tie in a grizzly hackle (slightly undersized if you have one) by a stripped stem just in front of the rear legs, long enough for four or five wraps.
  7. Wax the thread again, dub a slightly fatter thorax of yellow or orange Antron forward, using the dubbing to lift and position a second pair of legs so they angle out from the sides rather than forward.
  8. Palmer the grizzly hackle forward through the thorax, three or four turns behind the front legs and one in front, wiggling it through the legs, then tie it off with two extra tight wraps and trim.
  9. Stroke everything back, make a small head, and whip finish (zigzag around the legs or hold them back to get four clean turns).
  10. Trim the front legs slightly shorter than the rear legs and tidy any stray fibers.

Tying videos

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