Bodkin / Patterns

Perdigon

Nymph · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 7 versions

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Jig hook, 14-20
  • Thread Thread color to match 8/0

Materials

  • Tail Coq de Leon fibers (3-4 fibers)
  • Body Thread or tinsel (tapered)
  • Hotspot Fluorescent thread (behind bead)
  • Coating UV resin (smooth coat)
  • Bead Slotted tungsten (1)

How to tie it

  1. Slide a slotted tungsten bead onto the jig hook, as heavy as the hook size allows.
  2. Lay a thread base and tie in 3-4 Coq de Leon fibers at the bend, stiff, mottled, about three-quarters of a shank length.
  3. Build a smooth, tapered body with thread or tinsel to the bead. Keep it super thin. The Perdigon's whole design is a slick, slim bullet that cuts through water. No dubbing, no fuzz, nothing to slow the sink.
  4. Wrap a band of fluorescent thread directly behind the bead as the hotspot.
  5. Coat the entire body, hotspot included, with a thin, even layer of UV resin and cure it. One smooth pass; drips ruin the taper.
  6. Whip finish behind the bead.

Substitutions

  • Body instead of Thread or tinsel: Holographic tinsel — Extra flash under the resin; Veevus Body Quill — Pre-striped, beautiful segmentation; Two-tone thread (dark back, light belly) — More realistic; Semperfli Body Glass — Translucent body, different look
  • Tail instead of Coq de Leon fibers: Pheasant tail fibers — Cheaper, similar stiffness; Hackle fibers — Any stiff fibers work
  • Hotspot instead of Fluorescent thread: Fl. orange Ice Dub — Small dubbing collar, more volume; UV fl. pink thread — Different trigger color; Fl. chartreuse thread — High vis, good in stained water; No hotspot — Plain version, still works
  • Coating instead of UV resin: Solarez Bone Dry Thin — Very thin, smooth finish; Loon UV Thin — Easy to apply in thin coats; Sally Hansen Hard as Nails — Budget option, slower to dry
  • Bead instead of Slotted tungsten: Mottled tungsten bead — Natural, stonelike look; Fl. orange slotted tungsten — Hotspot head variant; Fl. pink slotted tungsten — Very popular competition color

Other versions

6 more in the app: Fischer's Flies, Olive Quill with Hot Spot, Fly Fish Food Tie, Tungsten Jig Nightmare, Tungsten Jig, UV.

Tying videos

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