Bodkin / Patterns

Royal Humpy

Dry Fly · Trout · Grayling · Intermediate · 2 versions

Royal Humpy fly

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Standard dry fly, 10-16
  • Thread Red 6/0

Materials

  • Tail Elk hair (medium)
  • Underbody Red floss (bright)
  • Overbody Elk hair (shellback)
  • Wing White calf tail (upright)
  • Hackle Brown hackle (2 feathers)

How to tie it

  1. Mount hook, tie in an elk hair tail one shank length past the bend, binding the butts along the shank.
  2. Wrap a bright red floss underbody to the 60% mark.
  3. Pull the elk butts over as the shellback and tie down. The red glows through the hair.
  4. Tie in separate white calf tail wings, upright and divided (the separate wing makes this easier than a standard Humpy).
  5. Wrap two brown hackles densely. Whip finish.

Substitutions

  • Underbody instead of Red floss: Red thread wraps — Skip the floss, use your thread; Red Ultra Wire — More durable, adds weight
  • Wing instead of White calf tail: White poly yarn — More visible, easier to work; White Aero Dry Wing — Synthetic, great flotation

Other versions

1 more in the app: Humpy Royal.

Tying videos

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