Bodkin / Patterns

Smoky Mountain Near Nuff

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Standard-length dry fly hook, #12-18 (tied on a #14)
  • Thread Black 70 denier

Materials

  • Wing Mallard flank, wood duck color (One good clump, split into two)
  • Tail Grizzly stripped hackle quill (2 stripped hackle quills)
  • Body Grizzly hackle (One slightly thicker stripped hackle quill)
  • Hackle Brown and grizzly hackle (One dry fly feather of each)
  • Finish Clear pinhead resin (A pinhead of UV resin or superglue for the tail)

How to tie it

  1. Lay a base of black 70 denier thread and take it up to about the 70% point.
  2. Grab a fair-sized chunk of wood duck colored mallard flank by the tips, cut it off the stem, and tie it in facing forward at about one hook shank in length; take a loose wrap, check the height, then secure.
  3. Lift the butts to 30-45 degrees and trim them parallel to the shank so they taper, then bind them down.
  4. Build a thread dam in front of the wing until it stands upright, split it evenly with a bodkin, figure-eight through the base to make two wings, then take a couple more wraps in front to stand them back up.
  5. Take the thread to the bend. Pull two quills out of a cheap webby grizzly feather (grab the tip and strip down each side), and tie them on top as a forked tail about one and a half shank lengths long, with their natural bend facing outward. Pull one out each way to splay them, add one wrap up underneath to prop them up, then secure without cutting the stems yet.
  6. Take the thread forward behind the wing, snip the tail stems off, then tie in a slightly thicker stripped grizzly quill at that point and bind it flat all the way back to the base of the tail, spinning the thread counter-clockwise to keep the wraps flat; bring the thread back behind the wing.
  7. Wrap the quill body forward in touching turns to just behind the wing for a barred, segmented body; tie off and trim.
  8. Set the tail splay one more time by pulling each quill out to its side, then put a tiny drop of UV resin (or superglue) where the tail meets the body and cure it. This holds the fork permanently.
  9. Tie in a brown and a grizzly dry fly hackle behind the wing with a little bare stem showing; wrap the brown two turns behind the wing and two or three in front, tie off and trim, then repeat with the grizzly.
  10. Hold everything back, build a small head, whip finish, and pluck out any stray fibers.

Tying videos

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