Damsels in Distress SBSs

More poking around in Randall Kaufmann's Fly Tyer's Nymph Manual took me to some damselfly patterns that always bring to mind lake fishing on the Blackfeet Reservation. Standing in the water amid a mass migration of the nymphs, wiggling their little tails off as they head to the shallows is an amazing experience. If there was some way to harness all that kinetic energy.....
Anyway, 2 bugs here; they start out the same but diverge upon reaching the abdomen.

First, the Marabou Damsel - great, simple, effective bug. While fishing one of these on a lake known for some really large brook trout, it accounted for the biggest sucker I have ever caught. To say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement, but the day was saved an hour later when I caught a half dozen grayling (on a soft hackle); didn't know the Tribal fisheries folks ever planted grayling and I've never seen them since.
Don't know if this was the first fly Mr. Kaufmann tied with a Tiemco 200 (may have been the Stimulator), but it's something that I immediately identify with him when I see one; kinda like CDC with Rene Harrop (sorry Hans) or Z-lon with Craig Mathews. With a primo marabou blood, you could tie the whole fly with one feather; mine look a little ratty when I do that but they work. I tied this one with 2 feathers just in case company comes and we want to look presentable.

hook - Tiemco 200R #10
thread - Danville 6/0 olive
tail/body - marabou
rib - copper wire x-small
wing - marabou

Part 1 Marabou Damsel

mash barb and attach thread and wire 2 hook eyes width back from eye; keep tag end of wire on far side of hook bend

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2736.jpg

wrap wire back to point above hook barb

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2738.jpg

measure a marabou feather (abdomen length)

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2739.jpg

tie down; wrap thread up to thorax

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2744.jpg

gather feather, wrap forward to thorax, tie off and clip (if you were doing a 1 feather tie, you'd wrap the butt ends a bit farther forward, fold back, tie off and pinch/shred/trim the wing)

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2752.jpg

tie in the wing and let tips extend over front (original pattern called for tie-in/trim but I like to fold the tips back and then trim; makes for a neater head)

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2760.jpg

fold tips back (wetting your fingers and stroking the feather helps here)

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2766.jpg

tie down, create smooth head, whip finish, SHHAN

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2770.jpg

use fingernails to tear wing

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2774.jpg

finished fly

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n/IMG_2777.jpg