Carnage Paradrake SBS

[ScottP]

Figured I'd try the Carnage body on a drake. Wasn't too sure how it would work and looking at the results, I've got a ways to go to get a properly tapered body. This is the first attempt but hopefully, you get the idea; pretty raw but even so, it'll float and I'm going to try find out this week if it'll fish.


hook - Dai Riki 125 #14
thread - UTC 140 tan
tail - elk hair
body - .5mm foam
wing post - Congo Hair white
hackle - barred cream
thorax - dubbing tan


Part 1

poke a hole in a strip of .5mm foam (1/2 hook gap width)







slide on needle (inserted in vise)







coat needle with Mucilin (or wax)







start thread on needle







clean and stack a few elk hair fibers







lay fibers on needle and tie in with a few wraps










trim butts, tie off thread and slide foam up against tail







brush on a little Super Glue

[ScottP]

Part 2

grab the tag end and spiral the foam up the needle










then slide the body off the needle; trim tag end







mash the hook barb, insert in vise and wrap thread to hook point







position body on hook, coat thread wraps and about 1/2" of foam with Super Glue







wrap body forward a few turns, tie off and trim










tie in a hank of Congo Hair and post up; then tie in hackle

[ScottP]

Part 3

apply some dubbing and dub thorax; return thread to position at base of post










start wrapping hackle from the top of the post down










let the hackle hang down; take 2 turns of thread at base of post, trapping hackle







half hitch x2 at hook eye, SHHAN, trim wing post and you're done










Need to work on body taper; wider turns to start, closer together to make it a bit thicker at the base - I think. A few less tail fibers would probably be in order, too; I'll play around a little. Don't know that I'd go much smaller than a #14.


Regards,
Scott

[ScottP]

Stretching the foam, starting the initial wraps as wide as possible with lots of tension and very little overlap, then decreasing tension and increasing overlap created the taper I was looking for. Also switched to the Dai Riki 135 (scud hook) to get a little more weight on the underside.









Took it out for a test drive and it landed upright and floated like a champ, even during a downpour. Didn't catch anything on it (managed a very nice squawfish on a foam skwala) but I'm not sure there are any trout in the part of the stream I was fishing anyway.

Regards,
Scott

[ScottP]

Probably going to miss the green drake hatch but I'll downsize it a bit for flavs; olive grizzly hackle's 2700 miles away so subbed dun grizzly.

Regards,
Scott

[ronnie_mckee]

Beautiful flies.

[Allan]

Looking at the pattern, very nice by-the-way, and I wonder if it floats as well as you describe because of the effect of the parachute hackle, or the body material, or both? It just seems that when the foam is compressed, as it appears was done as it was wound along the shank, it would lose its floatation characteristic.

[ScottP]

Allan,

I'm pretty sure it's the foam that's doing most of the work. Although thinner than regular 2mm craft foam, it really isn't compressed much; the first couple of turns stretch it out a bit, but after that tension is relaxed. The hackle is more for aerodynamics and helps the fly land upright.

Regards,
Scott

[ScottP]

in the smaller sizes (#12 and down) using the 1mm foam they proved to be somewhat fragile (the larger 2mm foam version was much more durable), with the extended body tearing off on a number of occasions. Not going to give up on it yet, but if I can't find a way to strengthen it up without adding time to the tying process, I may just stick to the bigger ones for this pattern

I think for hoppers #12-14, I'll use something like Larva Lace or Hareline tubing.

Drakes were even more fragile than the hoppers. After stumbling upon the heat-shrink tubing idea for hoppers, which probably wouldn't work well on a mayfly except maybe Hex or mutant Labrador monstrosities, I gave the Hareline tubing (standard size) a try for a Fall Drake. A bit crude, kinks to be worked out, but it'll fish; SBS to follow





btw, the dark wing made a huge difference for me on the days I was down in YNP; flat light made seeing anything a challenge, but the black showed up very well.

Regards,
Scott

[ScottP]

Part 1


Insert pin/needle into vise (not sure what size it is, but it's very thin)




take some tubing and slide it on to the needle (sorry for the dirty fingers, changed front/rear pads and rotors this morning)






trim tubing, leave a bit extended past the tip of the needle (makes it easier to grab)




start thread back where the tail will be tied in, then spiral wrap tubing to help anchor it to the pin, otherwise it just rotates






stack a few moose body hairs for the tail and tie them in; hackle fibers tend to suck up Super Glue (capillary action) and I'm not crazy about how that looks






trim butts and tie in ribbing