Bailey's Kite

[ScottP]

Philip Bailey's take on Oliver Kite's Imperial. Easy tie, pretty fly.


hook - Dai Riki 300 #14
thread - Danville 6/0 purple
tail - hackle rusty dun
rib - x-small wire gold
underbody - tying thread
body - goose herl fibers (original calls for heron)
wing - Congo Hair dark grey
hackle - rusty dun


Regards,
Scott

[lastchance]

Nice, Scott. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this is an attractor pattern, but purple? Planettrout says he does well with his purple midge, and I believe him. How do you do with purple dry flies?

[ScottP]

Bruce,

When the Purple Haze craze started a few years ago (first tied by Andy Carlson from Hamilton, MT), I definitely wasn't one of the first to jump on the bandwagon. Purple? really?
Eventually tied up a few and then one day while fishing the Clark Fork (just up I-93 from Hamilton), with nothing showing on top, I tied one on and was in business for the rest of the day. I've had good luck with them and various other purple-bodied flies ever since.
Don't know if it's related to spectral wavelength, lack of familiarity, whatever. What I do know is there's a distinct lack of purple insects on the waters I fish and the trout don't seem to mind one bit.

Regards,
Scott