This is the spinner of last week's Fly of the Week,
nymph of the Great Western Grey Drake.
This method of dry-fly construction is often called the "Hatchmaker,"
"Two-Hackle Fly" or "Darby Fly" (after its creator, the late Harry
Darbee, famed fly-tyer and angler from Roscoe, New York). The
original Darbee creation used conventional vertically wound hackle
but anyone having used horizontally wound hackle (parachute style)
realizes the advantages for extended body mayfly patterns.
Materials List:
Hook: Mustad AC80250 or Tiemco TMC 2487; #10 -12.
Thread: Medium Brown.
Dubbin: Medium Brown.
Tail, Body and Wing: Barred flank of Teal, Widgeon, or Mallard.
Hackle: Blue Dun Saddle.
Tying Instructions:
1. Apply four layers of thread on the hook shank ending at the hook eye.
Apply head cement over windings. Build up the head with a small amount of
medium brown dubbing, after which, wind thread to mid-shank and secure
with a half-hitch.
2. Prepare a single feather to make the tail, body and wing and attach as
per figures 1, 2, and 3.
3. Hackle is applied parachute style around wing, stem and hackle butt (fig.3).
4. Tie off and whip finish at base of wing. Cement center of wound hackle at wing.
Cement center of wound hackle at wing base as well as the whip finish; let dry,
then snip out wing stem and hackle butt (fig.4).
5. At the base of the tail section, select four fibers, (two each side) and snip out
remaining fibers (fig.4). Do not cement tail or body fibers.
Fishing the Fly
