I would like to know if you know anyone who ties what I call my bi-color PMD Sparkle Dun?
It seems logical that if you are tying an emergent or momentarily crippled dun, it would have a trailing shuck and a bit of remaining shuck on the abdomen.
I mentioned this pattern to Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon flies. He said they have been tying a similar pattern for years, although I have personally never seen any before.
Would appreciate information on this.
Thanks,
Byron
I don’t think I’ve seen it on a Sparkle Dun. However, I routinely do this with other emerger patterns that I intend to fish in the film.
I use a lot of Ross Mueller’s Fuzzball emergers (a Snowshoe Hare wing emerger) and regularly tie them with PT or other material to match the nymph color and thorax material to match the dun color.
The Klinkhammer is another fly that seems to frequently be tied with a body to match the nymph and a thorax to match the dun.
Another emerger that’s popular in my area is the Shillinglaw Emerger. This is usually fished through the water column (rather than strictly in the film), but it is also tied with different colors for the body and thorax. Here’s a Shillinglaw Emerger I tied for our Light Hendrickson hatch that is similar in color scheme to the sparkle dun you posted.
Nice fly John. Appreciate the comment.
The Sparkle Dun is the first pattern I believe to have been tied specifically as a dun on the surface with a trailing shuck as opposed to “tails”.
Even Harrop’s Last Chance Cripple PMD continues the nymphal abdomen color to a portion of his abdomen.
This isn’t my tie (I think mine are tied a bit better:)), but here’s the PMD emerger pattern that I’ve been using for many years, and it’s often very effective. You’ll notice similarities to your pattern.
Last summer I fished this pattern on a Montana river during a PMD hatch when the water was clear and relatively low, and could see trout after trout confidently rise and sip the fly in. Fly fishing just doesn’t get any better than that! In one case, I fished several different patterns, unsuccessfully, to a large trout that was rising above a good sized rock in the middle of the river. Then, I tied on that PMD Emerger and the trout went at least 3 feet out of his feeding lane to suck that fly in.
John
Are there other flies that are a different color on the thorax and abdomen? The Pmd’s are so obviously different colors, but any others are mostly much more subtle, aren’t they?
John, it looks like that pattern has the entire abdomen of the same material/color?
I would agree. I think the color variations are perhaps greatest with the PMD’s.
The other insect I use comparaduns primarily for are flavs. These I tie with less significant color variation for the back of the abdomen.
Byron -
Lawson’s halfback emerger PMD is a two tone pattern, with a pheasant tail abdomen ( I’ve seen versions with either PT fibers for the shuck or zelon for the shuck ), a dubbed yellow thorax, and with a deer hair wingcase over the thorax.
John
John,
Yes, thanks for that!
I am really looking to see if Sparkle Duns were (have been) tied with bi-colored abdomens.
I like Lawson’s fly.
I tie a similar colored PMD Quigley style cripple.
Yes Jay.
Yours is similar (or same) as Harrop’s Last Chance Cripple in a PMD. as I had mentioned earlier.
I am asking specifically about a Sparkle Dun
Nice fly!
Also, some patterns suggested have the entire abdomen (from hook bend to thorax) the darkish color, whereas I am suggesting only the rear part of the abdomen be the dark color. Otherwise, if you add the trailing shuck to the entire abdomen, you have too much shuck…
http://www.flyline.com/fly_patterns/dry_flies/ec_caddis/
Ralph Cutter uses a similar scheme in his Emergent/Cripple Caddis (E/C Caddis), including the antron/zelon shuck.
Mad,
Thanks. Again, in that pattern, the ENTIRE abdomen is the darker color.
Didn’t notice…huh…way I tie 'em, I start further back with the color change…
I tie Klinks with pheasant tail abdomens and olive or sulphur colored thoraxes. Barr’s PMD emerger has a split body as well.
Don’t many mayflies emerge from the shuck about 2/3 of the way “up” the shuck from the tail so, theoretically, there should be some shuck material at the very head of the fly, too?
Joe
There are some interesting pictures of natural mayfly emergers (and lots of other bugs) at troutnut.com. i believe that duns can get stuck at any point during the emergence process, so you might have a whole dun with a whole shuck trailing behind or half a dun with a half a shuck, or whatever – they aren’t all going to be the same. I think the one that caught Byron attention, since it was shared here before and looks a lot like his sparkle dun, was this one:
That’s a great picture and a great website. Looking at that picture (if I’m seeing it right), and you wanted to imitate that phase (or that particular bug, anyway), there should be PMD color hanging off the back of the hook, shuck material at the abdomen of the fly, and then PMD again at the thorax. Again, if I’m seeing the colors right.
Joe
John,
Great picture. Not sure I’ve seen it before. It IS what I am trying to imitate though.
Thanks
The reason I tie the dark color only part ways up the abdomen is that if you add the trailing shuck (zelon material) you would have too much shucK in total - if you went all the way to the thorax.
John,
Went back and tied one on a size 16 emerger hook. I prefer fishing the more “upright” versions on a std. dry fly hook, but these are representative of a slightly less emerged insect.
