Took some liberties with Roy’s fly http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/103104fotw.php
subbing .5mm razor foam for the abdomen/thorax cover. From what I’ve read, the hooking problems with USD flies, noted by Steven on the Mosley Olive Dun thread
can be somewhat alleviated by off-setting the hook point and keeping the wing soft, sparse and somewhat forward.
Tied here in March Brown colors, change to suit your needs.
hook - Dai Riki 270 #12 (Roy uses longshank grub hooks, which I’m fresh out of)
thread - MFC 8/0 brown
tail - hackle fibers brown grizzly
rib - Gudebrod rod-winding thread brown
abdomen/thorax cover - .5mm foam tan
wing - Congo Hair white
thorax - dubbing tan
hackle brown grizzly
Part 1
off-set point and add a little curve to the front of the hook shank
tie in thread and wrap back about halfway down hook bend
even up the tips of a few hackle fibers, measure for length (shank) and tie in
wrap foam forward and tie off (no need to glue the foam since it’s going to be ribbed)
rib abdomen, tie off and pull foam back
take a sparse hank of Congo Hair and tie on underside (which is actually the topside on an upside-down fly) at 80% mark; a bit farther forward than normal, but, as noted, trying to improve the hooking
pull down (or up, depending on orientation - very confusing) and add a few posting wraps to gather the wing
The problem of will the fly balance as it should isn’t a question of which way up it will stand, but is 90 degrees to that. Will it tip forward or back. You may have a real problem with tying that fly on a long shank hook. Having tried them I soon found out why Roy now ties them on standard and short shank hooks. The bend of the hook, being such a long way from the support of the hackle, will hang down in the water. My solution was to tie them on Partridge K14ST hooks, that have a similar bend but much shorter shank. Every one I tried on 200r or K12 ST model hooks suffered from this problem. Here’s a picture of one that Roy published just yesterday,
If you look at the illustrations in Roy’s FOTW you will see that his hook isn’t a very long long shank, with an upturned eye. Also the hackle is placed far enough back to almost touch the hook point. All factors in overcoming this balance problem.
I’m sure I have seen a similar version to yours before Scott, It is almost identical to one in Progressive Fly Tying published several years ago!
I had the problem of the fly tilting backward with the eye of the hook sticking way up in the air due to the weight of the bend. Roy advised me to have the first turn of hackle pointing more toward the bend, or “dress the hackle over the thumbnail” as he called it. Still not sure what that means but having some of the hackle splaying backward cured the problem.
I’m hoping the foam provides enough floatation to keep the abdomen up; need to test it on moving water. I’ll try tying some on a Dai Riki 125 emerger hook and see how that looks, too. Thanks everyone for your input.
