Love Convertibles but with the soaring cost of floatant, I’m looking for alternate ways to keep them on top. A bit more foam should do it; using a single strip simplifies the process, not that this is a complicated fly. Change colors to suit your needs.
hook - Dai Riki 320 #12
thread - UTC 140 burnt orange
tails - moose body hair
body - 1mm foam orange
wing - Congo Hair white
legs - medium rubber brown
hackle - brown/grizzly
Part 1
mash barb, attach the thread and wrap back to point above barb
clean/stack a clump of moose hair, measure for length (little less than hook shank) and tie in
trim butts, smooth with thread wraps
take a wrap behind/under the tail, come around, up and over to help lock/tilt
take a strip of foam (hook gap width) and cut it in half lengthwise for about 2"
You know Scott, I’m thinking that will be a killer bream fly. Not sure orange is the color I will use (we don’t seem to have an abundance of orange bugs here in Georgia) but maybe yellow with some black artwork added, green and/or tan gets close to a hopper.
When I tie hopper patterns with a similar head, I sometime strip out a piece of the foam insulation around the wire in coax cable and use it for the eye. Getting it out and separate from the foil, etc. takes a little effort but it makes a nice looking eye.
I use foam cylinders also. A cutter about 1 size smaller is about right for a dragon fly tail. I think mine came from the next to last section of a radio antenna. They are touchy to cut and want to twist frequently.
I know that Scott Sanchez, the Convertible’s originator, tied it with the One Fly competition in mind and would do field mods depending on the situation, fishing it as anything from a dry to a spinner to a streamer (the original had a marabou tail). For me, they’ve been a bit of a chore to tie, especially getting the calftail Trude/Wulff wing right; I always just fish them intact.
