Pt mde 9dh

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Huh ?? Say what ??

Been thinking there might be some mahogany duns and emergers in a few places I’ve been fishing lately. Can’t get out to where the fishies have been feeding to sample what is actually in the drift, so figured I’d just put something together and give it a go.

PT = pheasant tail. MDE = mahogany dun emerger. 9DH = 90 degree hackling on and in front of the parachute post.

Pretty simple fly to tie. Size 16 dry fly hook. Four or five pheasant tail fibers tied in for tail / shuck, then twisted together and wrapped forward to form the abdomen. Tag of tying thread counter-wrapped to reinforce the PT fibers. White antron parachute post. Grizzly hackle tied in, five or six wraps down the post, then three wraps around the shank in front of the post before tying it off. Trim the hackle on the underside of the shank forward of the post.

The fly actually did better than I hoped, on what was generally a slow day. In the first place I fished it, in some fast water below a small drop, I hooked and landed the fattest fishy of the day and hooked several more. In the second place, landed several more, including the one in the pic above.

The 9DH hackling is the major difference on this pattern. I’ve used it on five or six different flies now, and all have fished quite well.

John

2

Like the idea.

Will have to try it.

Rick

3

… or not ??

Tied up a half dozen. The plan is to fish only this fly tomorrow on my home water, on a variety of water I know well and some that I haven’t fished before. Could make for an interesting day, or a bust. Either way, it will be fun, and maybe enlightening.

John

4

Good luck John. I’m hoping they will work very well for you.

5

I thought the plan was to trim the hackle below the fly even with the bottom of the body, so it lies low, but has lots of stretched out ‘legs’.

6

Greg -

Most of the hackle on the underside of the fly is gone. What is left, which is quite similar to the fly I fished yesterday, should let the fly ride very low, like the one I fished yesterday, and provide the leggy effect.

The amount of hackle remaining on a particular fly in the sample of six will differ from that on the other flies - attribute that to my far less than perfect fly tying skills and a definitely “non-perfectionist” approach when it comes to fly tying. But I think they are similar enough to achieve the desired result.

It would be cool if the experiment could also determine if the fly is taken for what it is supposed to represent - a mahogany dun emerger - or just an attractor, assuming it is as productive over the course of a day as it was in a couple isolated situations yesterday. That question was always in the back of my mind with Duck’s Green Drake, which did catch fish at times in places where there were no green drakes around. But that is ultimately an experiment to be undertaken on a crick with no mahogany duns ( or green drakes ) in the system.

John

7

Maybe you could tie it in Yellow and Orange, or all white, and see if when in attractor colours it works on the same river. At least you would be 1/2 way to knowing whether it was an imitator or an attractor Then try it on a totally different river another day.

It also occurred to me that if the ‘normal’ hackle was tied in first and clipped TOP & bottom, if it would be easier to tie the parachute last rather than tying in the parachute first. Although I can see that if you have a dry fly feather that is long enough you could tie the parachute and then the forward hackle all in one movement before tying off. I’ll have to get out some materials and try it both ways. Cheers, Greg

8

Greg -

Using saddle hackle makes it easy to tie the hackle in, wrap the parachute, and wrap the hackle forward before tying it off. One quick, simple process. Also, you might note that there is no dubbing on the thorax. The 9DH technique creates a bit of “clutter” in the thorax area, enough that dubbing, which might interfere with the hackling technique, would be excess baggage.

The alternative tying sequence you’ve described would probably create the same overall effects, but it would involve at least one more step. For me, that is one step away from simplicity.

The attractor thing warrants a trip to another crick. That’s one of the great things about experiments in all things fly tying and fly fishing - the experiment requires some fishing.

John

9

carry on MR.Scott, looks great!

10

Greg -

I was thinking about the color thing. I only have one color of pheasant tail.

If you change from pheasant tail, you start creating an entirely new fly. The beauty of the pheasant tail is that it is a good color for the mahogany dun and the fibers are long enough to use one bundle for the tail / shuck and abdomen.

Other than antron for the post, this is a two material fly. I want to keep it that way.

John

11

John
Would cutting off the front part of the parachute help prior to adding the 90dh?

Crunchy

12

Actually, the “clutter” caused by wrapping around the shank ahead of and through the leading edge of the parachute is a desired effect. It creates some bulk in the thorax without dubbing and an impression of a not fully emerged wing. It’s a bit messy, and that is just fine, 'cause the few not-fully-emerged mayflies I’ve been able to examine actually look a bit messy.

John

13

… a mahogany dun emerger or an attractor, the fly fished very well today on a variety of water.

Off the vice and ready to go.

A typical taker and takee.

The variety of water where fishies decided the fly was food, not fake.

All told, had about two dozen fishies in hand. About half of those hit the fly while the parachute was clearly visible, and half when the fly was riding so low, if not fully submerged, that none of it was visible. But all the fishies were visible when they ate it.

About half of the fish were targeted based on rises to naturals, whatever it was they were taking. The other half ate the fly when it was being fished over likely holding water.

In addition to the 24 or so in hand, the fly took a lot of abuse by fishies hitting it and not hooking up, or toying with it for a while before releasing so another fishy could play with it. Probably the best part of another two dozen fish in these combined categories.

About half of the fish that hit it but didn’t hook up were in one shallow riffle below a drop. There was some pretty soft water and a bunch of fish rose to the fly, seemed to touch it, but didn’t hook up - it struck me that they might be pushing the fly out of the way in the soft water. That raises a design question about the amount of hackling, but not one that I am going to dwell on.

All in all, the places expected to give up fish, did. The number of fish taken over the course of the day is about typical for the number of hours fished. The size range of the fish were typical of the catch over the past month or so.

John

P.S. To top it off, I ran into Denny and Ken late in the day. They assured me that the fishies in the place they were fishing were only taking little, as in size 20 or so, flies and definitely would not touch a size 16 parachute style fly. One tried, but I pulled the trigger too quickly and missed it. Another one did, and was big enough to break off the 5X tippet.

A third one looked at it, refused, but got bit in the tail by the fly, which held on long enough to land the fish, even though the hook was bent almost straight !!! Got to love a fly that will eat the fish when the fish won’t eat the fly.

14

While tying a fresh batch of MDEs, I noticed the spool of yellow antron on the tying desk. Hmmmmm…

Fished it this afternoon on my home water. Had hits almost immediately, and finally a couple good hook ups.

But the real treat came at a little hole that has been a bit of a frustration lately. There is always at least one good sized cutthroat in there, and the last five times, or thereabouts, that I’ve fished it I’ve gotten a rise and a hit but not hooked up. Today, the attractor version made a good connection with this guy …

… who was one of the biggest and fattest cutts I’ve caught recently.

Not to be outdone, the original MDE version accounted for another really nice fishy just downstream a way.

Not quite as fat and sassy, but a fine fish, indeed.

The attractor is an even easier tie than the original. Just tie in the antron for the shuck, twist it and wrap the abdomen, loop it over and tie it in for the post. After posting the antron, tie in the hackle and do the 9DH thing. Trim out some of the antron for a slimmer shuck.

John

15

Just a note to point out that the original MDE in pheasant tail and grizzly hackle outfished the yellow antron and dun hackle attractor version at least two to one over the course of the day and took fish where they had been offered and ignored the attractor.

Also, while the attractor floats higher and is more visible in almost all conditions, the low riding MDE continues to take fish both while it is or is not visible, and when it is or seems to be fully submerged. The fish in the last pic in the post above took it when it was submerged. It was more of an intuitive reaction that there was a fish on than the usual visual reaction to the take.

John

16

Nice fly John. I may have to give it a go here on the local river with a pretty good mahogany hatch. It’s a fish catcher I am sure.

17

And according to your later post on page two, you did change from PT and also changed the colour and made an attractor for experimentation - in truly ended up with a two material fly!
Thanks for posting the results of your experiment. I am fishing on Sunday (Thanksgiving here) and will definitely have some of the original patterin in my box.
Cheers, Greg

18

whatever turns the fish on to that fly is, you have another winner