Don’t understand the fish’s fascination with purple flies (any icthyologists to explain a trout’s visual acuity/spectral sensitivity?), but it seems to work. Here’s one take on Andy Carlson’s pattern.
hook - Dai Riki 320 #16
thread - Uni 8/0 purple
Tail - hackle fibers cree
body - biot purple
wing - Congo Hair white
thorax - dubbing purple
note - using a #16 here because the only purple biots I had were from a duck; shorter than goose or turkey so I went with the smaller hook. Depending on what body material is used, I’ve tied these up to #12’s; consider this a flatwater edition.
Part 1
Mash down barb, start thread at 70% mark and create thread bump
pull off a bunch of hackle fibers, even tips and measure; lay the fibers on top of the hook to mark for length (for duns, I usually use shank length)
refer to Rusty Spinner SBS for tail tie-in instructions (note I clipped the fibers off at the wing tie-in spot this time; thanks Steven for the reminder)
tie in moistened biot notch side down for segmented body (notch up if you want it smooth)
wrap biot forward to 70% spot and tie off
tie in Congo Hair on top of hook shank (2 wraps is fine)
grab Congo Hair, pull up, create a post with thread wraps; brush post with a little Sally
prep hackle (upsize hackle by one - for a #16 fly, use a #14 hackle); grizzly or grizzly/brown would be fine, too. I just happened to have an older Charlie Collins cree with a few feathers this size
and continue wrapping down the post (6 wraps on a #16 fly should be good); leave tip of hackle in pliers, hanging down
take the bobbin, hold out so thread is horizontal/perpendicular to wing post
circle under hackle, around post, trap hackle tip with 2 wraps against post (I find it holds better than tying it with vertical wraps against the dubbed thorax)
tie thread off at head with double half/hitch x 2, trim hackle and one more brush with Sally
trim wing to length (I like shank length as measure) and you’re done
I also tie in with Super Floss body and moose body hair tail for rougher water (all other steps are pretty much the same); a bit of a bulkier look but it works well, too
excellent job
If you wanted to do 2 feathers (im thinking brown and grizz instead of cree), would you wrap both at the same time,or do them individually?
I noticed the wraps behind the tail, that is a technique I first saw in Dave Hughes “wet Flies”… It cocks up the tail a wee bit…
I’d do them one-at-a-time (never had much luck wrapping 2 hackles at once) leaving a bit more space between wraps of whichever hackle I wound first so I could fill in with the second; otherwise I get the “Puffball Effect”.
Thread wraps on tailing fibers push them against the thread bump and help lock them at the angle I want (see the Rusty Spinner SBS; I omitted a few of the steps on this one).
