Devised by Clarence Roberts for the golden drake and golden stonefly hatches (although he called it a caddis). Tied here with the spent paired wings in the horizontal, I’ve seen them at the 3/4 position, too; sidearm is much easier on the rotator cuff (see Dan Quisenberry).
hook - TMC 5212 #8
thread/rib - UTC 70 hopper yellow
tail - pheasant tail
egg sac/body - Congo Hair yellow
body hackle - brown (undersize by 2)
wing - grizzly hackle tips (paired/spent)
front hackle - brown
Part 1
mash barb, start thread at 2/3 mark, wrap back to point above barb
measure (hook length+) some pheasant tail fibers; tie in, smooth butts, return to 2/3 mark
tie in a hank of CH (original calls for wool yarn - sheep don’t swim and the first thing Norwegian fishermen do if they fall overboard is peel off those heavy sweaters, hence the Congo Hair), wrap back to tail
create a loop over the pheasant, tie down, then wrap yarn body
tie in hackle, then move thread back to point above barb
wrap hackle to the back, capture tip with rib, then spiral rib forward through hackle; trim hackle tip
pair up 2 pairs of hackle tips (each pair should be convex-to-convex), measure (hook shank), tie in at 75% mark, trim butts; pull up and set with a few wraps in front
separate wing pairs with finger, secure with Figure-8 wraps
Looks like another winner, Scott and VERY nicely done! I fish waters that have brown drakes this size, and have struggled with trying to keep this much steel afloat. Can’t wait to try this one! Just to clarify, when you say wings “at the 3/4 position”, are you saying the wings at maybe 10 and 2 o’clock when looking at the fly’s nose, rather than swept back when viewed from the top?
Thanks!
Arnie
