Nothing more than a hares ear variation, but I feel the wingcase partially hiding the bead makes it less flashy while still having the positive attributes of a bead for getting it down quickly.
Like me, he feels that the quicker a fly sinks, the sooner it’s in “the zone” and the easier it is to feel it.
I make these in 12-18, but almost always have a size12 on. By varying the weight with lead sub, and using different shades of hares ear blend it will cover any nymph on freestone streams all year.
I always use red thread for the same reason the Chadwick’s 477 yarn tyed killer bug uses copper wire....when the fly gets wet it shows through. I’m convinced this is the reason I have luck with it.
The materials used are simple, easy to acquire and there are no tricky steps or techniques, it’s just a hares ear! The perfect “guide fly” as it’s both cheap and fast to make. I kicked around using tungsten beads, but found it’s actually more cost affective to use brass, if you are looking to save a little. The price of brass and lead sub is cheaper than tungsten alone, and I like the bulk in the thorax area.
Here are the materials....
Thread, red....always red.
Hook, daiichi 1180
Tail, hung. Partridge
Dubbing, hares ear
Wingcase, golden pheasant center tail
Brass 1/8 bead and lead sub, .015
Epoxy, loon thick uv clear
I like to wrap the lead from the middle of the hook forward and then back, not jamming it against the bead. You want to allow for the bead to move a tiny bit back to leave room for the wingcase to be tyed down tightly.
I taper with thread behind the lead sub, just for a nicer transition.
After the tail is tyed in, make a loop around 2 inches long and bind it down, this will be the rib, simply doubled thread.
Dub the thread and wind it forward to the middle of the hook, then counter rib with the doubled thread.
Tye in the wingcase in the middle of the hook, dub the thread again and starting behind the bead, wrap backwards and over the wingcase till the dubbing is used up, then go over and across the bead, and put a wrap or 2 behind the eye.
Bring the wingcase over and tightly bind it down, lift the tag ends of the wingcase and whip finish behind the eye.
Put as thin a coat as possible on the wingcase, wave the light over it and your done. I found that if the finish is too heavy, it can fog over and break off. No big deal, as you can fish it without the clear finish too.
You can sub out the GP tail for anything, my buddy used ringneck pt before he got the gp. I like the GP because it is spotted, and while every fly looks similar, they are all a little different from the mottling in the wingcase. It just makes it unique that way.
Hope this is detailed enough, any questions please ask
CJPs....the top photo is of a well used wet one, after 6 or 7
Upper willow fish, see how the red shows through? Nice
