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Chopaka May - Swap Fly

2K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  FrenchCreek 
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CHOPAKA MAY
(Ref: Flies of the Northwest, published by the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club – Frank Amato Publications 1986 version – ISBN 0-936608-48X)

HOOK: Dry fly, size 14-18
THREAD: 6/0 (or 8/0 on size 18), gray
TAIL: Moose body hair (not moose mane hair)
BODY: gray antron blend with a little bit of brown and some sparkle
WINGS: single upright post of deer hair tips
HACKLE: Brown dun, clipped across the bottom

APPLIES TO A SIZE 14, ADJUST ON SMALLER HOOKS

STEP 1: Clip a small bunch of deer hair, ideally flank hair which is shorter and less dense, tie it in as you would any other “post”, about ¼ inch or less high, leave about 1/8 inch or slightly more to the hook eye
STEP 2: Wind your thread to the rear and tie in 3 or 4 moose body hairs, extend by about ½ inch up to ¾ inch, you can try to tie them as split by making figure 8’s after each one.
STEP 3: draw about 3 to 4 inches of thread and dub on the antron, very fine dubbing line should result, wind up to the post creating a tapered body
STEP 4: Tie in 2 Dun brown hackles behind the post and tie the stems in front of the post, clip off the stems
STEP 5: leave you bobbin in front of the post, wind the first hackle behind the post, 4 or 5 wraps, and finish with 1 or 2 wraps in front of the post, tie off. Repeat this with the second hackle wrapping it mostly in front of the post.
STEP 6: Once you have tied off the hackles, make a small dubbing thread to finish off the head, 111/4 inch usually does it. Finish the head and whip finish or hitch finish.

The fly is a Western imitation of the Callibaetis coloradensis , or Speckle Dun. It works well anywhere there is a mayfly hatch, best at the dun stage close to spinner stage of the hatch.

Hooks are barbed and it is up to you to decide on their usage. I used Daiichi #1710 - size 14 for this swap.
 

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