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the Albino Dragon Fly (Swap Entry)

6K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  John Desjardins 
#1 ·
The flies for the fly swap are on their way to Jeff so here is the recipe.

The origin of the Albino Dragonfly, a gurgler influenced egg-laying dragonfly, goes back a couple of years. One bright and sunny July day my son and I were at West Washacum pond fishing while the sunfish were going nuts over dragonfly's that were making egg laying runs. Repeatedly fish would hurl themselves 6 inches out of the water chasing after the flies. This was accompanied by cries of "wow" and "again" from my then three-year-old son. I hope to help my son catch his first fish on a fly rod with this fly some time this summer.

After several attempts I came up with this pattern to imitate mature dragonflies. Because it is tied entirely with white materials I christened it the albino dragonfly. On bright, summer days, this fly has been very successful on sunfish and bass. I fish it by slapping down the cast and then letting the fly sit for 10-15 seconds. If nothing hits pull it a couple of feet and then let it sit for another 10-15 seconds. On darker days use a pantone marker to color this fly like the naturals.

Hook: Orvis #1638, size 6 (2X long, 1X fine dry fly hook)
Thread: White
Tail: White 2 mm thick craft store foam cut 3/32" wide
Back: White 2 mm thick craft store foam cut 5/16" wide
Hackle: Large white strung saddle hackle
Tying instructions:

Wind a base of thread on the shank of the hook from about the point of the hook to slightly behind the eye.

Apply Zap a Gap to the thread and then bind the tail on top of the hook leaving 1/8" clear at the front of the hook. Cut the tail off 7/8" beyond the hook bend.

Apply Zap a Gap to the tail and then bind the back (pointing towards the on bend of the hook) on top of the tail.

Tie in the saddle hackle at the rear of the body and palmer forward.

Cut a V out of the hackle on top of the fly, fold the back over the body, and bind it down, behind the hook eye.

Whip finish, and then apply Zap a Gap to the threads on top of the back.

Remove the fly from the vise and trim the hackle off the bottom of the fly. I leave a little stubble there to suggest legs.
 
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