Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Tying the Cream Cahill Sparkle Dun

The other day we posted about this late season mayfly that hatches near dusk in these parts and draws trout up from their deep lies to feed on the surface.  After that post, Tim contacted me and said we should make a video on how to tie it, so here you go.  It's another simple but effective dry fly, and once you get the feel for tying in the wing, you can crank a few out fairly quickly.  By changing the colors of the materials and hook size, you can use the same techniques shown here to tie just about any mayfly.  Thanks again to Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions for another great video.



RECIPE

Hook: TMC 100 #14 or 16
Thread: Yellow Ultra thread 70
Wing: Bleached elk
Shuck/Tail: Light amber zelon
Body: Cream rabbit

Sharpen your hooks!

3 comments:

Andy Baird said...

Nice Matt - I saw it pop up on TP's Vimeo channel so headed over here :)

Do you treat the wing? And how well do these float? My good friend Jim "Palewatery" Lees swears by sparkle duns...

Best, Andy

Matt Grobert said...

Hi Andy, thanks. I don't treat the fly at all and they float quite well. I don't even carry that stuff, except frog's fanny for use when the fly get slimed after catching a fish or two. I know many anglers that do put paste floatant on the fly before letting it sail. You may want to tie up some small, "funky" ones like BWO's. I fish BWO sparkle duns in the smaller sizes all the time. Best, Matt

Anonymous said...

It blows my mind when I see you tie. Try as I might, I have yet to see anyone tie as well as you do. Thank you for sharing and helping me be a better tier. See you at Somerset. Steve