on a cloudy day up the Columbia River Gorge…the Vista House atop Crown Point in the distance (Oregon). The photo was taken from Chanticleer Point. The Columbia River is below, with Washington State to the left. That is Beacon Rock to the left, in the distance.
Do you have the pattern recipe for Cope’s Damsel? I am interested in it and curious about the eye material as well as the dubbing. I am a beginning fly tyer and leaning Patricia earns and technique.
Regards,
Dwight
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I tie it on a size 10-12 2xl or 3xl your choice….green thread 8/0…tail is a tuft of med. green marabou about the length of the hook shank or slightly shorter…the ribbing is anything you like of a green tint…could be wire, but in this case it is for reinforcing/segmentation so I use dark green mono about 8# test…the abdomen is the same shade as the tail and is green rabbit fur, but again given all the choices of dubbing materials available these days, pick the proper shade and don’t make it too buggy…rabbit fur can have a lot of guard hairs in it so avoid the overly spiky abdomen…the wing case is tied at the thorax area and extends out over the hook eye…it is about ten paint brush fibers…if you look around in a hardware store you can find inexpensive paint brushes with those greenish/brown bristles. You can use other materials for the wing case of that color: pheasant tail fibers, raffia…but I use the paint brush bristles…once the wing case is tied in tie in the dumbbell eyes…you can buy these eyes premade…don’t get them too big. You could also make them out of tying in heavier mono of the right color and using a lighter to melt each side into a small ball but be careful to not over eat the eyes and your partially completed fly. I mostly buy the premade ones now. Once the eyes are tied in, then dub the thorax region to include around the eyes…finish with your tying thread back to where the abdomen ends and the thorax begins…pull the wing case bristles back over the top of the eyes and thorax and bind down the bristles with the thread…then trim those bristles across the top….that is basically it. There are, as you see and enjoy, variations of any of these patterns…I hope this helps…best wishes. Gary
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