A customer sent me this pattern to match for him. His fly was pretty ragged and was obviously very effective for him, and to be honest, the fly was pretty fun to tie, so I decided to add it here. While I cannot be sure that this is a Shane Stalcup pattern, I have my suspicions based on the overall feel of the fly, as well as the use of Shane’s Medallion Sheeting for the wings. You could certainly fish this pattern on the surface with good success, but this fly, I believe, is meant to be fished under the water, as Green Drakes emerge from their shuck under the surface and hatch into adults while still submerged. This pattern mimics the adult insect coming up to the surface, with its bedraggled wings and attached trailing shuck. If you plan on fishing any Drake hatches this year, maybe you ought to tie some up!
Materials Needed:
Hook: TMC 5212 #12
Thread: Light Cahill 8/0 UNI
Shuck: Gold Darlon
Abdomen: Pale Morning Dun Superfine Dubbing (yes, this is correct…PMD Dubbing for a Green Drake
Underwing: Natural gray CDC
Overwing: Clear Medallion Sheeting
Legs: Natural Hungarian Partridge Body Feather fibers
Head: Nature’s Spirit Emergence Dubbing, Olive-Brown
Step 1
Attach the thread at the eighty percent point on the hook and wrap a thread base back to the bend. Return the thread back to the 80% point. Tie in a sparse clump of Gold Darlon at the eighty percent point and wrap back over it to the bend, taking care to make sure it stays on the top of the hook.
Step 2
Use a black or brown Sharpie Marker to band the Darlon shuck. Barring the shuck imitates the barring found on the natural nymph husk and makes the fly that much more accurate.
Step 3
Trim the shuck with jagged cuts to produce a shuck about a shank length long. The shuck should be tapered down to a pretty thin end.
Step 4
Dub a long abdomen with the Superfine dubbing. The yellow color is actually accurate on this stage of the fly: when the adult comes out of the shuck under the water, the bug is much lighter colored than it will be once it reaches the surface and dries out a bit.
Step 5
Pair two CDC feathers together with their outsides facing (opposed).
Step 6
Tie the CDC feathers in at the front of the abdomen with a few tight turns of thread and clip the butt ends flush.
Step 7
Cut a strip of Medallion Sheeting that is about as wide as the hook gap. (Just nick the edge at the right width and pull the strip off the rest of the sheet…the sheeting will tear cleanly along that line)
Step 8
Grab the ends of the strip in each hand and give the strip a twist so it bundles up like a bow-tie in the center.
Step 9
Fold the sheet in half at the center of the twist, line up the edges and trim the wings into a more wing-like shape. Use your scissors to round off the ends of the sheeting.
Step 10
Tie the wing blank in like a set of spinner wings in front of the CDC tie down. Use a couple X-wraps to secure the wings in place.
Step 11
Push the wings back along the sides of the fly so they are oriented on edge along the body.
Step 12
Grasp the wings in your material hand and hold them in place.
Step 13
Put a few wraps of thread over the base of the wings to lock them along the sides of the body.
Step 14
Clip the center quill from a large partridge feather and lay the feather across the front of the hook with each side of the feather on either side of the shank. The tips of the partridge feather ought to reach back to about the hook point.
Step 15
Pinch the feather tips with your material hand, and place a few turns of thread over them to anchor them along the sides of the fly.
Step 16
The partridge tips should fan along the sides of the fly, slightly under the hook shank.
Step 17
Dub the head with the Nature’s Spirit Dubbing. Make a small elongated ball on the front of the hook with the dubbing. Whip finish the thread at the index point and clip.
Step 18
Use a dubbing brush to pick out the dubbing on the head.
Step 19
Front view.
