Fly Patterns - Bill's Twilight Pinkie


                       Bill's Twilight Pinkie

 

Description


The Upper Sac is generally not a dry fly venue, at least in my experience. There are some exceptions: the fish will take large October Caddis adult imitations in the late fall and winter; there are, at times, small caddis that bring the fish up during the late afternoons and evenings; there can be good BWO (baetis) hatches on certain days, particularly those that are cloudy and misty; and, most evenings there are small, delicate, pink-bodied mayflies that will produce some surface activity in tailouts and riffle water during that last hour before dark. Sometimes the pinkies, as I call them, will be duns; at other times they will be spinners. There are also times when both are on the water, and it’s up to the angler to parse out which one the fish are after. I have seen these beauties on other streams, and they are always very slender and delicate in their light pink dress.

 

My Twilight Pinkie, developed over a long period of time on this lovely river, is designed to imitate the small, pink-bodied mayfly dun. I also have a pattern for the spinners, but I’ll leave that for a future article.

  

Tying Instructions


1.       Smash the hook barb (the 900BL is already debarbed) and place the hook in your vise. Cover the hook with thread back to the hook bend, beginning at mid-point on the shank.

 

2.       Place a tiny ball of dubbing at the rear end of the shank. This will help separate the tail fibers.

 

3.       Cut three microfibbets from the skin, measure them to about 1.5 times the length of the hook shank, and tie them in on the far side of the hook just ahead of the dubbing ball. Repeat this process on the close side of the hook. If you have done it correctly, the fibbets will be slightly flared.

 

 

 

 

  1. Move the thread forward to the 1/3 point behind the eye. Cut a small segment of light dun turkey flat from the feather and tie it in at this point with the tips facing forward. The length should be slightly longer than the hook shank. Pull the turkey up and to the rear and place a few thread wraps in front of it to stand it up. Take a few thread wraps around the base of the feather, and return the thread to the point where the tail was tied in. Place a tiny drop of super glue at the base of the wing.

 

 

5.       Tie in a piece of fine gold wire. Dub a sparse, tapered abdomen with the pink dubbing. End the abdomen at the base of the turkey wing post.

 

6.       Rib the abdomen with the gold wire, and tie it off at the front end of the abdomen.

7.       Tie in a properly sized hackle at the base of the turkey wing post, with the feather tip pointing rearward.

 

8.       Dub a small thorax behind and ahead of the wing post. The thorax should be slightly heftier than the slim abdomen.

5.       Tie in a piece of fine gold wire. Dub a sparse, tapered abdomen with the pink dubbing. End the abdomen at the base of the turkey wing post.

 

6.       Rib the abdomen with the gold wire, and tie it off at the front end of the abdomen.

Tying Tips


1.       The pink dubbing must be very light in color; bright pink seems to turn the fish off.

 

2.       If there are a few hackle fibers that stick out below the shank, trim them off. I believe that the fly needs to sit down right in the surface film. I have tied pinkies in the standard “Catskill” style, but the parachute style seems to perform better.

 

So, “Think pink,”…..

                              

Copyright © 2010 - Spring Creek Flycraft and Guide Service - All Rights Reserved