Tail: Elk hair
Body: Deer neck hair
Post: Z-Lon or other synthetic parapost
Wing: Dry fly feather
Thread: 8/0. Color variable and to be chosen to accent segmentation (i.e. dark body with light thread)
This pattern is excellent to fish locally on the Mad during the Drake hatch. Not only does it provide a very nice imitation and profile, it is very hard to have this fly land any way other than as it is supposed to…wing up. Also, this fly is tough to sink as it is primarily composed of neck hair and elk. It is very adaptable based on color and can be tied for any of the ‘mayfly’ species if you have the patience. I have tied these as small as 20’s and had them work beautifully, but for practical purposes would not recommend most people tie them and smaller than a 16 or 18.
Step 1: Start at the back of the hook and tie in a few moose hairs for the extended tail. These should be tied in with the tips facing back. I recommend tying in a half dozen or so to be sure and have enough left at the end even with a few trimming slip ups. Ideally these will be 1.5-2 times the length of the hook shank.
Step 2: Bring the thread forward and tie in the wing post. The Z-Lon wing post should be approximately 1/3 back on the hook shank and approximately the length of the shank. Too long is better as it can always be trimmed later.
Step 3: This is the tricky step. Cut a bundle of deer hair and comb out the fuzz. Tie the hair in butt first and facing away from the hook. Once secured with a few wraps of thread massage the hairs back across the hook and wrap the hair to the hook being careful to have all the thread facing the same direction. At the back of the shank add a few extra wraps and then proceed the wrap the hair to the desired length beyond the shank. At the back add a few wraps to create a thread bump, this will add definition to the end of the tail as well as be a trimming guide later, then proceed to wrap the thread back towards the eye creating a crosshatch pattern with the thread.
Step 4: As wrapping back up the body, stop at the post and tie in a dry fly feather. I typically use a feather a size or two too big for the hook. Give the feather 4-5 wraps, for sufficient hackling and buoyancy, then wrap forward to the eye.
Step 5: Whip finish the thread at the eye. Then clip the excess deer hair at the thread bump created earlier to clean up the tail, and also trim down the elk hair to the desired number of fibers. Once that is done add a drop of Zap-A-Gap to the thread bump to secure the tail and another where the hair body extends past the hook shank and the fly is done.
Fly pattern by Mike Schmidt
URL for this web page is http://centralohioflyfishers.org/extendeddeerbody.htm