Lance Egan is a well-known competition angler and fly tier from Utah. His well-known patterns include the Frenchie, the Rainbow Warrior, and the Red Dart featured here. You might notice that all of these patterns are designed to sink quickly into a trout’s strike zone, which Lance feels is an important feature. Since he is a three-time national fly-fishing champion and a bronze medalist at the world championships, we oughta take his word for it.
In this week’s, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions shows you how to tie a durable Red Dart with the proper weight and proportions. As with any herl-body fly, you need to reinforce the material with ribbing to keep the herl from unraveling after a few fish. And the way Tim prepares the hackle to make the collar is ingenious.
Hook: Barbless jig hook (here a Lighting Strike JF2), size 14.
Bead: Gold slotted tungsten bead, 7/64″.
Weight: Lead-free round wire, .020.
Adhesive #1: Superglue or Fly Tyer’s Z-Ment.
Thread: Red, 8/0 or 70-denier.
Tails: Red saddle-hackle fibers.
Rib: Pearl Sulky Holoshimmer Metallic Thread.
Body: Peacock herl.
Collar 1: Brown saddle hackle.
Collar 2: Pink Ice dub.
Adhesive #2: Head cement or Sally Hansen Hard-As-Nails.
Tools: Plunger-style hackle pliers, bodkin.
Credit: Source link
