Sparkle Dun/Comparadun

PMD Sparkle Dun

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Tying Instructions

1. Start the thread at the 1/3 position behind the eye of the hook and lay a foundation to the bend of the hook.

2. Attach a section of Kinky Z-lon to the top of the hook shank at the bend of the hook. I’m using less than half of the original strand thickness.

3. Secure the tag end of the Z-lon on the top of the hook shank to the midpoint. Trim the shuck off the bend to about 3/4 the shank length.

4. Clip a small patch of comparadun deer hair.

5. Clean off the underfur and even the tips in a stacker.

6. Measure the hair against the shank length. the wing should be about the same as the shank length.

7. Attach the hair to the top of the shank with 2 tight wraps that will flare the hair.

8. Apply a few more wraps to lock the material in.

9. Lift up on the butt ends of the wing hair and clip these off with a slanted cut towards the rear. You can adjust the cut for the desired taper you want.

10. Wrap the butt ends of the wing with thread wraps, covering all of the butt hairs. Wrap to the tail tie-down position just above the barb of the hook to create a smooth tapered underbody of thread to the base of the wing. Separate about 1/3 of the hairs and apply a wrap of thread at the base of the hair to stand the hairs upright.

11.Take another 1/3 of the hair and place another tight thread wrap at the base of these hairs.

12. The last third of the hair is maintained in an upright position with thread wraps directly in front of them. Note that the shank is bare in front of the wing as this helps to bring pressure of the thread back against the hairs since it can slide up to the base of the wing.

13. Wrap the thread back to the bend of the hook.

14. Apply a small amount of Superfine dubbing to the thread and lock in the first fibers to the shank with a thread wrap. You can twist the dubbed thread for a tighter effect once those fibers are locked onto the shank.

15. Wrap the dubbing forward for an upward taper to the wing

16.Bring the thread in front of the wing and downward taper to the eye of the hook. You may need to X wrap the dubbing around the wing to fill the space below the wing.

17. Trim off the thread and whip finish. You can get an improved flare of the hair by applying pressure with your thumbnail at the base of the wing. Finished Fly.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 100 #16-18 or TMC 100SP-BL #16-18
Thread	Veevus 8/0 Light Cahill
Body	Pale Morning Dun Superfine
Tail/Shuck	Ginger Kinky Z-lon for SparkleDunand Light Ginger Spade Hackles for Comparadun
Wing	Natural Compardun Deer Hair

Fran Betters

Sparkle Dun/Comparadun

The Sparkle Dun/Comparadun pattern actually has it’s roots in another no-hackle fly known as the Haystack by Fran Betters in 1949 while Fran was still a teenager. Fran developed this pattern for slow-moving waters that were usually spring-fed. He noticed that under these conditions of clear visibility and slow movement that the fly imitations needed to be much improved for the selective trout that inhabited these waters.

He used a wing of deer hair that flared in an arc so that the lowermost hairs supported the fly in the surface waters. The body was also heavily dubbed with opossum or muskrat to help keep the fly in a horizontal position and had bunched deer hair for the tail. Betters passed away at the age of 78, Sept 6, 2009.

Compara-dun

Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi introduced a variation of the Haystack called, the Compara-dun, in 1972 from their book, Comparahatch. They elongated the tail by using microfibetts or hackle fibers and split them for better floatation. The fly became an instant hit since one could easily vary the size, wing, tail and body color to imitate most any mayfly dun or spinner.

Sparkle Dun

Craig Mathews and John Juracek in the mid 1980’s went another step further by replacing the split tail with a trailing shuck of Antron or Z-lon. The fly transformed from a dun pattern into an emerger. They also used Antron for the body which helped in keeping the colors consistent when wet.

Together, these of these two patterns make up the Sparkle Dun/Comparadun type of fly. One is an emerger, the other a dun. Both have a similar body type and hair wing. But it’s the hair that is important.

Comparadun Deer Hair

One problem with the pattern is that they do not float long in turbulent water and should be used only in slow-moving waters. It is also important to select fine deer hair that limits the bulkiness of the tie-in position. Comparadun deer hair is taken from the leg of the deer. It is short with black tips and is solid, rather than hollow, which allows the hair to maintain a stiffness that keeps the hairs oriented in the proper direction.

You can get assorted colors of comparadun deer hair as some will be a natural grayish dun, a mottled tannish brown, or a creamish tan. Some comparadun hair is dyed to a dun coloration. Change the colorations to match the mayfly emerger. The March Brown Sparkle Dun is a dark tan color that can also be used for Callibaetis. Tricos will have a black body for the males but an olive body for the females.

Remember, that the only difference with Sparkle Dun/Comparadun is in the tail or shuck. The shuck means it’s an emerger and the tail means it is a dun.

CDC Comparadun, BWO

Hook	TMC 100 #18-22
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Body	BWO Turkey Biot
Thorax	BWO Superfine
Tail	Medium Dun Spade Hackles
Wing	CDC Medium Dun

BWO Sparkle Dun

Hook	TMC 100 #18-22
Thread	Uni-thread Olive 8/0
Body	BWO Superfine
Thorax	BWO Superfine
Tail	Kinky Olive Brown Z-lon
Wing	Natural Comparadun Hair

Callibaetis Sparkle Dun

Hook	TMC 100, #12-16
Thread	Uni-thread Tan 8/0
Body	Callibaetis Superfine
Thorax	Callibaetis Superfine
Tail	Olive Brown Z-lon
Wing	Natural Comparadun Hair

Trico Sparkle Dun (Male)

Hook	TMC 100, #18-22
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Body	Black Superfine
Thorax	Black Superfine
Tail	Dark Olive Z-lon
Wing	Bleached Deer Hair
Hackle	Black Hackle