Hogan’s Military Mayfly

Military Mayfly, PMD

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Tying Instructions

1.  Slide a glass bead onto the hook. With the PMD, a red, brown, or amber color should work well. Attach the hook to the vise and attach the thread behind the bead.

2. Select a section of Mallard Flank for the tailing material. Keep the tips even. Place the section of fibers on the top of the hook shank so that the tailing fibers extending beyond the bend of the hook is about 3/4 of the shank length. Secure with a few touching wraps.

3. Next, attach a wire ribbing to the side of the hook shank with a few more touching wraps. Then secure both the taiiling fibers and the wire ribbing with thread wraps to the bend of the hook.

4. Place a strip of Pearlescent tinsel to the top of the hook shank and secure at the bend of the hook and up to behind the bead.

5. Bring the tag end of the tinsel over the top of the hook shank and secure the tag end just behind the bead. This is your flashback.

6. Wrap the wire ribbing forward with evenly spaced spirol wraps to behind the bead and secure the tag end of the wire with thread wraps. 

7. “Helicopter” the tag end of the wire for removal. It should break cleanly behind the bead. Next, attach another strand of Pearlescent tinsel to the top of the hook shank behind the bead. (Yes…you could have used the tag end of the flashback!)

8.  Secure a strand of scudback behind the bead for a wingcase. Secure the wcudback with thread wraps that will also establish the length of the thorax. You want this to be just less than 1/2 the hook shank length from behind the eye of the hook.

9. Apply dubbing to the thread and lock in the first fibers to the hook shank with a first wrap..

10. Twist the dubbing on the thread creating a tighter rope and wrap a thorax that is about the same diameter as the bead.

11. Attach a strand of midge flash behind the bead at the top of the shank.

12. Next, attach a section of Mallard Flank to the far side of the shank behind the bead with 1-2 loose wraps and adjust the length of the flank tips so that the just extend beyond the thorax. Tighten the thread wraps.

13. Now, do the same thing to the side facing you.

14. Bring the scudback over the thorax and secure with a couple of tight wraps and also one more wrap between the tag end of the scudback and the bead. This will really anchor the material. Trim the midge flash to about the same length as the mallard flank tips.

15. Bring the tinsel over the top of the scudback and secure with some thread wraps. 

16. Apply a couple of half hitches to secure the thread and trim off.

17. Apply a drop of UV Fly Finish thick to the top of the wingcase. Use a bodkin to distribute the drop over the wingcase to the edge of the bead.

18. A UV lamp is necessary to cure the epoxy material. 10-15 seconds is all it takes.

19. The finished Military Mayfly, PMD

 

 

 

 

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 3761 #16-18
Thread	Veevus Rusty Brown 10/0
Head	Root Beer Glass Bead, small
Body	Veevus Rusty Brown 10/0
Thorax	Mottled Nymph dubbing, Light Olive
Tail	Mallard Flank, Natural
Legs	Root Beer Midge Flash and Mallard Flank, Natural
Wingcase and Flashback	Scudback 1/8 inch Tan and Narrow Pearlescent Tinsel
Ribbing	Copper Wire, Small

Hogan Brown

Hogan’s Military Mayfly

Hogan’s Military Mayfly is designed by fly fishing guide Hogan Brown of Chico, CA . Hogan is a signature fly tier for Rio Products and has designed a number of flies that are marketed throughout fly shops in the United States. He is a prolific fly designer with over 30 named patterns.

Inspired by the Zebra Midge

Since Hogan guides on the Yuba and Feather Rivers, many of his patterns have been tested within these waters. The Military May is a derivative of the S&M pattern but was inspired by the Zebra Midge. It has gone through a number of transitions since Hogan first introduced the pattern in the late 1990’s.

The basic form has remained the same but different elements have been added or changed. It is based on glass beads and thread colors. Hogan’s inspiration was the thread midge patterns, such as the Zebra midge, utilizing different colors of glass beads. Changing either the color of the beads, the wire ribbing, the dubbed thorax, and the thread can provide the color necessary for different mayflies. Flashy and attractive elements can be added to the pattern.

Influenced by Bob Quigley

Hogan was greatly influenced by Bob Quigley where Bob would “dial the silhouette of the fly, dial the look and match of the bug, and then, add all the rest of the elements.” Earlier renditions of this pattern included a thread abdomen with a wire ribbing and a dubbed thorax with a flash wingcase. Hogan later added elements such as scudback for the wingcase and marabou gills with Mallard Flank legs to the pattern.

Three basic colors

There are basically three colors that Hogan concentrates on, a PMD (rust), Olive, and Black in sizes #16-20. The tailing fibers can be Mallard Flank, Teal, or Pheasant Tail. Like most guides, Hogan realizes that trout will not count the number of tailing fibers but wants to make sure that sufficient tailing fibers will remain upon use so that a tail will be represented even after you have caught your fourth or fifth fish on this pattern!

Military Mayfly – BWO

Hook	TMC 3761 #16-18
Thread	Veevus Olive 10/0
Head	Green Glass Bead, small
Body	Veevus Olive 10/0
Thorax	Mottled Nymph dubbing, Hares Ear
Tail	Mallard Flank, Natural
Legs	Root Beer Midge Flash
Wingcase and Flashback	Scudback 1/8 inch Dark Olive and Medium Pearlescent Tinsel
Ribbing	Chartreuse Wire, Small

Military Mayfly – Black

Hook	TMC 3761 #16-18
Thread	Veevus Black 10/0
Head	Black Glass Bead, small
Body	Veevus Black 10/0
Thorax	Mottled Nymph dubbing, Black
Tail	Mallard Flank, Natural
Legs	Black Midge Flash
Wingcase and Flashback	Scudback 1/8 and Narrow Pearlescent Tinsel
Ribbing	Black Wire, Small