Pennant Dun – small yet seen

Pennant Dun

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Tying Instructions

 

 

Tying Instructions: Pennant Dun

 

 

1. Start thread about 1/3 of the way rearward from the eye. 

 

2. Attach the Body Quill at the 1/3 mark of the shank behind the eye.

 

3. Secure the Body Quill using touching turns well down into the hook bend. 

 

4. Secure 3–7 coq-de-leon fibers immediately in front of the Body Quill so they extend at least 1.5 times the shank length behind the bend. Take 1–2 thread wraps behind the tail fibers to splay them. 

 

5. Advance thread to the tie-in point. 

 

6. Creating a small tapered underbody. Take 1–2 turns of Body Quill behind the tails. 

 

7. Then wrap the Body Quill forward in touching turns. Secure and clip excess. 

 

8. If desired, coat the body with head cement or Loon UV Flow or similar runny UV resin. 

 

9. Cure if using resin or let dry if using cement. 

 

10. Secure a slightly oversized dry fly saddle on the near side of the hook with the convex side of the feather facing you. Advance thread halfway to the hook eye. 

 

11. Secure an oversized clump of silver Widow’s Web or similar pale gray hot-dyed poly yarn on top the hook shank facing rearward, much like a caddis wing. 

 

12. Finish with a couple thread wraps around the butt ends of the material but not the hook shank just behind the hook eye. Leave both ends of material long for now. 

 

13. Apply super glue to the thread wraps securing the hackle stem and wing. 

 

14. While the glue is still wet, wrap the hackle forward. Take 2–3 turns behind the wing. 

 

15. Then 3–4 turns of the hackle on the thread base securing the wing. 

 

16. Secure and clip excess hackle at the eye. 

 

17. Whip finish or apply a couple of half hitches .

 

18. Clip off the thread.

 

19. Trim the hackle horizontally just above the hook point.

 

20.  Trim the forward wing material above the eye.

 

21. Then, trim the wing to length by holding your scissors facing 60 degrees downward and 30 degrees rearward. Trim the wing so its longest fibers are substantially longer than the hackle and the shortest fibers are about the same length as the hackle. You will probably trim a few hackle fibers, but don’t worry about it. The resulting wing should cant slightly rearward and appear large and triangular when viewed from the side, without creating as much bulk as its volume suggests.

 

22. The Finished Pennant Dun.

 

 

 

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	Fire 316 #16-18
Thread	Uni 8/0, Rusty Brown
Body	Veevus Body Quill, Rusty Brown
Tail	Coq de Leon, Medio Pardo
Wing	Silver Widow's Web
Hackle	Grizzly Yellow

Pennant Dun

Walt Weise developed the Pennant Dun in early fall 2020 as a tiny, delicate, yet buoyant and visible mayfly-style attractor dry. Its effectiveness largely derives from its unusual wing and hackle design, which allows for a large wing on a small fly. The copper and purple variations have worked best on early fall mornings when there are few midges and mayflies hatching.

Walt owns Yellowstone Country Fly Fishing out of Livingston, Montana. The Yellowstone river has a wide range of small insects size 16-20 in August and September. Walt designed this pattern for the size and silhouette that the trout seem to key on. Creating a small attractor pattern that could remain afloat and visible is a challenge as  the wing material needs to be seen and with reduced bulk to keep the fly afloat.

Walt solved this problem by trimming the wing so that the longest fibers were in the front and the shortest in the back. the trim created the classic “sailboat” wing shape without too much bulk. The application of a hackle kept the pattern upright and yet low in the water. The hackle also prevents the wing from collapsing rearward when wet.

The pattern can be tied in colors matching the insect but as an attractor, copper or purple are the better choices. Veevus Body Quill was chosen for the body since the material has low bulk and provides both shine and a subtle segmentation. Coq de leon fibers are preferred for the tail and these are played by taking a couple of turns with the body material behind them.  The thread color will show through the body material, so Walt will use a rusty brown thread for his copper version and switches his thread color to Hot Orange for the hackle, wing, and head.

 Variations