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Autumn Splendor – a fall favorite
Autumn Splendor
Tying Instructions
Tying Instructions: Autumn Splendor
1. Place the cone over the hook point and slide it up to the eye. Build a thread dam just behind the eye of the hook. This will help center the cone to the shank.
2. Place a drop of zap-a-gap or Super Glue onto the thread dam and slide the cone forward just behind the eye.
3. Wrap about fifteen turns of lead wire around the shank and shove the lead wraps up into the cone jammed against the thread dam.
4. Secure the thread at the rear of the lead wraps and build a thread base over the lead and back to the bend of the hook. You may want to go back and forth a couple times with the thread to lay a nice, solid base down.
5. Clip a clump of brown marabou fibers and measure them against the shank for length so they are as long as the hook from the eye to the bend.
6. Secure the marabou at the bend of the hook with several tight turns of thread. Wrap forward over the butt ends of the marabou feathers to the back of the lead wraps. Go back and forth over the marabou butts with the thread to securely anchor the tail.
7. Attach three strands of Krystal Flash at the midpoint of the hook with the thread securing the middle of the three strands.
8. Bind three strands back along the far side of the hook and bind them in place to the base of the tail. Pull the other three strands of the Krystal Flash back along the near side and bind it down to the base of the tail. The flash should now be running down either side of the tail. Clip the flash so it is just a bit longer than the marabou in the tail.
9. Attach the copper wire from behind the cone and under the shank. Secure this wire with thread wraps to the base of the tail.
10. Next, attach a six-inch length of brown chenille to the base of the Marabou tail with the core material of the chenille exposed. Secure with several tight thread turns.
11. Wrap the thread forward to the 1/3 position.
12. Clip a section of round rubber legs that are about the full length of the shank plus the tail. You need four legs all together.
13. Attach the first pair of legs at the 1/3 position behind the cone. Use a couple of X-wraps. Make sure the wraps are tight.
14. Wrap the thread back to the 2/3 position and tie in the second pair of rubber legs as you did above. Leave both pairs of legs unseparated.
15. Apply a drop of zap-a-gap on the the x-wraps of both pairs of legs.
16. Now wrap the chenille forward to the set of rear legs. Butt the chenille right up against the back edge of the legs and continue wrapping the chenille forward to the front pair legs. The chenille should not split the leg pairs, just butt up against the front and back edges of them.
17. Tie the chenille off at the back edge of the cone.
18. I always make an extra turn of chenille behind the cone to fill the void in the concave side of the cone. Trim off the tag end of the chenille.
19. Select one grizzly dyed orange and one grizzly dyed yellow saddle hackles. They should be full and webby with a nice taper. Stack the two feathers so that the natural curve of the feather face the tail. Prepare the tie down area of the hackle butts by stripping the fluff and exposing the bare quill about a quarter inch in length. Attach the butts of the two feathers in at the front edge of the chenille body behind the conehead. Make several tight wraps over the butt ends to really secure the feathers.
20. Grab the tips of both feathers and evenly palmer wrap the feathers back to the bend. Try to keep the wraps a bit closer together at the head and spaced a bit further apart at the bend.
21. At the bend, secure the hackles with the wire ribbing you tied in earlier and then spiral wrap the wire forward through the hackle. It helps to zigzag the wire forward as you wrap.
22. Tie the wire off at the back edge of the cone with several tight turns of thread. Helicopter the end of the wire to break it off. Sweep the hackle fibers back from the cone while you build a smooth thread neck behind the cone.
23. Whip finish the thread behind the cone and clip it.
24. Pull all four rubber legs up above the fly and trim them so they are about a shank length long and separate the strands. Finished Autumn Splendor.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 5263 #4-12 |
| Thread | Danville 6/0 , Brown |
| Head | Tungsten Cone, Copper |
| Weight | Leadfree Wire, 0.25 |
| Rib | Copper Wire, Small |
| Body | Medium Chenille, Brown |
| Tail | Marabou, Brown |
| Legs | Medium Round Rubberlegs, Yellow |
| Flash | Krystalflash, Copper |
| Hackle | Grizzly Saddle, Orange and Grizzly Saddle, Yellow |
Autumn Splendor
The Autumn Splendor fly is a popular and effective streamer pattern, essentially a heavily weighted Woolly Bugger variation known for its lively action and “autumn” colors (yellow and brown/orange). It was developed by Colorado guide Tim Heng and is effective for catching large trout and bass year-round, especially in the late summer and fall.
Key Features and Usage
The fly is designed to imitate sculpins, crayfish, and baitfish, making it a versatile addition to any fly box.
- The combination of a marabou tail, palmered hackle, and yellow rubber legs creates significant movement in the water, which helps attract fish.
- Weight: It typically features a conehead (brass or tungsten) and lead wire underbody, allowing it to sink quickly into deep pockets and the mid-water column.
- Technique: Anglers typically use an active twitching or strip-and-pause retrieve to activate the rubber legs and trigger strikes, often casting it toward the river bank or across the current.
- Target Species: While particularly famous for catching large rainbow and brown trout, it also works well for smallmouth bass and panfish.