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Dancing Damsel
Dancing Damsel
Tying Instructions
1. Slide the copper bead onto the hook up against the eye. Attach the thread behind the bead and build a thread base behind the bead to hold the bead in position.
2. Cut about 15-20 fibers from the side of a marabou plume, keeping the tips even. Measure the length of the fibers to be about twice the shank length of the hook.
3. Tie in the marabou at the bend of the hook. Secure the butt ends of the fibers along the shank to just behind the bead.
4. Trim off the remaining butt ends and wrap the thread back to the tail tie-in position.
5. Attach a piece of Krystalflash ribbing and apply dubbing to the thread.
6. Tightly dub the body from the tail tie-in position to just behind the bead.
7. Wrap the Krystalflash ribbing with evenly spaced wraps up to the bead and secure with thread wraps.
8. Trim off the end of the ribbing and secure with thread wraps. Wrap the thread to the midpoint of the shank and attach another small clump of marabou, 2-3 strands at that location.
9. Twist the marabou into a chenille and wrap twice the chenille twice around the shank. This forms the gills of the pattern.
10. Cut a thin section of Duraskin with a point on the end of the section. The point will be centered on the top of the shank just above the base of the tail.
11. Secure the section with two thread wraps just in front of the gills or the 2/3 position of the shank. This will be the base of the thorax.
12. Pull the front piece of the skin back exposing the thorax section to dub. Apply some dubbing to the thread, loosely.
13. Dub a loose thorax and secure behind the bead with thread wraps.
14. Next, we construct the legs using 4-5 marabou fibers. Attach the fibers behind the bead to each side of the shank with two thread wraps. Do one side at a time. Pull the butt ends of the marabou until the length of the legs are about the length of the shank or less. Trim off the butt ends of the marabou and secure with thread wraps.
15. Now, do the same thing on the other side of the shank for another set of legs.
16. Once the legs are set into position, pull the strip of Duraskin over the thorax with the marabou legs extending from both sides. Secure with thread wraps behind the bead.
17. Pull the skin back away from the bead and apply a couple more thread wraps between the skin and the bead. Trim off the end of the skin behind the bead and whip finish over the butt end of the skin
18. You can pinch off any of the marabou fibers from the tail or the legs to get the length you prefer.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 3769 #14 |
| Thread | Uni Thread Olive 8/0 |
| Head | 3/32 Copper Bead |
| Thorax | STS Trilobal Damsel Green Dubbing |
| Body | STS Trilobal Damsel Green Dubbing |
| Tail | Medium Olive Marabou |
| Gills | Medium Olive Marabou |
| Back | Olive Dura Skin |
| Legs | Medium Olive Marabou |
| Ribbing | Olive Krystalflash |
Dancing Damsel Nymph
Sierra Fly Company came up with a nice pattern that is being sold within fly shops throughout the West. It is called a Dancing Damsel. Many features are used within other damsel nymph patterns such as a sparse, long marabou tail that is about twice the length of the hook. The body is tightly dubbed with a Krystalflash ribbing. A wingcase is constructed over the thorax and part of the body with gills protruding from the base of the thorax and legs projecting from behind the bead. The bead provides the weight for jigging action and is sufficient size to represent head of the nymph.