Sierra Bright Dot

Sierra Bright Dot

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Tying Instructions

1. Attach 10-15 Golden Pheasant Tippets at the bend of the hook for a tail. Even the tippets so that the markings align. The tail length should be equal to the shank length. Wrap the tags of the tippets up to the 3/4 position.

2. Attach a grizzly hackle by the butt sized to match the hook and wrap 4-5 turns. Secure and trim the tag.

3. Attach 2 strands of red floss at the 3/4 position of the shank.

4. Wrap the floss back to the the rear hackle and forward again to the 3/4 position. Try to maintain an even layer of floss.

5. Attach a Grizzly Hackle that is two sizes larger than the rear one by the butt.

6. Wrap the hackle 4-5 turns and secure. Trim the tag and Whip Finish.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 100 #14-18
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Body	Red Floss
Tail	Golden Pheasant Tippets
Hackle	Grizzly Hackle

Sierra Bright Dot

The Sierra Bright Dot is a Fore and Aft pattern. The pattern has been used primarily on the Eastside of the Southern Sierra for many years going back to the 1950’s. It has remained popular as an attractor pattern yet has not extended it’s popularity beyond the Sierra. The Fore and Aft dry pattern goes back to the early 1900’s as it’s origins have been disputed between the French and the English. Jean-Paul Puguegnot’s book , French Fishing Flies, cites a Doctor Juge who created Fore and Aft patterns in 1918. His Taquine pattern consists of a red thread body with grey hackles. Horace Brown of England also laid claim to designing Fore and After flies in the 1930’s. Either way, the pattern eventually made it’s way to the Sierra Nevada and became a major pattern for the region.

Unknown Origin

Trent Pridemore wrote about the Sierra Bright Dot in his article “Trout Flies Unique to California” (California Fly Fisher July/August 2008). He indicates that the “Bright” of Bright Dot is in honor of Dorothy Bright, the wife of a mine owner at Convict Lake, also known as Monte Diablo Lake at the time. The Brights owned the mining village while it was attacked by 6 escaped prisoners in 1871. This episode led to the name change of the lake. It is unknown who originated the pattern but it has been a preferred pattern for high elevation lakes and streams of the Sierra, particularly good with Golden Trout.