Pale Morning Dun

[UC Steve]

pmdII 002 (627x640).jpg (163.99 KiB) Viewed 6318 times

Meant to simulate a mature nymph or emerger with swollen thorax/distended dark, iridescent wing cases (peacock herl). My favorite PMD & good for March brown too.

Hook: #12 Mustad 3366-BR (same length as standard #14)

Thread: brown Pearsall’s Gossamer Silk

Hackle: amber-brown brahma hen

Tail: 3 lemon wood duck barred flank fibers

Rib: fine wire

Abdomen: 3 cock ringneck pheasant tail swords twisted with the tag of the tying silk

Thorax: 2 peacock herls twisted with the tying silk (I like thin, dark herls for these)

[swellcat]

A tailed, soft-hackled pheasant tail?

It'll never work.

[Roadkill]

Nice looking fly!

[UC Steve]

A tailed, soft-hackled pheasant tail?

It'll never work.

Yes. I mean... how could it possibly work?

[Old Hat]

Big fan of a darker, "swollen" thorax on Emerger patterns. Nicely tied Steve!

[letumgo]

Looks like a perfect combination of materials (woodduck, pheasant tail, peacock herl and hen hackle). A "confidence" pattern for sure. Excellent!

[NJpatbee]

I agree with Ray - great material matching!

[UC Steve]

Thanks for your thoughts & comments guys.

While twisted bodies seemed to be trending here, thought to post a basic, composed of 4 known killing elements. Admittedly, I am not a particularly innovative fly designer, being mostly content riffing on recognized basics, re-shuffling elements from a material palette not much broader than what came with the Ken E Bay fly tying kit I received when I was 8.

[William Anderson]

Steve, you've put all our favorite materials together in a very convincing pattern and it would be hard to imagine this wouldn't do exactly what you intended. I do like that peacock thorax. I've tied and fished a pattern like this one years ago and if there weren't so many to try, I'm sure I'd be fishing it now. So many flies compared to casts. This one deserves a revisit.


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