The Mad Hatter
Thread - Veevus 14/0 (Black/B01)
Hook - Partridge Barbless Czech Nymph Hook (Size 10/Formerly Size 16)
Body - 3 mm Foam (Brown) - Cut with a River Road Creations Foam Cutter (Beavertail shape body)
Hackle - Starling Rump Hackle - use largest spade shaped hackle feathers you can find on a starling
High Vis Spot - Folk Art "Shiny" Brand Acrylic Craft Paint (2708 Apple Orchard)
Some may cringe at the construction of the fly (foam), but this has proven to be a very effective fly. Last year I bought the foam cutters, but have struggled to come up with a fly that I liked tying with them. A couple months ago, I started playing around with them as a panfish fly. This is the reason I chose a barbless hook. The czech hook may seem like an odd choice, but I wanted a hook with a pronounced curve to it, sort of like a klinkhammer shape. The pronounced curve helps the hook point hang well below the foam body when sitting in the water.
These are super easy to tye, once you get the hang of working with foam. After the foam body has been secured in place, the hackle is tyed in and then wrapped around the "neck" of the fly. Pull the hackle fibers down and too the sides, so they will hang down as the fly sits in the surface film. The soft starling hackle moves easily and gives the fly significant life. In my opinion, much livelier than rubber legs.
This pattern has work very well on panfish. The barbless hook makes it very easy to remove the hook, even when they swallow the fly deep.
