The sparkle dun is a variant of the original comparadun and a standard mayfly pattern that is simple to tie yet very effective. I've used polypropolene for the tail instead of antron but I scrunched it between my finger and thumb to liven it up slightly. I've used elk hock instead of deerhair, even though elk hock is stiffer than deer hair I find it really nice to work with. I used elk hock but you could use deerhair which is the more popular choice for this kind of pattern and useing CDC for the wings is another way of tying it.
Elk hock sparkle dun
Hook - 103bl size 12 (a more narrower gaped hook than this being preferred).
Thread - pearsall's no.20
Tail - polypropolene yarn (only a few fibres)
Body - waterrat dubbed but muskrat or rabbit would also be good.
Wings - natural elk hock
Take thread down to tail tie in point and form a small raised area right at the end, this is to lift the tail slightly so the fly sits better when fished. Tie in the poly yarn for the tail and trim to desired length (the effect of the tail is to imitate the empty shuck, so not really a tail but we'll call it a tail for ease of use).
Take the thread back up the shank to about two thirds of the shanks length.
Cut some elk hair and stack it in a hair stacker then gauge length needed by holding the hair along side the shank. The length of the elk hair should be approximately the length of the hook.
Tie in elk hair with 2 or 3 tight turns of thread while pinching hair tight between thumb and finger. Add another 2 or 3 turns behind the first 2 or 3. (don't worry if the hair flares as this can be sorted later).
Next trim the butts of the elk hair with scissors so as to form a nice taper down to the tail. this helps create a nicely tapered body (this can be done by angling the scissors as you cut)..
Now wind the thread back down the shank covering the trimmed elk hair until you reach he tail.
Apply dubbing to the thread very sparsely and wind back up the shank to where the elk hair was tied in. Then apply another couple of turns of dubbed thread over the elk hair so that it packs it into a nicely packed bunch.
Pull back the elk hair with your thumb and forefinger and continue winding the dubbed thread in front of it and stop 2 or 3mm from the hook eye then whip-finish.
Now you can adjust the elk hair by pulling back and upwards and tease the hair into a nice fan shape that forms a 180 degree arc. If you prefer a more forward tilting wing effect you can push the elk hair forwards with your finger and thumb to create that effect.
The finshed fly
Hope you enjoyed this SBS
cheers
mark
Elk hock sparkle dun
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