Grayling Hare Bug.
A couple of people asked for the dressing and instructions for this fly, so here they are.
If you use the "special" dubbing mix as a sub for 477 wool, then the pattern is;
Hook, size 16 to size 6 long shank!
Underbody 1. Lead wire, Overwound with thread, and varnished.
Underbody2. Silver lurex. Best over the "damp" varnish.
Body. Dubbing made of the mixture described below.
Rib. gold (brass) wire.
Add two pinches of teal blue hare fur (or soft seals fur), one pinch of hot orange hare fur (or soft seal fur), and one pinch of crimson hare fur (or soft seal fur), to twenty pinches of pre-blended fawn hare body guard fur. Blend well so that the colours "disappear" in the general fawn colour. You can dub sparingly, keeping the fly slim, but still covering the lurex. Or you can dub a bit more heavily, and brush the fly to shape afterwards. The lead underbody must be varnished (nail polish) before winding the lurex and dubbing, as it will otherwise bleed and ruin the fly quite quickly.
If you just dress the pattern with hare fur, then it is as follows;
Blended hare fur from the body guard hair, or you can use hares ear etc. A very nice variation can be used using fox hair, or squirrel, or blends of these.
This is blended hare body fur;
Place your hook in the vice, this is a standard size 12 wet fly hook, and attach your thread and run it down the body. Tie the lead wire in as shown;
Wind the lead in to form a shape like this;
Overwind the lead with thread to secure it, and varnish with quick drying varnish or nail polish. Wax your thread, using either wax as shown, or a glue stick, or without anything at all if you wish;
Tie in your length of ribbing wire, either brass or copper. If you use copper wire, it should be varnished as it will otherwise discolour the fly quite quickly. Transformer wire and similar stuff is lacquered anyway.
Apply your dubbing to the thread;
Wind to the shape shown, rib tightly, and whip finish. A drop of varnish on the head is a good idea as well.
Now take your velcro dubbing brush, which is merely a piece of velcro glued to a lollly stick, and brush the fly vigorously to the shape you require;
That was it! The fly should look like this;
The hook used for this fly is a heavy wire hook, and very robust. But normally, it is better to grip the hook by the bend in the vice, and not the point! This has been done here to make things clearer.
The original "Grayling Bug" was dressed very slim and in a "cigar" shape. This may be achieved by dubbing the fur very tightly to the thread, and of course by using a lot less!
TL
MC
Hare Bug
Linear Mode
