Baetis Sparkle Dun

Hook:

18 - 22 Tiemco 100 or other standard TDE dry fly

Thread:

8/0 Uni-Thread Olive, Grey or Rust

Wing:

Medium Grey or Dyed Dun Coastal Deer Hair

Tail (shuck):

Mayfly Brown straight zelon

Body:

BWO Olive Superfine, Beaver or Zelon Dubbing

The Sparkle Dun should be a staple in your stable of adult mayfly patterns.  A derivative of the Comparadun made famous by Caucci and Nastasi (authors of Mayflies II - an extremely comprehensive treatise on the entomology of Ephemerella).  The boys from Blue Ribbon Flies exchanged a trailing shuck of Zelon for the original hackle fiber tail and there you go!  This pattern can be modified to imitate just about any Mayfly by changing size, body color and shade of deer hair wing, but in the smaller sizes like this BWO or Michigan Sulfurs or Western PMD, the fly really shines.  Be sure to fan the wing 180 degrees as shown below to get the proper profile riding low in h\the surface film.

Return to Trout Food