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Tying Instructions:
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Lay a smooth thread base
along the hook shank starting from the hook
eye, wrapping toward the hook bend.
Select two rooster cape feathers and tie
them in at the hook bend, concave side up.
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The "tail" length should
be 1½ times the length of the hook shank.
It's OK if your feather tips are a tad
apart; this looks more like a real
dragonfly's tail.
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Tie in a rooster cape
feather, dry fly style, with the concave
side toward the hook eye. Make sure the
hackle tips of the feather extend beyond the
hook point.
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Wrap the rooster cape
feather forward and tie it off just before
the hook eye, leaving enough room to tie in
the "wings." You need this massive hackle
body to support the long dragonfly "tail"
and "wings".
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Position the stiff Super
Hair on top of the hook shank and tie it in
with a figure-eight pattern. Whip finish and
apply head cement to secure the "wings" to
the hook.
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Trim the Super Hair
"wingspan" to equal the length of the entire
fly. You're done! The Hard-Hackle DragonFly
is ready to fish!
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By Richard Komar
The dragonfly is a beautiful insect and an
incredible flyer able to achieve top speeds of
over 60 miles per hour. The wings are
translucent and shimmer and gleam in the
sunlight. The dragonfly's long tapered body may
be black, olive, blue, brown and even red. A
close relative of the dragonfly, the damselfly,
has a more slender and fragile body. Adult
dragonflies only live for a few weeks or months.
It might be interesting to note that some
extinct species had wingspans of 2½ feet.
Imagine the size of the largemouth bass that
could swallow that monster! |
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How to Fish the
Hard-Hackle DragonFly:
The Hard-Hackle DragonFly is a very aerodynamic
fly for its size. Even if it lands upside down
on the water, it looks like a spent dragonfly in
even more distress!
The DragonFly is fished like a dry fly, with a
generous application of floatant on the entire
fly. Initially, it will float high on the water.
As the floatant wears away, the Hard-Hackle
Dragonfly sits in the water film. If you don't
re-apply floatant, you can just let the
DragonFly slowly sink in the water column. It is
vulnerable to strikes in all three scenarios. A
most versatile fly indeed!
Even with a 3-inch wingspan and 3-inch body
length on a size 2 hook for bass, the
Hard-Hackle DragonFly gracefully floats down to
the water without a disturbance. In the smaller
sizes of 10, 12 or 14, it attracts bream and
trout. If dragonflies are fluttering about near
the surface, by all means, this is your go-to
fly.
Dragonflies occur in nature in a variety of
colors and sizes, and vary widely from region to
region, so don't be afraid to experiment. Have
Fun! ~ Richard |
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