Peacock Dragonfly

Here is a nice easy pattern for those lethargic winter bass. Bass love dragonfly nymphs, and this food form is readily available to them in any healthy pond. When fishing for bass, or anytime when you are around such a pond, look around at the variety of dragonflies that perform their acrobatics over and around the water, touching down occasionally to drop their eggs.

Those dragonflies were previously, of course, in their larval form at the bottom of that same pond. They hang around on the bottom, and on the stalks of pond vegetation such as reeds, pond irises, lily pads and similar vegetation. If you find a live one and pick it up, you�ll receive a nice bite from it if you put it in your hand--so be careful. You will notice, though, that they are rather thick in the upper abdomen area, and somewhat flat in appearance. Those characteristics affect the manner in which the fly is tied.

Materials

Hook:            3X long nymph or streamer hook, #6-10

Weight:         .020 lead wire

Thread:         Black 6/0 or 8/0

Tail:              Ringneck pheasant back fibers

Underbody:    Dark olive dubbing, tapered up

Body:            Peacock herl

Wing case:    Ringneck pheasant tail fibers

Thorax:         Muskrat guard hairs, well picked out

Eyes:             Mono nymph eyes

Head:            Peacock herl

Instructions

4.  Take 4 or 5 peacock herls and tie them in at the same spot as the tail was tied in. Now drop a dubbing loop around 3 inches long, from the shank at the same point, and advance the thread to the front of the hook.

5.  Twist all of the peacock herls together with the thread, so you end up with a nice, thick rope. Now wind this rope up to the front 1/3 point on the shank and tie it off there.

6.  Tie in about a dozen Ringneck pheasant tail fibers by their butts, with the tips pointing to the rear; these should be tied in right where the abdomen ends. To avoid having an unsightly �gap� between the back of the wing case and the body, as you tie in the wing case, run the thread up onto the body a bit.

7.  Now drop a dubbing loop about 3 inches long, and attach a dubbing loop tool to it. Take a bunch of muskrat fur off the skin with all of the guard hairs intact. Slip the fur and hairs into the dubbing loop, and then twist the loop, trapping the mixture and forming a fuzzy rope. Grab the end of the thread loop with hackle pliers, and wrap the rope around as a thorax. Take a piece of the hook side of Velcro and tease out the the guard hairs. Push them down from the top and up from the bottom so all of them are out to the sides.

8.  Tie in mono eyes around 1/8 inch behind the eye.

9.  Pull the pheasant tail over the top as a wing case, and tie it in behind the eyes.

10. Tie in a peacock herl or two behind the eyes, and wind them behind the eyes, and through the eyes in a figure-8 manner. Tie them off in front of the eyes, whip finish and admire the result.

Remember: to help perfect your skills, tie at least a half dozen of any pattern you tie; this will help you achieve consistency in your tying. Line them up on a piece of foam, and look them over with a critical eye; select the one you think is best tied, and mentally list the �mistakes� you made in the other five. Then, sit down and tie another 6 and compare them to the one you selected as the best, and again select the best of the best, and . . .