Comparadun

Fly: Henk Verhaar, Photograph: Hans Weilenmann

Hook: Standard dry fly hook, e.g. TMC 900BL
Thread: UNI, size 8/0
Tail: Hackle fibers, or moose body hairs
Body: Dry fly dubbing, e.g. muskrat, dyed
Wing: Deer hair, comparadun type

This of course is a well-known pattern, named by Cauci and Nastasi, patterned after Fran Betters' Haystack. BTW, Betters' Usual is also a great pattern. The only thing that is crucial in a comparadun is finding the right hair (short, depending on hook size, and non-flaring). Hollow (flaring) hair can be used, but makes it much harder to get the wing right, and is more easily damaged at the tie-in point. Good sources of hair are deer (or elk) hock (upper part of the leg) and mask. The wing is stacked, not spun, although spinning and then clipping the lower 160 degrees is of course a possibility. The wing should describe a 200 or so degree arc, and has to be propped up by making a thread, and dubbing wall in front of it. After completing the head of the fly and the whip finish, the wing, which usually describes an arc of less than 180 degrees at this stage, can be forced in a wider arc by pulling the hair to the side and down. The wing in the picture is slanting forward a little too much from being compressed in a container.

Back to Thumbnails

© 1999 Hans Weilenmann
Please don't copy/distribute the contents of this page without my explicit permission.