The Dirty Polly (SBS)

[Clan Ford]

After my report of last week I?ve had a few more queries about the Dirty Polly.  I suppose its more a ?family? of flies in my eyes.  There are four main styles.

?   The no hackle upright  - poly yarn post and no hackle
?   The hackled upright ? poly yarn post with hackle wound either side.
?   The no hackle flat wing ? poly yarn tied in fly style
?   The hackled flat wing -  poly yarn tied in fly style but with a hackle in front.

By varying the colour and size of abdomen and wings as well as the bend in the hook, I reckon you have a pattern that can cover most of the flies you are likely to encounter on the surface.  Currently on the Earn it seems to be mainly olive uprights and yellow sallies.  The up right poly yarn types are a good bet as an imitation of the olives, while the flat wing types are not a bad representation of the yellow sally but saying that I seem to get the better fish on the hackled flat wing type, even in an olive hatch.

They are dead quick to tie and very durable although sometimes it pays to switch to the CDC versions when the fish are being very picky.


First thing is the hook ? I tend to use TMC200R?s and bend them.  This on is a size 18?

[attachimg=1]
The hook

[attachimg=2]
Present the hook eye first to the vice.

[attachimg=3]
Apply pressure to the shank with a finger

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Finished hook shape.

Continued......

[Clan Ford]

Now that the hook is the correct shape, you can move on to tying the fly.  In this case one of the simplest versions and one that I often use in the evening due to the very prominent wing…..

[attachimg=1]
Wind some Bennechi’s 12/0 primrose thread onto hook, leaving a tail to be used as a rib.  Catch in a doubled over hank of poly yarn – I’m using Hareline Dubbin inc’s Para Post Wing – light grey, it’s treated with “water shed” so no need for gink.

[attachimg=2]
Trim the abdomen side of the poly yarn, leaving the wing lying over the eye.

[attachimg=3]
Wind the thread back over the thorax area, making a small ball in front of the wing to “push” the poly yarn into an upright position.

[attachimg=4]
Wind the thread back down to the tail and “dub” in some body material – this is olive died under fur from the back of a hare.


[attachimg=6]
Wind the dubbing back up to the wing, thickening it out a little towards the thorax with some rougher hare fur.
Wind the tail of tying thread back up the body, as a rib.

[attachimg=7]
Finish the rib at the head, tie off and whip finish.

[attachimg=8]
Looking at the wing from head on, you can see it still sits as the two hanks of poly yarn.  I use a needle to tease out the yarn to achieve a fan shape.

[attachimg=9]
Trim the wing to the desired height.

[attachimg=10]
The End result

[Ian_M]

Very nice, thanks for taking the time to do this.

[Clan Ford]

And here are all four variations of the theme:-

[attachimg=1]
Upright no hackle

[attachimg=2]
Upright with hackle

[attachimg=3]
Flat wing no hackle

[attachimg=4]
Flat wing with hackle

You can further vary the look by bending the hook, from "not at all", right through to "klinkhammer extreme" proportions.  Obviously you might also choose to use different hook shapes and sizes.

[shanksi]

Nice sbs Norm, will be trying some of these next week.

Ian

[SouthFly]

Awesome flies Norm, I'm sure those work a treat.

[scotty9]

I'm a latecomer to this but I'd just like to add my thanks! Going to be tying myself up a whole load of various styles/colours!

[haresear]

Good stuff Norm.

We seem to keep coming up with the same or similar solutions. Great minds think alike in my view (or fools seldom differ as others may say

My deerhairless emerger is the same as version 1.

My McF fly is the same as version 3

Alex