Red Palmer

[scotfly]

This is the Red Palmer. No doubt some will be sitting thinking that it?s not a Red Palmer, they?ll be saying you tie it with a red Seals Fur body, and they?re right. This version is the one favoured by Tom Stewart in his ?Popular flies and how to tie them? serious of books. It also happens to be the pattern I prefer. Being a palmer it is normally associated with the top dropper, but I normally fish it as a point fly and have had great success with it over the years.
You can fish it dry or wet by using the appropriate hackles. In the appropriate sizes it is suitable for Trout and Sea Trout.
In the book Tom Stewart says of the Red Palmer ?. ?I do not suppose any fly kills more trout in the remote lochs of the Scottish Highland than does the Red Palmer? I don?t know if this is or was true, but I do know that it has caught a lot of trout for me.
As Palmers and Peacock Herl have been covered, this is a slightly abridged step by step. For more details of Herl bodies look here ?. http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g8/scotfly/?action=view&current=bandpbody.flv
I have tied the hackle in after the body here in order to show you an alternative way of tying in the hackle. To see the way I normally tie them in, look here?.  http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4545.0

Instructions assume right-handed tyers

HOOK ? Wet Fly  #6-16
THREAD ? Brown 8/0
RIB ? Flat Gold
BODY ? Peacock Herl
BODY HACKLE ? Red Game (Hen for wet fly, Cock for dry fly)
HEAD HACKLE ? Red Game Cock

STEP 1
             Attach the thread and wind down to the hook bend, catching in the Flat Gold Tinsel and Peacock Herl as you go.

STEP 2
             Twist the Peacock Herl into a rope and wrap to the shoulder, and after tying off tie in the body hackle.

STEP 3
           Wrap the hackle to the end of the body, then use the rib wrapped up the body to the shoulder to secure the hackle. Whip finish and varnish for the completed fly. This is the way I prefer it as a point fly.

STEP 4
           If you want it as a top dropper (bob) fly, tie in a Cock hackle at the head.

Then wrap the hackle, trim off the waste and whip finish for the completed fly.

Add a red tail and the fly becomes the Soldier Palmer.

Or tie in Coch-y-Bonddu hackles and the fly becomes the Gold Zulu.