The Wild Fishing Forum

This is the Picket Pin, a master of all trades. By using the correct materials you can fish this as a dry fly, wet fly or lure, and what?s more it excels in all three.
The stated hackle is Rode Island Red which  is next to impossible to obtain, so I use a Metz natural red hackle which has a dark centre, almost like a Greenwell?s cape. If you don?t have anything similar or simply prefer it, use a red game or brown cape.



HOOK ? STD 10 ? LS 10
THREAD ? 6/0 Black Uni-Thread
BODY  - Peacock Herl
HACKLE ? Palmered Rode Island Red Cock or Hen. (I prefer cock on all versions, but you can use hen on the lure and wet versions)
RIB ? Gold Wire
WING ? Squirrel tail (Wet/Lure)  Elk Hair (Dry)
HEAD ? Peacock Herl

STEP 1
             Attach the thread and tie in the hackle at the point shown.(approx ? shank)


STEP 2
           Wrap the thread to the bend, tying down the hackle stem and catching in the wire rib.



STEP 3
             Catch in 3or 4 strands of Peacock Herl on top of the hook shank and wrap the thread back up to the thorax. Then apply some varnish to the thread wraps.


STEP 4
              Twist the Herls into a rope and wrap to the hackle to form the body.


STEP 5
            Wrap the hackle down the body, then tie in with a couple of turns of the gold wire. Continue wrapping the wire through the hackle to the head. Tie off and twist the waste off. Then form a foundation for the wings. The Higher you build the foundation the lower the wing will sit.



STEP 6
           Select a bunch of squirrel tail for the wing.


Then after aligning the tips in a stacker offer them up for length.


Then transfer the grip, without moving the wing, to your left hand and make two or three ?pinch and loops? to tie the wing in.



As always, check your wing is parallel with the body.



STEP 7
            Lift the wing butts up and trim at an angle.


STEP 8
            Apply a generous amount of varnish to the wing roots.


Then cover the roots with tight wraps ready to receive the Peacock Herl head.


STEP 9
             Tie in 3 or 4 Peacock Herls on top.


Then twist into a rope and wrap to form the head, whipfinish to complete the fly.


This is my preferred hackle for this fly.


And here it is beside the dry version. The tying sequence is exactly the same, but using Elk instead of Squirrel for the wing.