I am a total pushover for tightly spun hair bugs and when Allen Campbell of Campbell Outfitters posted up a few of his creations on Instagram, the blue damselfly pattern really caught my attention. I ordered up a six-pack of his patterns and asked if he'd mind chronicling tying one to share here.
Is there anything cooler than the blue extended deer hair body on this fly?
Scroll through to see how this pattern in tied, learn a bit about Allen, and get the recipe for the Blue Damselfly as well. Or reach out and have him tie a few for you too.
I can't wait to get these wet on the family pond. Soon...
My name is Allen Campbell and I am native to Michigan. I spent most of my life living in west Michigan before joining the Army and moving to North Carolina. After 6 years my wife and I have moved back to Michigan to be closer to home and to start our family. Currently I am pursuing a BSN and recently launched by guiding business, Campbell Outfitters, this summer.
Fly
tying became a passion shortly after I started fly fishing roughly 10
years ago. I started my deer hair journey a few years ago after chasing
bass in North Carolina. The damselfly idea came after looking at the
extended bodies of hex flies popularly fished in Michigan. After holding
one in my hand and seeing how large they can be, I thought, let's
incorporate the extended body into a deer hair slider type head. I'm
sure the idea is not original to me, and I don't claim to have invented
it, but it's been fun to tie and fish.
My
favorite way to fish this pattern is how one might fish a Mr. Wiggly or a
slider pattern. I like to ensure the fly makes a splat on the water to
ring the dinner bell. After the rings on the water dissipate, I'll
twitch the fly and allow the legs to wiggle. The goal is to imitate a
damselfly or dragonfly that has fallen in the water and is struggling to
take flight. The oversized head allows it to stand out and push water
if the fisherman wants to slide it around timber or vines that are
hanging in the water. The few wraps of palmer chenille are used to
imitate the shimmer from the wings of a real fly.
Clearly
this is a summer pattern and is super fun to dead drift and wiggle
close to grass banks, under tree limbs, or right in the bubble line.
When the fish are looking up, this is a fun fly to fish!
BLUE DAMSELFLY RECIPE:
- Size 4 Gamakatsu B10S
- Blue Deer Belly Hair
- Black Deer Belly Hair
- Medium Pearl Palmer Chenille
- Black Rubber Legs
Check out the Campbell Outfitters website and follow along on Instagram too.
2 comments:
Nice! Thanks for sharing!
Very Very cool.Although there is really nothing new you managed to fuse the little deer hair popper with that unique Michigan hex style body.The lumiflex? legs are so much more buggy than the rubber or silicone skirt material Really a nice tie.I am tired of foam and really enjoy making deer hair and balsa bugs.They take forever to make and get ,hopefully, destroyed by a fish easier.I know if i snag one it wont still be there in 100 years.Going to try a few Thanks for sharing.
My brother just retired not far from your area and i will give him a heads up.
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