Back at the Vise

It’s been a while, but I’m back at the vise after receiving a customer order for a few Mayfly dry flies. His order was almost exclusively size 18 Mayflies. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of them.

Stalcup CDC Biot Comparadun BWO | www.johnkreft.com

The flies above are size 18 Stalcup CDC Biot Comparadun BWO. I must say they are not the easiest to tie using turkey biots for the body on a small size 18 hook. The wings are a combination of CDC and darker Teal fibers. I highlighted this fly back in 2019 as one of my Throw Back Thursday flies.

And the PMD version, also in size 18. This time the CDC is mixed with Mallard fibers.

Stalcup CDC Biot Comparadun PMD | www.johnkreft.com

Here is a closer view of these flies.

The next fly is a CDC & Biot Sparkle Dun BWO #18

CDC & Biot Sparkle Dun BWO | www.johnkreft.com

I used two CDC feathers for the wing. The PMD version below, also size 18, is tied with a CDC puff. I thought the lighter dun color better represented the PMD wing.

CDC & Biot Sparkle Dun PMD | www.johnkreft.com

And close-ups of these flies.

Here is a link to my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel where I demonstrate how I tie the fly.

The next set of flies are my favorite, Sparkle Duns. It’s funny, because when I’m at the vise, I think I know the sizes I’m tying. I tied these BWO and PMD flies in size 18. Turns out he ordered size 16, so I just tossed the 18’s in the provider box. Size 16 with dubbed bodies are on the left and 18’s utilizing thread for a body are on the right.

Sparkle Dun BWO | www.johnkreft.com

Same for these Sparkle Dun PMDs.

Sparkle Dun PMD | www.johnkreft.com

Here is a link to my RiverKeeper Flies YouTube channel where I demonstrate how I tie a Sparkle Dun.

I just need to tie some LaFontaine Sparkle Pupas to complete the order.

Enjoy…go fish!

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2 Comments

    1. Hi Ken – I wanted to thank you for the well wishes for Karen. I’m happy to report she is recovering very well, probably back to 99 percent. In fact, she’s taking long walks most days and we just completed a workout a short time ago.

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