Here is the fly pattern for the East Lake Chironomid.

East Lake Chironomid | www.johnkreft.com

Materials

Hook:

Dai Riki 135, #12 – 16

Thread:

Danville 6/0 – black

Bead:

Spirit River Hot Bead – Pearl white 2.8 mm

Rib:

Flashabou – red holographic

Coating:

Hard as Hull or UV Resin

Thorax:

Peacock herl

Directions

  1. Apply thread to hook starting at eye and working back to the bend. On a curved hook it can be hard to tell, but stop the thread about even with the barb on the hook.
  2. Tie in one strand of red holographic flashabou at the bend of the hook. Blue flash is also a very good color and was hot last spring, where the red is my favorite color all season throughout the summer.
  3. Build up a slightly tapered body with the black tying thread.
  4. Wrap 6 or 7 turns of flashabou through the body. Tie off and trim excess.
  5. Tie in 2 or 3 strands of peacock herl for the thorax. At this point I like to wrap the herl around the tying thread and then wrap the thread/herl “rope” together to form the thorax. This will add significant durability to the fly. Tie off and trim excess herl (hint: you may need to unwrap some herl form the thread).
  6. Whip finish and cement the head.

Note: The East Lake Chironomid is an effective fly pattern taught to me by Jeff Perin, owner of The Fly Fisher’s Place in Sisters, Oregon. Try a different variation by using a blue rib over the black body.

For more East Lake flies, go to the East Lake Fly Box.