modern Michigan dry fly · by 2010
Bluet Damsel
Likely origin One source: Deschaine's own Fly Anglers Online column of August 23, 2010.
History
Tom Deschaine tied this fly to match the bluets, the small bright blue pond damsels; his column names the tule bluet, Enallagma carunculatum, which lives across most of North America. He wanted a simple pattern and kept it to an extended deer-hair body and a sparse spent wing.
The body is built separately on a sewing needle, ringed with black thread, then threaded onto the hook so the finished fly matches the length of a real damsel, roughly 32 to 37 millimeters. Deschaine called it a still-water dry for summer and reported trout and a few bass on it.
Materials
| Hook | Dry (Mustad 94933), size 10 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 6/0 for the body segments; fluorescent blue 6/0 for the head |
| Body | Light blue dyed deer belly hair tied off the hook on a needle as an extended body, segmented with black thread and slipped onto the shank |
| Wing | Natural polar bear hair, tied spent and sparse |
| Finish | Head cement, plus a drop of thinned clear lacquer on each segment |
Sources
Know more about this fly's history, or spot a mistake? Send a correction.
No photo yet. Every photo on michfly is of a fly tied for the site, so they're added a few at a time.
Original recipe cards for many Michigan patterns are kept at the Michigan Dry Flies archive, built by the late Tom Deschaine.