THE UPSET HACKLE DRY FLY
An effective, easy to tie emerger
Text and images by Agostino Roncallo
I created this fly pattern in the nineties and made it known in an article published in the magazine Fly Line in January 1998.
I then added it in the book Magie in CDC, published in 2004.
Using the same principles I use in this very effective pattern I have designed other flies that I intend to present later on this website. This particular artificial, tied on small hooks, is an outstanding pattern for trout and grayling.
Dressing
1) Attach a slightly moistened CDC feather by its tip to the curve of a grub hook.
2) Wrap the hackle around the hook to form the abdomen of the fly.
3) Fix the hackle and trim the excess. Leave adequate space on the shank for the thorax.
4) Tie in a strip of grey-coloured closed cell foam (or colour the match the colour of the CDC as illustrated at the end of this sequence) and a CDC hackle to the top of the hook shank where the abdomen ends.
5) Wrap the hackle around the base of the strip of foam parachute style, trap the tip on the hook shank with thread and trim off the excess.
6) Add a dark dubbing (either darker CDC or Ice Dub) to the tying thread.
7) Wrap on the dubbing to build up the thorax of the fly.
8) Pull the strip of foam through the CDC and down over the thorax and tie it off behind the eye of the hook.
9) Trim off the excess foam.
10) Build up a head for the imitation.
11) Trim the protruding barbs of CDC the right length to represent wings.
12) The pattern is complete!
Useful colour variations to consider
Dun
Pink
Sulphur
Beige with a darker thorax and wing case and pink CDCfor esy spotting
Agostino Roncallo Italy
