RW Pupa Tying Instructions
Materials |
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| Hook: | TMC 2457 or 2487 sizes 10-16 (I prefer the 2457 because of its heavier wire). |
| Head: | Gold or brass bead. |
| Thread: | Prewaxed 6/0, color to match abdomen. |
| Ribbing: | Fine copper wire. |
| Abdomen: | Light brown sparkle yarn cut into 1/8-inch to 1/16-inch pieces. |
| Thorax: | Dark brown sparkle yarn cut into ½ -inch pieces. |
| Collar: | Hungarian partridge. |
Tying Instructions |
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| Step 1 | |
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Debarb the hook and slide the bead up to the hook’s eye. Attach the thread behind the bead, then with contiguous wraps, lay a thread base along the shank and half way down the bend. Tie in the copper wire and coat the thread base with flexible cement. |
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| Step 2 | |
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Apply tacky dubbing wax to 2 inches of the thread that is hanging from the shank. Pick up the finely chopped sparkle yarn and lightly touch it to the waxed thread. Do not apply too much dubbing and do not overwrap the thread as you wind the abdomen up the shank. The abdomen should cover two-thirds of the thread behind the bead, and should be sparse and spiky. |
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| Step 3 | |
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Rib the abdomen with four to five wraps of copper wire; secure with thread. |
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| Step 4 | |
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Dub the thread with the darker sparkle yarn and form the thorax by wrapping to the bead. (Leave enough room to tie in the collar). The thorax should be at least twice the diameter of the abdomen. Tease out fibers using a dubbing needle or—my preference—a piece of Velcro attached to a popsicle stick. These fibers should be long enough to extend past the bend of the hook, and should form an “envelope” around the abdomen. |
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| Step 5 | |
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Attach the partridge feather and wind one turn; tie off. I then like to cover the thread wraps by dubbing a small amount of dark sparkle yarn. Whip finish. This article appeared in the October 1998 issue of California Fly Fisher, P.O. Box 40429, San Francisco, CA. 94140 |
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