Dunkeld fuzzeled variant – Chatto’s original

The Dunkeld is certainly one of my top 2 or 3 middle dropper flies for lock style fly fishing. Until 18 months ago I was using a version of the Dunkeld that had a hackle Palmered along the body as in the original. At that time I was experimenting with “fuzzeled” bodies an an alternative to bodies with a Palmered hackle and applied that technique to this fly with immediate success. So much so that I don’t tie the Palmered hackle body version any more.

See Dunkeld – hackled as in original tie.

dunkeldFl Dunkeld fuzzeled variant Chattos original

Materials

Hook	Thread	Tail	Rib	Body	Hackle	Wing
Medium shank wet fly (Tiemco 3769)	Black	Yellow hackle fibres	Gold holographic tinsel or gold wire	Orange seals fur	Orange	Cock pheasant feather slip or bronze mallard feather slip

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks Tie in a tail of yellow hackle fibres about as long as the shank of the hook. I like to bind the tail to the bare hook shank just behind the thread that I have just wound down the hook shank. Tails on flies

B	Wind the thread forward to the 85% position locking the balance of the tail material down on the top of the hook shank as you go. Tie in a length of ribbing material at the 85% position. I prefer holographic tinsel.

C	Tie the ribbing material along the top of the hook shank all the way to the bend of the hook. I load my holographic tinsels on to bobbin holders so that it is easier to manage and to reduce wastage.

D	With the holographic tinsel on a bobbin holder you can just hang that bobbin over the back of the vice until it is needed again. Load your thread with dubbing.

E	Dub a cigar shaped body between the bend of the hook and the 85% position. Single strand dubbing I generally take a hitch or two of thread in front of the body at this stage just to ensure that the dubbing doesn’t dislodge as you wind the ribbing material forward.

F	Wind the holographic tinsel forward creating five or six segments along the body of the fly. Body segments Tie the tinsel off and trim the excess. Using a section of Velcro tease out dubbing fibres evenly around the body of the fly. This is a great alternative to Palmering a hackle down the body of this fly and many other flies.

G	Tie in a hackle by its butt directly in front of the body of the fly. Wet fly hackle The shiny side of the hackle should face forward so that as the hackle is wound forward the natural curve of the hackle fibres will help the hackle fibres to assume a natural slope toward the rear of the fly. Take the thread forward to the 95% position.

H	Depending on the quality and thickness of the hackle fibres wind the hackle forward 2 to 4 turns toward the 95% position. In this example I have taken 3 turns of hackle. Secure it in place with a few wraps of thread.

I	Use a sharp blade remove the excess hackle. Stroke the hackle tips back along the fly and then finish securing the hackle in that position with additional wraps of thread.

J	Select a hackle feather slip. The quantity selected depends again on the quality of the feather and the thickness of the hackle fibres on the feather. Ideally feather fibres should be fine and soft so that they will add some movement to the fly. Fold the feather slip in half and using your right hand position the feather, with the seam of the fold at the top and with the tips of the feather slip half way along and above the tail of the fly.

K	Swap your hold on the feather slip over to your left hand without moving the position of the feather slip.

L	Using a fly tiers pinch slide your thread up between your thumb and for finger on the front side of the folded feather slip and then down behind the feather slip and between your thumb and for finger and whilst maintaining side way pressure on the folded feather slip pull the thread down between your thumb and forefinger locking the folded feather sip in place as a wing. Check that your happy with the position of the wing and when satisfied lock it into place with a couple of additional firm wraps of thread. Trim the but ends of the wing at an angle so as not to create a ridge where the head of the fly will be. Build up a neat head of thread. Whip finish the thread, trim the thread and varnish the head.