DRY FLIES

ZULU

I think that the Zulu tied with a black hackle body and a red tag has origins that go back to circa 1600 England. This fly deviates from the standard only with respect of the tail concept that was introduced to me By Paul (Rabbit) Burrow at the 2005 Tasmanian One Fly Championships. The white under tail is tied in to represents a trailing shuck. Its an interesting concept that I am sure will be a useful addition to other Emerger and Dun patterns.

MATERIALS FOR BLACK WHITE ARSE ZULU:

Hook - Size 10-16 dry fly hook
Silk - Black
Under Tail - White Synthetic Living Fibre (SLF)
Over Tail - Black hackle fibres
Body - Black dubbing
Ribbing - Fine but strong tinsel
Hackle - Black

Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook.
Tie in an under tail of just a few strands of SLF about 1/2 as long as the hook shank.

Tie in an over tail of 6 or 7 Black Hackle fibres about so that the over tail is about as long as long as the hook shank.
Tie in the ribbing material at the bend of the hook.
Dub on a thin body 4/5 of the distance along the hook shank.
Tie a hackle in the middle of the gap between the body and the eye of the hook

The ideal hackle should be good quality dry hackle and should be about four hook lengths long, one and a half times as wide as the gape of the hook at the butt end and narrow down toward the tip.

Wind the hackle back along the hook making a couple of wraps as you start and then even palmer wraps as you progress to the bend of the hook.
Hold the hackle firmly in place with one hand and pick the ribbing material up with the other.
Wind the ribbing material firmly forward so that it locks the hackle in place and forming between 4 or 5 segments along the body. Tie the ribbing off at within the first couple of wraps of hackle near the eye of the hook and take the thread forward to the eye of the hook.
Build up a neat head.
Whip finish and varnish the head.

Last modified: 11-Jun-2008.