Grey Fox Variant

Tied by Gary Meier

Hook:  Dry fly hook of your choice

Size:  10 – 22 

Thread:  Yellow  6/0

Tail:  Golden Ginger Hackle Fibers

Body:  Stripped Cream Hackle Quill

Hackle: Golden Ginger, Dark Ginger, and Grizzly Hackle Mixed (I have found that a Cree Hackle is close enough from the trout’s point of view and is a lot less hassle.)

Tying Steps:

1.  Insert hook in vice and pinch down barb.

2.  Tie on thread stopping just above the hook barb.  I like to make the thread round and then make a bump just behind where you will tie in the tail.  This spreads the hackle fibers and cocks them up from the plane of the hook.  I think this floats the fly better and gives the trout a better view of the body.

3.  Tie in tail, wind forward over the fibers two thirds down the shank of the hook, and trim off excess.

4.  Wind back to tail leaving a smooth thread surface that tapers somewhat from front to back.

5.  Soak quill in water.

6.  Tie in hackle quill and wind close wraps two thirds up the hook shank.

7.  Tie off quill, trim closely, and take several thread wraps over the quill stub.

8.  Coat quill body lightly with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails.

9.  Tie in hackle (hackles if you want to be absolutely faithful to the original recipe) and make a smooth base over which to wrap the hackles.

10.  Wrap hackle forward and tie off leaving room for a small head.

11.  Whip finish a small neat head.

I tied the swap fly in a size 12, which is a good size for pounding trout up when they aren’t rising.  This is a fly I fished a lot in my salad days of dry fly purity.  It floats well, is visible even to my old eyes, and apparently looks like food items the trout see regularly since they take it even when there are no mayfly duns anywhere to be seen.  I will again be carrying and using this fly in sizes 12 – 16.  I’m thinking a size 12 would support an unweighted size 18 nymph or emerger dropper, though I’ve never used it in that way.  Guess I’ll find out next season.