
Danica Dun
Tying Guide: How to tie Michael Olesen’s Danica Dun Hook: Maruto d21 size 10 Thread: Classic Waxed 12/0 from Semperfli, primrose for the abdomen and
To make a boyant emerger with some extra fun features
Pay attention to the little details and take your time
High resolution pictures and easy to understand guide
My Danica Emerger is a new design based on some of my earlier emergers. My material choices have evolved slightly over the years, but the most significant change is undoubtedly the foam tube on the thorax, added in 2021. When I modify a fly, it’s not always a very thorough planned idea; often, it just inspiration from the leftovers or scrap lying on my fly-tying table. The idea for the foam tube, in particular, emerged from such inspiring trash. Hence, a good piece of advice would be, “Don’t tidy up too much.” Leave some small piles of feather remainings and other waste on your table; it creates an environment acording to my taste and serves as a visual help for inspiration.
When attaching the yellow foam tube to the hook shank, one end naturally leans backward over the abdomen. I leave this end untouched and cut off the end pointing forward (see step-by-step instructions). After cutting the remaining foam tube to the correct length, it becomes a small sculpture/template perfect for shaping and folding the wings around. I find that experimenting as the first step and evaluating the ideas afterwards works well for me. Initially, I thought the foam tube would enhance the Danica Emerger’s buoyancy, but the air gap under the folded CDC wings does this adequately without the foam. However, I still gave the foam a chance because, overall, it creates a more stabilized fly and at the same time it’s very practical for measuring and shaping the wings. Additionally, the bright yellow colour is a great contrast to the somewhat darker wings, creating an illusion of transparency. A gray or olive-colored foam tube could tone down the fly if needed. It’s all about purpose, taste, and daring to challenge traditions by trying something new.
Briefly about “The Feather Mechanic II: Beyond the Pattern”
A look into the feature of the Luna Mayfly in Gordon van der Spuy’s new book. What Michael’s thoughts were going into this, and places on the web where the book can be bought will also be mentioned here.
See more from Gordon van der Spuy on his socials and website.
You can find a copy of “The Feather Mechanic II: Beyond the Pattern” on www.themissionflymag.com
Explore flytying from my vise at different levels of difficulty and learn ways to make them with easy step by step guides and simple illustrations. Explore a variety of flies and a passion for fly tying.
Before you have a go at it, make sure you have the following materials:
Regarding the hook, there are two obvious options: a long-shank nymph hook or a long-shank dry fly hook with weight added on the rear half of the hook. I use both but prefer the dry fly hook, as the hook wire is dark and thin, resembling an inconspicuous extra tail. With dry fly hooks, you can adjust the weight as you prefer and combine it with more or less buoyant kinds of dubbing.
The material I’ve chosen for the tails actually came from my son René, who visited an ostrich farm 20 years ago when ostrich steaks became trendy in Denmark. Recently, I found some fine ostrich body feathers at a local garden center, as it seems to be a trend to adorn plants with these feathers. I tie the tails in as a small bundle, and it’s not necessary to do much more. However, when I’m in the mood, I separate the tails slightly with figure-eight turns between the tail threads. This is only possible if the thread is appropriately thin; otherwise, it’s also option to secure the tails with a very small drop of UV glue.
The rib and abdomen materials absorb water and are non-buoyant. However, the thorax is meant to stay above water and is made of buoyant materials. In this context, I’d like to highlight two crucial factors that enhance buoyancy. First, the hare dubbing should be structured to be airy and slightly bushy. I often use a dubbing blendfrom hares living in Austria at altitudes of up to 1200 meters they have particularly robust fur quality, distinct from hares in lower-altitude regions. The other essential factor is the folded CDC wings, which should contain plenty of natural oils and be shaped to hold air.
Cut off 10 cm of “Dirty Bug Yarn” This material is made of two twisted threads, untwist it to only use one of these threads for ribbing. Tie in the “Dirty Bug Yarn” on the underside of the hook shank, in the space between the Lead free wire and the tails tying in point. You can also just use a few pheasant tail fibers for this job.
Make one or two wraps with the partridge feather, to produce the legs. I usually double the feather by holding the feather stem with my right hand while I pull back the feather strands with my moistened thumb and index finger of my left hand. This way I keep the legs out of the way and nicely curved backwards when winding the hackle.
Cut the deer hair to the desired length. There is no accurate formula for this, but what I do is, I cut the over- and underside rather short. I leave some deer hair to blend into the wings and some on the sides for legs. To make the legs extra buggy, I grab the tips of the deer hair and push them against the fly. This way I force them to bend and the fly get a little messy.
15. Fold the cdc feathers forward to make the broken wing buds and folded wings. I tie down the cdc 2 mm from the hook eye and cut off the waist. The cdc should now look like a small bubble around the foam tube. Next I add a little brown color to the tying thread, with a waterproof marker pen, before I make the finishing wraps and of course a whip finish.
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