Tying a Parachute Adams

Before we start on our fly, lets have a look at the materials needed to tie one.

Hook - size 12-18 standard dry fly hook

Body - gray super fine dry fly dubbing

Tail - brown and grizzly hackle fibers

Parachute - white poly yarn or white calf tail hairs. I'm using poly yarn because I find it floats much better than calf hair.

Hackle - brown and grizzly saddle feathers

Thread - light weight brown or gray thread

1. Start your thread on the hook shank. Build a thread base back to the bend. Tie in your hackle fiber tail (6-10 fibers of mixed colors). The tail should be about 2/3 the length of the hook shank. Trim the excess fibers and advance your thread 2/3 the shank towards the eye. Tie in your poly yarn or calf tail and trim the fibers. The height of the parachute is not important at this point because it can be trimmed shorter at the end. Build the thread up in front of the parachute to make it stand up.

2. Dub the body tapering it bigger towards the parachute post. Be sure to dub a little after the post too. Measure out your hackle feather to ensure it is proportional for the fly size. The fibers should be about one and a half the distance of the hook gap as shown.

3. Strip the fibers from the bottom 1/8" of your hackle feathers and tie them in at the base of the parachute with the concave or dull side of the feather facing the post. Wrap the feathers up the post about 1/8"  making wraps while keeping your thread perpendicular to the post.

4. Grasp both feathers together and make 3-4 wraps down the post of the parachute. After wrapping, hold the feathers downward and make 3 wraps around the post with your thread securing the hackle. Trim off the feathers and wrap your thread forward to the eye. Whip finish and you are done.

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