Mid summer is typically #26 - #28 season here. Low water, higher temperatures and well fed trout usually make for more technical fishing conditions and small flies excell. You can cruise the riffle and busier water with this pattern. It's sweet spot is smoother water where trout can get a long hard look at the footprint. Partnered with 7X tippet, this design takes some of my best trout every year albeit the addition of a wing at this scale is a new twist.
Hook: TMC 101 #26
Thread: Gudebrod 10/0 tan
Tailing: Whisper Tails
Abdomen: Striped peacock quill, olive
Thorax: Natural mole + pine squirrel guard hairs
Wing: Bett's Zing Wing
Hackle: Whiting Bronze grade midge saddle
The first steps are a familiar drill... split tails, catch in a stripped peacock quill, checking that the darker edge faces to the rear.
Things can get crowded at this scale when you add wing + thorax + hackle. Wind forward and tie off the quill at the mid-point between point and eye.
Tie in the hackle. Medium and light dun aid visibility on stream. Sized to 2x the gap makes for a stable fly with a natural footprint. Secure a strip of zing-wing with a single figure-eight wrap at the thorax midpoint.
Post the wing with single, TIGHT wraps in front and then behind the base. Aim to pinch the base tight and flatten the wing between thumb and forefinger.
Lightly and evenly dub mole fur to thread. Avoid locking the super-fine pine squirrel guard hairs in the rope.
Dub a neat, even thorax ending at the eye. Make a single wrap of bare thread and sweep the eye clear of dubbing.
Wrap the hackle forward in tight turns, two behind and two in front, locking the wing upright with the hackle stem.
Tie off the hackle and trim. Add permanent larker to the thread and tie off with a three turn whip finish. Aim to catch in a couple of hakle barbs either side of the eye to imitate fore legs.
Trim the undercarriage hackle in either a V, or flat for an even lower riding drift. AK Best describes his CSH in chapter 10 of Advanced Fly Tying. The Cream Soft Hackle uses a hen feather rather than stiff, genetic cock hackle. AK explains that the hen feather readily accepts floatant, the webby hackle has a larger surface area, and the supple barbs impart movement. The CSH is one of his delicate flies for skinny water.
