Brassie

Midge pattern imitating chironomids, for trout. Beginner.

A body of copper wire in touching turns and a small peacock herl head.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 85% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end. Leave room for the head.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns. Binding the wire along the near side, for a smooth underbody.
  3. Tie in: copper wire Tie in the copper wire with a few firm thread turns.
  4. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 75% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  5. Wind: copper wire Wind the copper wire forward to 75% of the way along the shank in 18 turns. Tight, touching turns, by hand; nudge them together.
  6. Tie off: copper wire Tie off the copper wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess. Break the wire off by flexing it.
  7. Tie in: peacock herl Tie in 1 strands of peacock herl with a few firm thread turns.
  8. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 92% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  9. Wind: peacock herl Wind the peacock herl forward to 92% of the way along the shank in 3 turns. A short, fat herl head.
  10. Tie off: peacock herl Tie off the peacock herl with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  11. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread.

History

From the South Platte in Colorado in the 1960s. Rusty Dunn credits Gene Lynch of Colorado Springs, with Ken Chandler and Tug Davenport refining it: Lynch had wrapped bare hooks with copper wire as underbodies for weighted nymphs, and when he fished one as a weight ahead of a nymph, the fish took the bare wire hook instead. Pierre Joubert reports only a claim that an electronics hobbyist created it. It is named after the brass-plated copper wire of the originals, which had heads of black heat-shrink tubing.

Fishing it

A heavy, slim fly that sinks quickly, suggesting midge and caddis larvae. In rivers, fish it deep in a nymph rig or below a dry fly; on lakes it can be fished like a buzzer, behind other flies with a figure-of-eight retrieve. Plain copper is the usual wire, with red and green close behind, and many tie it with a bead.

Sources