I love this pattern. Easy and effective fish catching fly. A little red hot spot at the hook bend with or without a red head is one of my favourite variations. I feel fish really key into the red accent.
Hey Tim, nice looking fly. I haven't tied this one in quite a while, but I've had a lot of success using this fly in the trout lakes of Alberta. I like the brown olive, one of my favorite colors of dub.
The traditional feather to use is ringneck pheasant rump feathers for both tail and hackle. ( The traditional body material is chenille.) I hunt pheasants, so I have a good supply of them for this pattern. They are a bit softer than mallard feathers and probably have a bit more motion in the water, but I suspect that mallard feather would work. The fish will let you know if they don't.
Yes Graham, it is believed (although not well documented) that the original version did have all of that except I think it had a peacock herl body. But, as I clearly stated in the video, there have been many variations of it since and this is one of them. Had I called this fly something like a "Tim's Special" I am absolutely sure someone would have said "no", that's just a "Carey Special" tied with different materials. Can you see where I'm kinda damned if I do and damned if I don't.
Nice Video, but that is not a Carey Special.. the 'Must Have' material on any Carey Special is Ringneck Pheasant Rump Hackle. You can use any color of Chenille, Yarn or dubbing for the body, but it ain't a Carey without a collar of Ringneck Rump Hackle...
