Whoolah a Parachute !

I received a comment the other day from Witham Piscator of the trout fishing blog Witham Piscator. (Fellower Blogger from across the pond, go check it out. Good Stuff.)  He said that he needed to work on his parachutes, so I decided to work on mine :)  I had tried a parachute when I first started tying and kind of gave up.  This was years ago so I decided to give it another go.   I am sorry about the terrible how - to - post on this particular fly.  It was late into the night and when I went to wrap the hackle around the post I got so caught up in it that I forgot to snap the photos after that.  By the time I had it tied it was to late :)  Here are my first 3 attempts at a successful parachute pattern.  I will make sure to get better pics next time and re-post the how-to- part of this fly.  The key for me when tying this fly was patience and concentration.  Keep things neat(neater than I did) when tying so that it doesn't get to bulky.  This particular fly was tied on a size 16 Hook.  Some of you may want them bigger, some of you may want them smaller.   

Top View Reminds Me of a Helicopter

Step 1.) - Secure Bobin to Hook

Step 2.) - Secure the post material onto hook

Step 3.) -Wrap a few times in front of post.  Then wrap 4 times counter-clockwise around the post.  Then secure behind the post.

Step 4.) - Wrap back to tail then secure calf hair. 

Step 5.) - Choose your material for body. Wrap dubbing all the way up to back of the post area.

Step 6.) - Next you want to tie in a piece of hackle, wrapping it in tight right in the front of post.  Then wrap hackle around the post counter-clockwise , starting at the top of the post and  wrapping it down from there about 4 times around.  Tie the piece of hackle off about where you tied it in.  Clip excess hackle off.  Continue with the dubbing  infront of the post and finish off fly.  You may want to add a dab of glue to the post.

Whoolah it's magic

Grey Hares Ear Variation

Olive Green Variation Parachute

A Para-Midge Variation

 I hope this helped somewhat.  Again I am sorry about the lack of pictures at the end.  I will post them as soon as I get a chance.  What size do you usually tie your parachutes? 

Until Next Time......Tight Lines to All !!!!!