Pete’s Mallard and Marabou

As promised we will continue to increase the number of step by step patterns of flies that we use! This two hooked fly from Pete Rosenau is as mean as they get. Follow along and add this streamer to your box you will love the results guaranteed! All materials for this fly available live on our site, you can also change any of the colors to better mater the location you are fishing!

Step 3. With your thread roughly 2 hook eye lengths behind the eye dub on a decent amount of Spawn Simi Seal. We are going to dub a body back to our flash tie in and then back to our starting spot.

Step 4. Using a dubbing brush or some Velcro give your dubbed body a fairly aggressive brushing.

Step 5. After teasing out all the fibers, dip your fingertips in water and coax the body fibers back toward the hook point. This will tame the fibers for the next step while also removing any stray fibers the brush left behind.

Step 6. Prepare a mallard feather by brushing the fibers toward the base of the quill. Wetting your fingers will make this a breeze. Trim a section at the top of the feather for your tie in. Come down the quill fat enough that it won’t break when tied in.

Step 7. Wrap 3-4 turns of mallard. To get a tighter body like this example you must keep the concave surface of the quill facing the hook shank as you’re wrapping. If the feather is wrapped with the quill on it’s side the fibers will stick out significantly more. The aesthetic choice is yours. Once it’s in the water the fibers will lay down essentially the same either way.

Step 8. Remove a small clump of the olive marabou fibers keeping the tips aligned. This is a fairly sparse amount of marabou that should add some color without blocking out the mallard underneath. Your marabou fibers should reach just past the mallard fibers. After a few loose wraps to tie in the marabou, gently position the fibers to cover the top half of the hook shank. Trim the excess marabou butts and wrap down the ends.

Step 9. Repeat the same step on the bottom of the fly with the Fl. White marabou. After you’ve trimmed the butts and formed a clean thread head, whip finish twice and cover the thread wraps with Loon Hard Head or cement of your choice.

Step 10. Slip on a sz 5/32 Gritty Brass or Tungsten Bead on your Ahrex NS122 sz4 before placing it in the vise. Add 15-20 wraps of .015 weighted wire and slide into the  back of the bead ensuring the bead doesn’t move at a later time.

Step 11. After wrapping over the wire with thread, tie in a 4 inch piece of Senyo’s Standard Intruder Wire. I like to keep this on top of the hook on the near side. This allows me to still keep the returning wire on top of the hook shank.

Step 12. I’ve used 2 sz6 craft beads as another trigger at the wire connection. This is completely optional. One you’ve slipped on the beads, run the trailer wire up through the bottom of the trailer hook eye. Return the wire through both beads and back on top of the hook shank. Once you have the wire in position secure with thread wraps toward the hook eye. Roughly ¼ inch before the bead bring the wire back again toward the hook point. This ensures that no matter what bites this fly it’s not pulling out that wire! The amount of space between your rear and front hook will be determined by the wire movement. You want just enough room that the wire sticks up slightly behind the craft beads.

Step 13. Prepare your next mallard feather. The fibers should be long enough to reach halfway back on the rear feathers. I don’t want to completely obstruct the red beads, so I’ve stripped the fibers from the shank side of the feather. We’ll still be tying the feather in concave side to the hook shank.

Step 14. Take 3-4 wraps of the mallard. The junction transitions more smoothly while still allowing a glimpse of the red bead trigger.

Step 15. Again, dub a body that goes back and then forward again for two layers of dubbing. Brush out coax back the fibers. Don’t forget to moisten your fingertips.

Step 16.  For our final mallard feather we’ll be tying it in full as we did on the rear hook. You want the fibers to reach just about to where the connection mallard fibers reach.

Step 17. Take 3-4 wraps of the mallard. Tie off and trim away the excess.

Step 18. Again tie in a small clump of olive marabou on the top half of the shank. The fibers here should be long enough to reach the ends of the mallard feather you just wrapped.

Step 19. Add a small amount of white marabou to the bottom half of the shank, matching the fiber length of the olive marabou.

Step 20. On the very bottom of the fly add just a few fibers of the Fl. Bubble Gum Pink marabou. These fibers should be about 1/3 shorter than the white marabou. We’re giving the illusion of gills while also adding another visual trigger.

Step 21. Once you’ve cleaned up the tie offs, make a neat thread head, whip finish twice and cut the thread. Apply some pink marker to the thread wraps before sealing with Loon Hard Head or cement of your choice.

Complete!