CDC  Comparadun

HOOK- TMC 100 #12-24

THREAD- Gordon Griffith’s 14/0

TAIL- Microfibets, Z-lon or sparkle yarn

BODY- Goose or Turkey Biot, Quill, Thread

WING- 3 or 4 Goose or Duck CDC feathers

THORAX- CDC feather or dubbing

CDC Comparadun

The CDC Comparadun is a Mayfly pattern that has turned into my “hand down” favorite low riding, emerger/dun pattern. It is relatively easy to tie, floats like a cork, has a great profile on the water and is durable. I tie it in shades of Olive, Mahogany/Brown, Tan/Yellow and Dark Dun/Gray. These colors match the basic colors of mayflies in our region as well as all over the world. This is a dead drift pattern and can be used on tough fish in slower to slightly broken water situations.

Hook- I Mainly use TMC hooks because I like them and know the numbering system well. A standard dry fly hook of any type will work fine. Blue Wing Olives I tie in #18-20. PMD’s, PAD’s PED’s, Pale(morning, afternoon and evening)Duns #14-18. Mahogany Duns #18-20.

Thread- I do love my Gordon Griffith’s 14/0 and I use that most of the time. It is a twisted, slightly waxed thread of small diameter and good strength. I also like Ultra thread 70 denier for a flat waxed thread. The ultra is a bit of a challenge if you have rough hands but it lies flat when you need it to. The last thread I use is the GSP 50 denier from Wapsi. It is the strongest thread out there and I use the larger sizes for Bass Pike and Musky.

Tail-  My variations are either tails or trailing shucks with yarn, in the colors to match the naturals. Mostly I use clear mayfly tails.

Body- My mayfly bodies have continued to get sparser and sparser over the years thats why I like biots, quills and thread. Sometimes I will wrap a thread body and use a quill for ribbing. Many times these materials will show slight natural variation of light and dark, or of mottling colors. The more bugs I examine the more I see these characteristics and try to incorporate them into my flies.

Wing- CDC works! For bodies, for wings, for dubbing, The more I use it, the more uses I find for it. I use only dry floatants like Doc,s Dry Dust and Frogs Fanny on all my dry flies, but especially the CDC flies. I also use Loon’s Payette Paste to keep my leader floating high. Monofilament line cuts the surface tension of water and sinks. That is why it is used on spinning and bait casting rods to pull crank baits. In most Dry fly applications you want your leader to float yet I see few people doing anything to keep their Mono leader floating. The quality and type of CDC feather you use on your wing will make a difference in how well it floats and how full it looks. Think fluffy!

Thorax- This is where I use dubbing or wrap a CDC feather to build bulk and material movement. the thorax is where the insects legs are located. Legs move! So should your patterns legs.

Experimentation is fun, creative and necessary. I cannot tell you how many times I have made slight variations in patterns to find something that works BETTER! This is our quest isn’t it? To find a pattern that works better than the last on we had tied on is what we do. Our brains drive us to solve the problem. Many times, after I have taken a few fish from a particular spot, they will not eat my bug anymore, but continue to feed like crazy. Changing from a high riding fly to a low riding dun sometimes enables me to catch a few more fish. Changing from a light tan to a dark tan sometimes lets me catch a few more fish. Changing from large bug to a smaller bug gets me a few more bites. You get my drift. Make some adjustments!