The fly is tied using the single “hour-glass” feather from the ringed neck pheasant.  The feather from the  golden pheasant can also be used, but the golden has no “hour-glass feather.

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The fluff on one side of this feather is used for the tail.  Just cut off the fluff and tie it at the back of the hook shank.  The other side of the fluff, found at the bottom of the feather, is used to “dub” the body by simply cutting it from the feather and with thumb and forefinger spinning it round the thread and paltering it to the eyes.  The remainder of the feather, the “hour-glass” is then tied in by the butt and palmered around the shank, just behind the eyes.  More of the fluff is then used to palmer in front of the paltered hour glass, then thru the eyes culminating at the hook eye.  A whip finish concludes the tie. (Here is the comparable feather from the golden pheasant)

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Here is the completed briminator using the hour glass feather followed by one using the golden pheasant feather.

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You can also tie this fly on a mini jig.  Using the golden pheasant, I generally wrap the body in gold

metallic needle point yarn and eliminate  using the “fluff” to dub the body.  Here is a 1/80 jig hook using the golden pheasant.  Yellow thread compliments the golden feathers.

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Materials needed:  a piece of 15# mono; a #4 jig hook; a wider than usual piece of rabbit fur strip; a small spinner blade; a metal bead; some contact cement.

Materials

Tying directions;

1.   on the skin side of the rabbit strip, coat with contact cement and let dry.

2.  Insert metal bead onto #4 jig hook; place hook in vice.

3. Place spinner onto mono, double mono; tie knot about 1/2 inch from the spinner; after cutting  the mono about an inch longer than the rabbit strip.  Wrap the mono onto the hookshank using tying thread of your choice.

4.  Take the rabbit strip and place carefully on the hookshank and center the mono on the rabbit strip.

5.  Gently fold the rabbit strip over the hookshank and over the mono, squeezing the  rabbit strip together, skin to skin

6.  If rabbit fur will interfer with the spinner, take scissors and shorten rabbit fur so that it will not interfer with spinner movement.

A loop knot connecting the jighook to the leader will give fly more action

1. sage 2 piece 5 weight; model GFL 586 DS; original tube and sock; excellent condition……$110

2. St Croix Imperial 8’6″ 5/6 weight 4 piece in original cordura sectioned tube; excellent condition……..$75

3. wright/McGill Trailmaster Eagle Claw; 7.5 foot 4 piece 7 weight; original aluminum tube and sock; excellent condition……$50

4. Hobbs Creek 7′ 2 piece 4 weight pvc tube plus original sock…..$40 SOLD

5.Redington Redfly 8′ 5/6 weight 4 piece original cordura case and sock good fishable condition…..$55

6. Albright A-5 5 piece 7’6″ 4 weight new; never used; original cordura case and sock……$90

7. St Croix Premier 8′ 4 piece; original plastic case and sock; never used; brand new…..$80

8. Orvis silver label full flex 4.0; 4 weight 7’6″ 2 piece 2 5/8 oz.; original cordura caseand sock…..excellent….$100 SOLD

9. Orvis superfine full flex 4.5; 7’6″ 3 weight; 2 piece 1- 1/2 oz; original cordura case and sock excellent condition…..$200

10. Orvis superfine Touch 601  3 piece; 6 foot  1 weight; full flex; fished only once or twice; original aluminum tube and sock…$240 SOLD

11. 7’6″ 4 PIECE 2 WEIGHT,built on an rdp blank, nickel silver reelseat, flor grade cork hndle with nickel silver winding check, just built $200

12. fiberglass; lamiglass 7 foot 4 weight 2 piece; nickel silver reelseat; custom handle…$200

13. fiberglass Cortland diamondglass 8 foot 2 piece 4 weight; custom built from one of the old blanks…$240

14. fiberglass; Fred paddock butterscotch blank 7’6″ 2 piece 3 weight….$200

15. fiberglass; fred paddock butterscotch blank, 7 foot 3 piece 3 weight; nickel silver reelseat with flor grade cork grip; pacbay old English copper line guides….$240

16.fiberglass; built from an  old hardy fibatube 8′ 2 piece 5 weight blank; ….$200

17.fiberglass; built from an old 7’6″ 2 piece hardy fibatube 4/5 blank……$170

18. fiberglass RARE old heddon Golden Mark 50 Pro weight #8542; #5 line; controlled flex action; fiberglass ferruled; …..$95

I will list more rods as time permits.

I’ve made some personal changes to the fly; to make it a bit lighter, improve the hookset, and to make it a bit more attractive to the bass.

I use plastic eyes made from the plastic beads from women’s necklaces, the kind they hand out at mardi Gras.  Also, I’m using a mustad  37141 kahl hook, which has a short shank, long hook bend for a better hook set.  I am using 50# mono as a single weedguard. Rather than starting the spun velvet chenille at the front of the hook, I start it at the back creating less weight. I also tie in a short piece of red chenile for the butt of the fly, usually in red or orange, which I think is a fish attractant color in the spring. Finally, I use a permanent marker and put a green, blue, or black stripe down the top of the chenille, which better depicts a shad. Try the Shannon streamer.  Instructions on how to tie it can be found on the fly fish ohio website.Rich McElligott invented this fly but Joe Cornwall of fly fish ohio made it famous.

I am using a cheap size 8 aberdeen hook.  I tie a little thread hump about midway of the hookshank after inserting a plastic bead on the hook.  The thread hump will be under the bead after glue is applied.

after the glue dries on the “thread-hump” push the bead firmly in place, then slide the hollow tube over the bead.  Applying a little glue on the bead will help hold the tube, but is not necessary.  Be sure to push the tube all the way down, leaving room at the hook eye for some  soft hackle.

Take a webby feather(here I’m using a pheasant feather), tie it in front of the tube and palmer it in place, pulling the fibers back as you palmer it on the hook; tie off, make a small head, add a dab of glue to the thread head, and you’re set. The rationale behind adding the hackle on the front of the tube is: 1.  it attracts fish, and 2.  it helps to keep the tub from being torn off the hook by vaious water obstructions; limbs, moss, water weeds, etc.

The “tube fly can be cast and “jigged” back allowing it to slowly sink to the desired depth or it can be fished under a strike indicator if fish are shallow.  It can also be fished with a sink tip line or a full sinking line if fish are deeper than 6-7 feet.  Try them this spring.  A million crappie fishermen can’t be wrong!

I’ve used the little 1/80 and 1/100 oz jigheads to sucessfully catch trout, brim, bass, and crappie but I wanted an even smaller jig. So, I took some little size 12 mustad jighooks, some translucent glass beads, lead or copper wire and created some even smaller than the 1/140 oz jigheads you can purchase. Putting some orange or red thread under the translucent bead covered with super glue gives the appearance of a red eye, or orange.  Putting some copper wire or .15 lead wire around the shank adds some weight to the little jig. The body is merely the remaining marabou from the tail, twisted and palmered on the hook shank.  A simple fly but deadly .  Try em; you’ll like em.