Brook trout fry

There is a lake near me that is absolutely loaded with brook trout fry.  There are also some pretty big browns that feed on those fry.  I basically just changed the colors of this perch fry pattern to match the colors of the brook trout fry as closely as possible.  This style of bait fish pattern is absolutely killer.  It has a very realistic transparent look when it's wet.

Materials needed:
Hook:  Standard 3 or 2XL streamer hook, sizes #10-14
Thread:  UNI-thread 8/0 gray
Tail:  Gray marabou
Rib:  Small black UTC wire
Body:  Gray ice dub in a dubbing loop

Place your hook in your vise.

Start your thread.

Tie in your tail.  The length should equal about the length of the hook shank.  Leave the butt ends long, they should extend almost to the hook eye.

Tie in your black wire rib.

To make the body you can use a standard dubbing loop, or a split thread dubbing loop.  I will show you how I do a split thread dubbing loop.  It's pretty difficult to split 8/0 thread, but I've found a pretty cool method that makes it much easier.  First untwist your thread so it is laying somewhat flat, then rotate your vise slightly and lay your thread over the hook point as shown.  Then just split the thread with your bodkin.  It's much easier than trying to "catch" your thread as it's moving around.

After you split your thread, put something in the loop to keep the 2 parts separated.

This little scrap piece of foam works perfectly.

"Stack" some Gray UV ice dub by pulling the dubbing apart and placing back on top of the pile. Try to align the long fibers together.

Put some of your stacked dubbing into your loop. A little at a time works best.

I don't use dubbing wax here, but if it helps you by all means use wax.

Keep filling your loop with dubbing as evenly as possible until you have enough to build your entire body.  As you work your way down, remove the piece of foam that is holding your loop open.

If you are having trouble with keeping your dubbing in your loop, you can spin your bobbin just enough to hold the dubbing in place, while still keeping a loop open on the bottom to add more dubbing to.

Once you are happy with the amount of dubbing you have, twist your bobbin to lock the dubbing in place.

Use a brush or piece of velcro to tease out the dubbing fibers.

Start wrapping your body forward.  After each wrap pull the fibers back with your thumb and forefinger.










Build a slight taper towards the head.












Using a brush or piece of velcro tease out the dubbing fibers again.  I stand them straight up and down so when I wrap my rib I don't trap too many.









An old tooth brush makes an excellent dubbing brush tool.

Here are the dubbing fibers standing straight up and down.

Here's the view from the top.












Now, wrap your rib forward.  Try to trap as few dubbing fibers as possible.  Tie the rib off with your thread.

Whip finish, and apply head cement.








Using your dubbing brush tool, tease out the fibers one last time.  It also helps to use your bodkin to pick out the fibers trapped by the rib. Do not pull out too much though, and don't break the wire rib!

Here's the fly with all of the dubbing fibers teased out.

Get this thing wet, and you will have one of the best bait fish imitations I've ever seen.

Enjoy!