Perdigon Nymph - Fly Tying Instructions by Charlie Craven

Fly Tying Recipe:
(Click the links below to purchase the materials from our store)
Hook: #18 Firehole 317
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Bead: Copper 3⁄32" tungsten
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Weight: .010" lead wire
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Thread: Fire orange 14/0 Veevus
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Tail: Ginger speckled flor de Escobar coq de León fibers
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Underbody: Fine copper Holographic Tinsel
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Overbody: Hand-stripped Polish peacock quill, dyed brown
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Wingcase: Black marker, coated with resin
Perdigons were first developed by the Spanish competitive fly-fishing team but were really popularized by the French. These simple nymphs epitomize what I look for in good fly design. They’re simple, they sink like rocks due to their inherent weight and slim design, and when you put in a bit of effort, they can even be pretty.
There. I said it. I like my flies to be pretty. I also like them to be a bit more complicated just so I feel like I earned my catch, but the Perdigon is of no help in that regard. They’re simple, bordering on artless, and quick to tie even when dressed up, but they catch fish. They have an important niche in places where trout are looking for small flies in fast water, and you don’t want to lose contact with your flies by adding a lot of split-shot to the tippet.
Perusing the Internet, I found Perdigons crafted with bodies made of everything from plain thread, to Krystal Flash to “special” Perdigon tinsels and even dyed and stripped peacock quills. These quills really caught my eye and remind me of fine goose biots with their dark-edged segmentation.
I opted to show the full-dress Perdigon here and wrap the quill with some spacing over an underbody of Holographic Tinsel to create an inverse rib just to show off a bit. The resulting body is beautiful and requires just a bit of forethought and skill, and just might make you a better tier when you concentrate on these aspects.
One of the trickier parts of tying this pattern is maintaining an ultra-smooth thread underbody. The taper and texture must be extremely even to allow for a smooth tinsel body, and it takes a bit of time and attention to detail to get it right.
The UV resin coatings should be the thinnest resins available to keep the flies slim. I like Solarez Ultra-Thin Bone Dry for this application, but many good tiers choose Loon’s Flow formula.
Perhaps the most innovative part of these flies are the wingcases. Rather than use a slip of feather, some genius figured out that he could just paint a wingcase onto the finished fly. It works!
The original patterns show wingcases of black fingernail polish dabbed onto the top, but I opted for a smudge of black marker topped with an extra drop of UV resin to achieve the same effect. I categorize this into the “crafty” portion of our sport, and love when I see new techniques like this.

[@Single_Handed_7.62]

Mr. Craven, I very much enjoy your videos. An amputation while deployed in the military forced me to be a southpaw. So I enjoy seeing a left handed master at the vice. Thank you very much for the videos. I started tying before getting into fly fishing. I still don’t know how to fly fish very well, but I find tying my own flies immensely therapeutic both physically and mentally.

[@mikemccleish2185]

I hope you found a Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing program near you.

[@brianfeeney9493]

I missed this Pattern when posted ……. NOT Surprisingly Outstanding !!! Thanks KING 👑 CRAVEN for continued Creativity ….. ✨🎣💫

[@hankvana2149]

Thanks Charlie! Enjoyed that as always!

[@LetortAngler]

Appreciate the upload. As always, top tier Tying.

[@rd2957]

Thanks for that. I really appreciated the time to provide an explanation underneath. Cheers

[@JeffDriskill]

I really appreciate your videos. It's a joy to watch you tie. Thank you

[@jamesvatter5729]

You made it look simple, Charlie.

[@leemowers9395]

Nicely ties, thanks

[@ride.your.bike.]

Solid tie

[@metubewot]

Very nice indeed.

[@TheXeniaman]

The more I fish them, the more I like them. A nice rainbow took a #14 tonight right before dark.

[@josephh957]

Jedi master of fly tying you are 😁

[@Lukasz_Fishing_Ireland]

very nice ☺️🍀

[@tradefalcone1235]

amazing

[@fishin360]

Very nice…

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

This fly would be killer on the Provo river in Utah!

[@marclawson7552]

Please never say anything about the Provo river. There are already way too many people there.

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

@@marclawson7552 True story, doubt anything i'd say would change that.

[@GoneFishingNow]

That looks sick!

[@cpayne1757]

Proof that perdigons can be tied without jig hooks. Do you notice any performance issues while fishing this fly...?

[@jowhi9296]

Hey sir. beautiful fly. This catches my eye with the detail. I do have a question... seems to be. big debate about jig hooks vs normal nymph hook, do you feel the normal nymph also improves landing rates? just curious

[@flydryriver4966]

I used food safe mineral oil on my peacock quills, turkey biots and goose biots , no scent to put fish off and keeps them super supple for tying and never get breakages.

[@flydryriver4966]

Oh and nice tie Charlie not that you ever reply, but we have to stroke that ego ;-)

[@CharliesFlyBox]

I never reply?

[@andyk914]

Does the oil on the Polish quills interfere with the resin adhesion?

[@ColinD0131]

Lol o man guys he eadited out the mistakes. I thought i saw there was a glitch lol matrix is real people😂

[@markusviol200]

I don't get the vegetable trick. What do you put on the quills to keep them softer straight out of the package?

[@Single_Handed_7.62]

@Markus Viol, He said he rubs in a drop or two of vegetable oil (veggie based cooking oil) onto the quills and then puts them back in the package. The oil softens the quills. I hope that clarified it for you, sir. Happy holidays!

[@timothytapio4252]

That's an 18? I don't have near that room on mine...

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Looks like it will hit rock bottom in 1 second.