Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Dusty Miller


Dusty Miller - Hairwing

Hook - Single salmon, size 2-10

Thread - Black

Tag - Oval silver tinsel

Tip - Yellow floss

Tail - A golden pheasant crest, over which red hackle fibers half as long

Butt - Black ostrich herl

Ribbing - Fine oval silver tinsel

Body - Rear two-thirds, embossed silver tinsel; front third orange floss

Throat - Natural guinea hen fibers, beard style

Wing - A sparse mixed bunch of orange, red, and yellow polar bear or calf tail, over which a small bunch of natural brown bucktail or red fox squirrel tail fibers

Topping - A golden pheasant crest feather

Cheeks - Jungle cock eyes (second eye showing)

Author's Note

This pattern is among those derived from the classics which may show variations in the hair wing version due simply to the tyer’s translation from the original. It uses more than the usual number of materials found in a hair wing pattern and thus serves well as a model for similar techniques used in other salmon flies.

The Book of Fly Patterns: Over 1,000 Patterns for the Construction of Artificial Flies - Eric Leiser