Acouple months ago I was introduced to Lance Egan’s Rainbow Warrior. Check out the write-up here: Rainbow Warrior Tutorial . What a cool fly. After tying a few of these I decided to see what else Lance Egan was tying. I discovered a few different flies. One of these flies is called Egan’s Red Dart. The jig style hook that Egan’s Red Dart utilizes makes it a unique fly.
While I was at Cabela’s in Lehi, UT, I asked Lance Egan about the red dart he explained why he uses a jig style hook for this fly. He told me that the purpose of the jig hook is to help the fly avoid catching rocks during a drift. This is because the hook drifts point up while it is being fished. He told me that he now only uses jig style hooks for his nymph patterns.
The Red Dart, like Lance Egan’s other flies, is a relatively simple fly that is enjoyable to tie. The most complicated step to this fly is wrapping the ribbing around the abdomen. Lance Egan has a tendency to include hot spots on his flies. This fly is no different. The Red Dart utilizes UV Ice Dub and thread for its hot spot. There are a couple versions of this fly, the Red Dart and the Blue Dart. The difference between the two is the color of the dubbing used in the tail and abdomen.
Egan’s Red Dart
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HOOK:
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Umpqua C400BL - size 10-16
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BEAD:
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Slotted Tungsten - Gold – sized for hook
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THREAD:
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UTC 70 - Red
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TAIL:
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Saddle Hackle Fibers - Red
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RIBBING:
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Pearl Flashabou - small
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ABDOMEN:
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Ice Dub - Peacock
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COLLAR:
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Brown Hackle – gauged to hook size
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THORAX:
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UV Ice Dub – Fl. Hot Pink
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Egan’s Blue Dart
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HOOK:
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Umpqua C400BL - size 10-16
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BEAD:
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Slotted Tungsten - Gold – sized for hook
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THREAD:
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UTC 70 - Red
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TAIL:
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Saddle Hackle Fibers - Blue
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RIBBING:
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Pearl Flashabou - small
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ABDOMEN:
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Wapsi Superfine – Damsel Blue
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COLLAR:
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Brown Hackle – gauged to hook size
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THORAX:
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UV Ice Dub – Fl. Hot Pink
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VIDEO:
Step-By-Step:
1. Place slotted bead on hook and secure hook in the vise.
2. Slide and twist bead until it is all the way to the hook eye.
3. Start your thread near the bead of the hook and wrap it around the hook until you get to the bend of the hook.
4. Strip a generous clump of fiber from a colored saddle feather and tie it on at the bend of the hook. When finished you thread should be near the head of the fly.
5. Tie in a piece of pearl flashabou. Wrapping the thread from the head of the fly to the bend of the fly.
6. Prepare to create the abdomen of the fly by twisting peacock ice dubbing on the thread at the bend of the hook.
7. Wrap the dubbing up the fly tapering it as you get closer to the head of the fly. The taper should be thicker at the head of the fly than it is at the tail of the fly. The thread should be hanging of the hook at almost right behind the bead.
8. Wrap the flashabou evenly up the fly and tie it off with thread.
9. Cut the tag end of the flashabou off the fly.
10. Tie in a properly gauged hackle a couple eye lengths behind the bead of the fly.
11. Wrap the hackle around the hook shank two times, tie off the hackle and cut the tag end off the hook.
12. Apply the UV Ice Dub to the thread and wrap it one eye length of the collar and right to the bead.
13. Wrapping the thread around the hook shank right behind the bead, build a hot spot with the thread.
14. Whip finish the fly and apply head cement to the head of the fly.
Egan’s Red Dart as it sits while fished.
Egan’s Blue Dart.