Tying the Sparrow Nymph

Instructions for Tying the Sparrow Nymph

A nymph submitted to the Hangover Classic, January, 1996
Lindsey Grandison; Highland Park, NJ; grandiso@umdnj.edu

The sparrow nymph is a pattern created by Jack Gartside. Eric Leiser in his book "Book of Fly Patterns" states that each component in the sparrow displays action in the water and consequently the nymph conveys an excellent impression of a living organism. It has two other features that make it an attractive pattern. The fly is versatile and can be fished as a nymph or a streamer or even a wet fly. Additionally it is a fairly easy fly to tie. Jack Gartside gives tying instructions in his book " Fly Patterns for the Adventurous Tyer". He also provides a silhouette of the fly. Jack has indicated that within 1996 he will publish a small pamphlet devoted to the sparrow with detailed tying instructions and information on fishing it. Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen's "Flies for Trout" gives the best illustration of the sparrow, a photograph of one tied by Jack Gartside along with the materials for tying. Eric Leiser in "Book of Fly Patterns" provides more detailed instructions but the illustration is not as good as that of Stewart and Allen.

Materials

Hook    2 to 3 X long hook such as the Mustad 9671;
        sizes 4 to 14, different sources, different ranges
Tail    1 or 2 pheasant rump marabou feathers
Body    A mixture of 2/3 gray squirrel and 1/3 rabbit underfur
Hackle  Pheasant rump feather
Collar  Pheasant aftershaft feather

Notes on material

This is a good pattern to tie if you have a few pheasant skins and want to make use of some of the lesser utilized feathers on the skin. The pheasant rump marabou feathers are those feather located on the side of the back end. They closely resemble marabou and consequently have a lot of action. The body dubbing mixes squirrel which has a lot of spikey guard hairs and rabbit. The rabbit fur acts as a binder to hold the squirrel hair together so that you can dub the hair onto the thread. Gartside blends in some antron along with the squirrel and rabbit. The most typical colors of the dubbing include gray, and olive but any appropriate color can be used. The pheasant rump feathers are those located on the top of the rump. They appear similar to the rump marabou feathers except that the tip barbules are stiff. The color of these varies from brownish gray to iridescent shades of green. The aftershaft feathers are those found underneath some of the rump feathers. Their distinguishing chacteristics are the narrow width of the feather and its marabou like barbules. A "good" aftershaft feather will be long and have a thin stem.

Tying Instructions

1. Tie the thread on behind the eye and wrap to the bend and then back to the eye.
2. Position a rump feather on top of the shank with the butt at the eye end and the tips of the feathers projects beyond the bend. The tips should extend about a gap length beyond the bend. Tie down the feather securely and trim off the butt. I leave a third of the shank between the eye and the end of the butt. To control the marabou while tying I dampen the feather with an appropriate liquid.
3. Return the thread to the bend and dub the thread. Wrap the dubbed thread forward to the end of the trimmed marabou butts.
4. Select a rump feather such that the lenght of the barbules is at least equal to the distance from the end of the tail to the front of the body. You will use only the very tip of the rump feather, that part which has the stif barbules. Tie the butt in at the front of the body. The rump feather butt projects toward the eye and the tip toward the tail with the bottom (concave, or skin side) of the feather against the shank. Wrap the feather two or three turns around the shank. Wrap the thread through the barbules to secure the feather in place and to provide added reenforcement.
The tips of the back feather should run almost parallel to the shank, approximately a 15 to 30 degree angle. You may have to pull the barbules back and wrap thread over the stem in order to achieve this effect.
5. Just in front of the rump feather tie in the aftershaft feather by its butt. Leiser instructs you to tie this in as a collar on a wet fly i.e. fold the barbules to one side and wrap. I found that my aftershaft feather would not cooperate. I wrapped and with each turn pulled the wrapped barbules back as I wrapped the next turn. I also found that the aftershaft feather is very fragile and had little luck in wrapping it with a hackle pliers. I was much more successful if I wrapped by hand. Tie off the tip.
6. Make a head and secure the thread with whip finish and a drop of head cement. Again moistening the aftershaft feather will help control it while you make a head. Be careful with the head cement. The aftershaft feather absorbs head cement easily. If the aftershaft feather takes up cement it becomes stiff and discolored when the cement dries.

Actually this is an easy tie once you have identified the correct materials and tied a few. As A.K. Best said " After you tie a hundred dozen, you really get to know a fly". Unfortunately or fortunately depending on one's state of mind and alcohol tolerance, I have not yet attained intimacy with the Sparrow.

Lindsey Grandison (grandiso@umdnj.edu)