The Dusty Miller Tube Fly

Step by Step tying of the Dusty Miller salmon needle tube fly

by John Gray

Below is a step-by-step tying sequence of a variant of the classic Dusty Miller salmon fly. It has been much simplified in line with the modern style of long tailed shrimp style flies such as Ally Gowans's famous Cascade salmon fly.

The Dusty Miller Salmon Tube Fly

Dressing

tube: stainless steel needle tube 15mm long, diameter 1.8mm

tail: yellow and red bucktail with natural squirrel under plus a few strands of flashy material

body: short fluorescent orange floss

wing: brown bucktail with a few strands of flashy material

hackle: orange under brown

For more information, see Gray's Needle Tubes

Step 1 - Place needle tube in tube fly vice and wind a bed of black tying thread about one third of the way along.

Step 2 - Tie in a sparse bunch of natural squirrel tail.

Step 3 - Rotate the vice through 180 degrees and tie in a sparse bunch of yellow bucktail.

Step 4 - Tie in a sparse bunch of red bucktail.

Step 5 - Add a few strands of pearl Krystal Flash (or other flashy material) to taste and tie in a short body of fluorescent orange floss.

Step 6 - Tie in a sparse wing of brown bucktail plus a few strands of orange Krystal Flash.

Step 7 - Tie in an orange hackle.

Step 8 - Wind two or three turns of orange hackle.

Step 9 - Wind two or three turns of brown hackle in front of the orange, form a neat head and apply two coats of Cellire No. 1 varnish.

The Dusty Miller Needle Tube Fly

Another Dusty Miller Tube Fly Variant

Substituting green for red in the wing/tail creates a fly with quite a different appearance, as in the example below.

The Green Miller

and yet another needle tube fly dressed in a similar style ..

The Spring Green

Dressing

tube: 15mm - I have used a stainless steel needle tube diameter 1.8mm
tail: mixed white/light green fox with two strands olive Krystal Flash
body: front - wound olive Krystal Flash, short
wing: brown bucktail with two strands olive Krystal Flash
hackles: brown over fluorescent yellow

For more information on Salmon, Trout and Sea Trout Flies, see Trout and Salmon Flies

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