Notes: The parachute dun differs from a standard dun due to the hackle being wound in a horizontal
mannner. The pattern is said to originate in the 1930's by A.C. Mills of New York. The hackle is usually wound some kind of wing or post material such as calf hair, turkey flats, or other feather. Tying
a parachute dun has many advantages over the standard dun. The parachute will often increase the ability of the fly to land
upright on the water with a wing that is very visible. The fly will ride lower in the water film which will more closely resemble
that of the naturals. Parachutes are often tied with a hackle size that is one size greater than that tied for standard duns.
This gives the fly a "parachute" effect and also increases it's stability.
Al Troth of Dillon, Montana came up with the Gulper Special in 1971 while fishing the callibaetis hatch on Hebgen Lake in southwest
Montana. The term "Gulper" comes from the large rainbows and browns which would cruise the surface of the lake gulping
down large quantities of tricos, callibaetis, and midges. The sound of the gulp would resonate across the lake. This pattern differs
from earlier parachutes in that Al chose to use white or gray Poly Yarn for the wing post. This material has a number of advantages
over calf tail or feather wings. It repells water so that the fly will float longer. It can be used successfully
for smaller mayflies, such as tricos and callibaetis, since the poly yarn provides less bulk to the fly. Since the material comes
in different colors, Al also experimented with color choice so that light colors would be used against dark backdrops or dark
colors would be used to improve the silhouette on flat water conditions. Al preferred to tie his Gulpers with a hackle that
was one size smaller than the hook and tied his original pattern with dark brown Beaver dubbing. Today, most Gulper patterns use a tan dubbing color for the Callibaetis and an olive color for the Tricos.
Another modification of the parachute dun is the loopwing pattern that was introduced by Andre Puyans. The loopwing gives
the silhouette of the wing but is very lightweight since the wings are hollow. Puyans first used Mallard Flank to form the loops
but went to an Antron Yarn due to the greater durability. Other materials used for loopwings are wing quills, stripped hackle stems,
Float Vis, and monofilament line. Gary Borger created a veined variation of Puyan's Loop Wing by adjusting the individual
barbs of the Mallard Flank producing different sizes of loops within the larger outer loop.
Puyan's Loopwing PMD
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Borger's Loopwing PMD
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Use floatant and fish the back-eddies in slow to moderate flowing water. Prefered variations are Pale Morning Duns, March Browns,
and Blue Wing Olives. |
