The "Coffin Fly" has become the moniker for the spinner of the Eastern Green Drake (Ephemera guttulata) . The term was coined by Ted Townsend, co-creater of this particular dressing, as he tied the first prototype after attending a funeral. Although I am unsure of the exact details, Ted and Walt Dette created the pattern together to represent the then-prolific green drake spinner fall.

Green Drakes are large critters. In order to imitate them on a standard dry-fly hook, the hook gap would be very obtrusive and the hook hard to float. For those reasons, the bugs are better imitated on 3XL or 4XL dry fly hooks.

I have made a few minor adjustments to the original Dette pattern by substituting moose body hair for peccary when tying the tails, and by using clear monofilament to counter-rib the hackle as opposed to white thread. It appears that the originals also used a darker tying thread, although somehow I feel my use of white thread will be met with forgiveness.

MATERIALS

Hook: Mustad 9671 #10 or #12

Thread: White

Body: White Poly Yarn

Tail: Moose body hair (Peccary on original)

Rib: White saddle clipped (white thread on original)

Counterrib: Clear Monofilament Thread

Wings: Teal Flank

Hackle: Silver Badger

Place the barbless 3XL dry fly hook in your vise.

Start your jam knot behind the eye, using a long tag, and bind the tag to the top of the shank back to a spot above the hook point. DO NOT clip the tag end.

Note: I am detailing this process here for photo clarity. Follow along at this point, or go ahead and mount the wings then come back to this point. Choice is yours.

Undo any twist in the tag end of the thread and form a large, open loop. Secure the loop with 2-turns of thread and then advance the thread forward without laying any more over the tag end. End the thread at the 1/3 to 1/4 point of the shank.

Select two similarly marked Teal Flank feathers. Gadwall or Mallard will work in a pinch. Teal is nice because the barbs tend to be stockier, like a Wood Duck, creating a better wing silhouette.

Place one atop the other, align the tips, and strip the fuzz and short barbs away leaving only the even length tips.

Measure the bundle to be equal in length to the hook. I measure my wings to equal the overall hook length, you can use only the hook shank if you prefer. Just be sure that the tails are measured accordingly.

Placed the measured point above the thread and secure to the top of the hook with several tight wraps to the rear.

Trim the butt ends at an angle.

Cover and taper the butt ends with thread and return the thread to where it started.

With a good deal of force, pull the wings up and back then form a secure thread dam in front. Be certain the dam tapers toward the eye-if you pile the thread in one spot it will collapse into a loose mess.

The wing bundle is now upright.

Split the wing bundle into two equal parts.

Begin to make X-Wraps by bringing the thread from the rear, under the shank and in between the wings from front to back a shown.

Make the second half of the x-wrap by wrapping under the shank and coming up from behind, then passing between the wings from back to font.

Come under the shank from in front and pass front to back. Repeat this process a few times to secure the division.

Next, it will be necessary with fiber wings of this size and density to post each wing in order to gather the fibers a bit.

Support the far wing by pulling it up with your non-bobbin hand. Then make wraps of thread around the wing base close to the hook shank. Be sure to relax the thread tension briefly as you let go of the wing to pass the bobbin around it or the thread will pull off.

4 or 5 wraps will be fine.

Make a wrap around the hook shank to lock in the work you just completed.

Now repeat the process with the nearside wing. I find it easiest to wrap around this post counterclockwise.

Make a make a wrap around the shank to lock in the post.

Advance the thread back to the beginning of the loop without making any more wraps over the tag (the tag should still only have two wraps of thread over it.

Note: If you have waited until now to form the loop (recommended) then go ahead and untwist the tag and form the open loop with two wraps of thread.

From a patch of moose body hair, select three long, dark guards. Pull them from the hide and even the tips.

Measure them to be a tad bit longer than the hook in length. I usually add about a gap length when tying outrigger tails.

Lay the tails along the nearside of the hook, with the measured point at the front edge of the loop, and torque them up on top of the shank with thread pressure.

Three thread wraps will secure them.

Place the middle hair in the loop you formed with the tag thread.

Pull the tag forward, using a bodkin to keep the loop from twisting. As the loop closes it will cause the tails to split, keeping the middle fiber in place.

Bind the tag and the butt ends of the tail fibers down forward to the wing.

Grasp the wings and the excess and pull up to expose the gap between them.

Sneak your scissors tips into the gap and clip the excess hair and thread, leaving the wings alone.

Select some white poly yarn and clip a longish section. Split the section into fourths. Select one thin section and clip the very tips square.

Catch it in just behind the wings and bind it to the nearside of the hook back to the tails.

Move the thread back to the wings and catch in some clear monofilament tying thread and bind it back to the rear on the far side of the hook.

Select a white saddle hackle and expose the bottom section of the stem.

Secure the stem to the near side of the hook shank with the underside of the feather facing out. Secure it back to the rear leaving enough room for one wrap of poly yarn between the tails and the hackle.

Advance the thread forward.

With the first wrap going behind the saddle hackle, wrap a neat slim body using the poly yarn.

Secure the yarn behind the wing by making the last pass over the hook, in front of the thread, under the hook shank then up and slightly back to the rear--one wrap of thread will secure the yarn.

Clip the excess.

Next, wrap the saddle hackle forward in slightly open and even turns--as if you were ribbing the body. Be certain the hackle barbs or curved forward, not rearward.

Secure the hackle behind the wings as explained for the poly yarn. Clip the excess.

Shift the thread just forward of the wings.

Using your scissors, clip the hackle fibers short and in a slightly conical shape tapering up from the tail.

Like so.

Next, begin to counterrib the hackle with the mono thread by wrapping the mono in the opposite direction. I make the first wrap tight underneath the tails to cock them up slightly.

Secure in front of the wings as with the poly and hackle. Clip the excess.

Even-out the thorax area with your tying thread, making sure to eliminate any bumps or gaps. Do any final trimming of the hackle rib here as they should be quite short.

Select a quality Silver Badger Cape. It is unlikely that you'll find a saddle with feathers large enough for this size fly.

Select three hackle whose barbs are equal in length to the hook shank (not overall hook as you want the hackle slightly shorter than the wings).

Lay all three feathers atop each other and bend them to double-check that the barbs are roughly the same length.

Even the tips and expose the middle of the stem by stroking away the barbs in that section. This way you are using the better top section of the hackles.

Clip the bottom halves away leaving a short section of clean stem.

With the undersides facing you, tie in the hackles so that the clean stem lays along the hook shank. Secure from the rear edge of the thorax up to just behind the eye. Leave what will be the head area naked.

Pull the three feathers forward to crease the stems. This will make the first wraps go on easier.

Begin wrapping the inside feather forward. Be sure the first wrap goes on correctly--meaning that the hackle barbs are curved to the front and laying perpendicular to the hook. If they do not behave, a snug twist near the base with hackle pliers will correct the problem.

Wrap forward in close, even turns. Be sure that the a wrap gets placed tight to the rear and front of the wing. Also, be sure each wrap goes forward of the previous wrap to avoid trapping fibers. This is the foundation layer of hackle. The last wrap get secured with 2 thread wraps shy of the head area. Excess gets clipped.

Begin wrapping the middle hackle. Its first wrap goes on completely behind the first wrap of the previous hackle. Then wind through the first layer.

Last wrap goes in front of the last wrap of the previous hackle, is tied off with 2 thread wraps and clipped. This is the filler layer.

Wrap the final hackle making sure its first wrap goes on behind the other wraps and the barbs are all curved forward creating a clean rear edge. Wrap through the collar, rocking the hackle if needed to avoid trapping barbs.

Before making the final wrap in front, pull back the rest of the collar. This will ensure that this last wrap, the trim work if you may, goes on completely ahead of all the other wraps. This is how you avoid trapping hackle barbs in your head and causing them to stick out over the eye.

Secure the final wrap (2 thread wraps) and clip the excess.

Once again, pull the hackle fibers back to expose the head.

Wrap a small, neat head about equal in length to the length of the hook eye. Whip finish, clip and cement.

The finished Dette Coffin Fly!