The Yellow Dancer is a European streamer fly.
The Yellow Dancer is a version of the wooly bugger used by European fly anglers. The streamer style fly is an attractor that is effective for trout, bass and pike fishing. The fly is easy to tie with basic skills and capable fly-tying equipment. The color combination is unique, with an olive body and white tail that does not imitate anything close to a baitfish species. Tying the fly requires several minutes to prepare the materials, but no special techniques are required.
Instructions
1. Slide a bead on a hook and clamp the hook in a fly-tying vise. Begin wrapping the thread in front of the bead and wrap it to the hook bend to create a thread base. Wrap the thread to the halfway point on the shank and stop.
2. Cut a clump of white marabou fibers from a feather. Measure the marabou to two times the length of the shank and hold it on top of the hook. Make one loose thread wrap to gather the marabou and tightly wrap the thread to the hook bend. Cover the marabou with each wrap while using your fingers to hold it on top of the shank.
3. Cut a one-foot section of medium gold wire. Hold the wire on the hook shank and make 10 tight thread wraps to secure it at the bend in the hook.
4. Cut a one-foot section of rainbow chenille. Make six tight thread wraps to secure the chenille at the hook bend. Wrap the thread down the hook shank and stop at the bead.
5. Tie in the tip of an olive saddle hackle feather at the bead. Make eight tight thread wraps to secure the hackle to the hook. Wrap the hackle in an evenly spaced, diagonal pattern until you reach the bend in the hook.
6. Maintain pressure on the hackle and make two tight wraps of wire to secure the feather at the hook bend. Continue wrapping the wire in an evenly spaced, diagonal pattern until you reach the bead. Make six tight thread wraps to secure the wire in place.
7. Trim the excess wire and saddle hackle from the hook with scissors. Cut the wire and feather flush to the shank to create zero visibility of the excess. Use a whip finishing tool to knot the thread at the bead and cut the thread away from the hook.
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