The Parachute Adams is a versatile generic mayfly imitation.  It is effective when trout are feeding on several life stages, including emergers, cripples, duns and spinners, and may be tied in different sizes and colors to imitate various mayflies that live in the Rockies.  In smaller sizes, it is also effective during midge hatches.

    The Parachute Adams may be fished as a mayfly imitation or as an attractor.  A drag-free dead drift is the most effective presentation.  It is also effective as the dry fly in a dry/dropper rig.

     The Parachute Adams requires beginning to intermediate level tying skills.  As with any fly pattern, there are various ways to tie the fly and produce the correct result.  I use two techniques that might differ a bit from the way others tie the Parachute Adams.  My approach to tying split tails is a bit unique, using a thread “bump” rather than the tag from tying in the thread or a small ball of dubbing to split the tail fibers.  Also, to achieve a neat but durable fly, I pay close attention to how I tie in and wrap the hackle.  This is in preparation for whip finishing the fly around the post.

Materials

    The Parachute Adams is tied on a standard dry fly hook, from size 10 to 24. 6/0 to 8/0 thread is required, depending on the size of the fly.  The traditional parachute post material is calf tail or body hair, but I prefer a synthetic material such as Montana Fly Company's Widows Web for parachute posts because the material is easy to work with, available in several colors, visible on the water, and buoyant.  Poly yarn is also a popular choice.  The pattern features a grizzly hackle fiber tail.  The parachute hackle varies.  Traditionally, one brown and one grizzly hackle are used.  The fly in this article has a single grizzly hackle.  Natural gray muskrat underfur stripped of guard hair is the traditional body material, but other fine dry fly dubbing materials in various shades may be used.  One variation that I tie in smaller sizes uses peacock herl spun in a dubbing loop.

Materials Used for the Fly in this Article

• Hook: Mustad 94840, #14
• Thread: Uni 8/0, Gray
• Tail: Grizzly Spade Hackle
• Post: White Widow's Web
• Hackle: Grizzly, Tied Parachute Style
• Body: Natural Muskrat Dubbing

Tying the Parachute Adams

1. Attach thread at mid-shank. Wrap the thread toward the bend to dress rear half of hook.  Take several additional wraps at the bend to build thread bump. Return the thread to the tie-in point.

Tying Tip: I use the thread to “mark” the shank. In this example, the tie-in point marks the transition between the abdomen and thorax and the point at which the post will be attached.

2. Pull 6-8 barbs from each side toward the bottom of a spade hackle feather, without removing from the stem, to form the tail. Hold barbs together; attach at mid-point and slightly to the near side of the hook.  Use thread tension to roll the barbs to the top of the shank and continue wrapping to the bend.

3. Bind the barbs tightly against the thread bump that was formed when dressing the rear half of the shank.  The thread tension should cause the hackle fibers to flare around the shank.  Trim away the tag end of the feather and reserve the remaining portion of the feather for tailing the next fly.    Wrap the thread to the eye to dress the front half of the shank.  Return the thread to the mid-point.  

4. Select a length of Widows Web that is half the thickness of the desired complete post.  Lay the material length-wise along the shank and tie in at the mid-point of the shank.  Secure and stand up the post by alternating thread wraps at the initial point of tie in, immediately in front of the forward strand and immediately behind the rearward strand.

5. Pull the two strands of Widows Web up and together.  Build a thread base around the bottom of the post by taking several successive thread wraps up the post.  Return the thread to the shank and leave the thread immediately behind the post.  Trim the post to the proper height.  The height should be approximately the same as the length of the hook shank.

6. Select a hackle feather of correct size and remove the web from the base of the feather.  Leave a length of bare stem.  Tie the feather to the shank immediately in front of the post, with the convex side of the feather facing up and the tip toward the rear.  Pull the feather up and toward the back side of the post.  Bind the feather with several thread wraps up the post and spiral the thread back down the post to the shank.  When the hackle is tied in, the convex side of the feather should be against the post and a short length of bare stem should extend above the thread base.

Tying Tip: Prior to spiraling the thread down the post, secure the hackle at the top of the post with a locking wrap.  Take a thread wrap around the stem and post at the top of the base.  Take a second wrap immediately above the feather and around the base, followed by a third wrap around both the stem and the post.

7. Wrap the thread to the eye of the hook.  Dub the thread and begin to wrap the thorax.  Take a couple of alternating wraps behind and in front of the post to ensure an adequate amount of dubbing below the post.  Continue wrapping to the bend. Return to the eye.  Take a few extra wraps of dubbing between the eye and the post and return the thread to a spot immediately behind the post.  Note that the completed thorax is a bit heavier than the abdomen.

Tying Tip: I keep a container of Mucilin on my tying bench. As an alternative to either licking my fingers or using wax,  I apply a little Mucilin to my fingers when dubbing dry fly bodies.  The Mucelin helps to form the dubbing noodle and, in the process, a little floatant is added to the body of the fly.

8. Begin to wrap the hackle, with clockwise wraps down the post, beginning at the top of the thread base.  The hackle should wrap convex (shiny) side up.  This will happen naturally if the hackle was tied in correctly.  Continue wrapping the hackle down the post.  Each successive wrap should be place under the preceding wrap.  Complete the hackle with 4 to 6 wraps, depending on the size of the fly and personal preference.

9. The final hackle wrap is complete with the hackle tight against the front of the post and the tag end of the feather pointing toward the near side of the hook.  Secure the hackle with two clockwise thread wraps around the post and under the hackle wraps.  Whip finish on the post.  To ensure a durable fly without using glue, I use a 3-turn whip finish.  Then, I clip off the tag end of the hackle and take a second whip finish.  Place the thread wraps of the second finish knot under any stray barbs that might remain.

Tying Tip: The challenge to tying parachute patterns is to keep a neat hackle wrap without compromising the durability of the fly.  The method described in this article accomplishes this purpose with careful attention to the placement of the hackle feather when initially tied in, placement of the thread immediately behind the post when completing the body; and clockwise hackle and thread wraps.  Wrapping the hackle and thread in the same direction minimizes the occurrence of stray barbs, because both hackle and knot will be parallel.

Hans Weilenmann photo