	ALASKA MARY ANN Courtesy of Max AKA FlashBackMax ALASKA MARY ANN INTRO I’ve always seen this fly as kind of the old standard of Alaska. We always seem to get carried away with new and supposedly better patterns tied with space age materials and the like. However it’s nice to step back and look at what got it all started. MATERIALS LIST Hook: I used a Mustad 9674 Thread: Black 6/0 Tail: Red Hackle fibers Rib: Silver Tinsel Body: The original calls for white floss, but I like the roughness a thin coat of dubbing gives Wing: The original calls for polar bear. Well, I haven’t got any. I do have white foxtail Eye’s: The original calls for jungle cock. $225 for a good neck. I use starling(more below) LETS GET BUSY!! Step 1 Insert the hook in the vice and coat the shank with thread Step 2 Select a small clump of hackle fibers and tie them in Step 3 Tie in the tinsel. Always make sure you tie down the tinsel with the opposite side of what you want facing you. Step 4 Dub a thin body of white/cream rabbit or synthetic dubbing Step 5 Counter wrap the tinsel up to the eye and tie it off Step 6 Select a clump of fox hair and tie it in so that it’s just beyond the bend of the hook. Step a7 A word about eyes. I can justify spending just about anything for fly tying. However, jungle cock necks aren’t one of them. So, what do you do? Well a long time ago my good friend and fly fishing mentor Joe Cambridge, who happened to be one of my professors in college, came into class one day and threw a bag on my desk as he made his way through to the front of the room. I opened it and looked in. It had a dead starling in it. I had a good chuckle till the end of class when he showed me why he’d given it to me. It was covered with all these little feather which the tips of looked just like jungle cock feathers! Not to mention starling is a great soft hackle feather too. You can buy them through some fly fishing supply houses or if you know somebody who lives down in the lower 48, have them “get” one for you. Anyway to prepare them, strip off most of the downy fluff so just a little of the tip end is left. Then take some cement or fleximent and coat the feather. Now if you’re a purist, this probably amounts to blasphemy. But I look at it as a good way to save a couple bucks in a sport that’s loaded with better things to throw your money at Step 7 Wrap a couple of times around the feather and then gentle pull on the butt end of the feather gently guiding it into place. Then when you have it where you want it, wrap a couple of solid turns to secure the feather in place. Repeat for the other side. After setting the eyes you can whip finish the head and put a drop of glue on. The fly is done.

ALASKA MARY ANN

Courtesy of Max

AKA

FlashBackMax

ALASKA MARY ANN INTRO

I’ve always seen this fly as kind of the old standard of Alaska. We always seem to get carried away with new and supposedly better patterns tied with space age materials and the like. However it’s nice to step back and look at what got it all started.

MATERIALS LIST

Hook: I used a Mustad 9674
Thread: Black 6/0
Tail: Red Hackle fibers
Rib: Silver Tinsel
Body: The original calls for white floss, but I like the roughness a thin coat of dubbing gives
Wing: The original calls for polar bear. Well, I haven’t got any. I do have white foxtail
Eye’s: The original calls for jungle cock. $225 for a good neck. I use starling(more below)

LETS GET BUSY!!

Step 1

Insert the hook in the vice and coat the shank with
thread

Step 2

Select a small clump of hackle fibers and tie them in

Step 3

Tie in the tinsel. Always make sure you tie down the
tinsel with the opposite side of what you want facing
you.

Step 4

Dub a thin body of white/cream rabbit or synthetic
dubbing

Step 5

Counter wrap the tinsel up to the eye and tie it off

Step 6

Select a clump of fox hair and tie it in so that it’s
just beyond the bend of the hook.

Step a7

A word about eyes. I can justify spending just about
anything for fly tying. However, jungle cock necks
aren’t one of them. So, what do you do? Well a long
time ago my good friend and fly fishing mentor Joe
Cambridge, who happened to be one of my professors in
college, came into class one day and threw a bag on my
desk as he made his way through to the front of the
room. I opened it and looked in. It had a dead
starling in it. I had a good chuckle till the end of
class when he showed me why he’d given it to me. It
was covered with all these little feather which the
tips of looked just like jungle cock feathers! Not to
mention starling is a great soft hackle feather too.
You can buy them through some fly fishing supply
houses or if you know somebody who lives down in the
lower 48, have them “get” one for you. Anyway to
prepare them, strip off most of the downy fluff so
just a little of the tip end is left. Then take some
cement or fleximent and coat the feather. Now if
you’re a purist, this probably amounts to blasphemy.
But I look at it as a good way to save a couple bucks
in a sport that’s loaded with better things to throw
your money at

Step 7

Wrap a couple of times around the feather and then
gentle pull on the butt end of the feather gently
guiding it into place. Then when you have it where
you want it, wrap a couple of solid turns to secure
the feather in place. Repeat for the other side.
After setting the eyes you can whip finish the head
and put a drop of glue on.

The fly is done.