Extended Body Mayflies

The Extended Body PMD

Tying anything with an extended body can be a bit of extra work, but this style of Mayfly -- specifically, a Pale Morning Dun -- can be pretty effective and is made a little easier by using River Road Creations' foam cutters and the extended body pins from Renzetti. 

PMD's or Pale Morning Duns are a type of mayfly seen commonly during May, June and July. From the Ephemerella genus, which includes Sulphurs and Hendricksons, it's a very important and heavy hatch across many western waters. Characterized by its pale yellowish color, the insect will make its way to the surface to emerge and then spend a dangerous amount of time emerging from its nymphal shucks before being able to dry their wings and escape the surface of the water. This pattern is meant to be a relatively high floating adult pattern. It can be used both in faster currents as well the slower moving "picky" water where fish need a more precise imitation. It's a great style of pattern as well and can be adapted for Blue Winged Olives and Green or Brown Drakes as well. 

Imitation:  PMD

When to use:   June, July, August

Where:  Most tailwaters

How to fish it:  Fish as dry in fast or slow moving water.

Hook:  Mustad C49S #16 - #18

Thread:  UTC Ultra thread 70 Denier Olive

Body:  1 mm white foam (colored yellow)

Wing:  River Foam®  Lt Green 

Thorax:  PMD dubbing

Legs:  Yellow Mallard Flank

Tying Instructions:

• Cut the body foam and wing foam with the appropriate sized foam cutters (the pattern shown here is a #16). Using an extended body pin, secure the foam pieces to the pin and tie the extended body with 5 segments evenly spaced. See the video for a better explanation of this. Remove the body from the pin, color it according to your specific imitation (I use Sally Hansen's dyed yellow) and tie onto the hook at the tie-in point of the 5th segment. With the foam secured to the hook, attach the one-piece wing section to the hook shank by coming up underneath the hook splitting the wings on either side of the body. Figure-eight wrap the wings into place. Tie in the mallard flank legs behind the wings and then apply a thorax with the dubbing, making sure to completely cover the wing tie-in to just in front of the wing. Tie in another set of legs on either side in front of the wings, build up a thread head and whip finish.

And here's the tutorial: