The Moodah Poodah

The Chimera of Dry Flies

Moodah Poodah Collection

The Moodah Poodah is one of the more wacky names we've stuck to a fly pattern, but it lives up to its uniqueness with a penchant for hooking a lot of fish. In fact, it got its name even before the pattern itself was designed. While I won't go into the gory details, it all started with a post-fishing stop to eat some grub and a run-in with a not-so-friendly waitress who hardly said a word to us the whole meal. And if you know some rudimentary Spanish, you might understand where the name came from.

But funky names aside, the pattern here, similar to the Chimera fly, was designed to imitate a variety of bugs in all sorts of colors. The color shown in the tutorial is black which can pass as a Cicada, drowning ant, cricket or any other blackish insect that might happen along. Throw in olives and browns for drakes or other mayflies and a crazy purple version and you can see the color options are really endless.

And beyond the pattern's devilish good looks, the other part of the design here was intended to allow for a smallish dry that could support droppers without sinking so quickly. Not only that, but the Klinkhamer style hook allows the body to hang below the surface -- an attribute on dry flies that I personally think is a huge attractant. We throw in some irresistible Ice Dub for the body and it makes for a crazy-effective pattern.

Chunky Rainbow caught on the Green Drake version

I've caught fish on this pattern imitating all sorts of insects and in all sorts of colors from smaller mayflies to bigger drakes to cicadas, damsel flies and many others. So get a bunch of colors of foam, Ice Dub and rubber legs and you'll be set. The variations are as endless as the food at the Golden Corral. I've found you need only tweak the sizes and the colors, so my boxes usually have these color variations along with sizes from #10 down to sometimes a #14. Anyway, here's a few of those favorite variations and then the material list & tutorial following...

Moodah in Black

Moodah in Brown

Moodah in Olive

Moodah in Purple

Material Lists

Black Moodah (cidadas, beetles etc)

Hook: Daiichi 1160 #10 - #12  (BUY HERE)  *(Also, the Daiich 1167 is a good choice )
Thread: UTC Ultrathread, 70 Denier, Black  (BUY HERE)
Hot Spot: Ice Dub, UV Hot Orange  (BUY HERE)
Body: Ice Dub, UV Black  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Pearl  (BUY HERE)
Under-Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk, Black  (BUY HERE)
Head: 2mm Crosslink Foam, Black  (BUY HERE)
Legs: Neon Orange Barred Rubber Legs  (BUY HERE)
Post: Para Post Wing Material, Fl Orange  (BUY HERE)

Brown Moodah (Hoppers, Brown Drakes, Callibaetis, Caddis)

Hook: Daiichi 1160 #10 - #12  (BUY HERE)
Thread: UTC Ultrathread, 70 Denier, Gray-Brown or Tan  (BUY HERE)
Hot Spot: Ice Dub, UV Hot Orange  (BUY HERE)
Body: Ice Dub, UV Brown  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Pearl  (BUY HERE)
Under-Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk, Brown  (BUY HERE)
Head: 2mm Crosslink Foam  (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede Legs, Speckled White/Brown, Med  (BUY HERE)
Post: Para Post Wing Material, Fl Orange  (BUY HERE)

Olive Moodah (Green Drakes, Hoppers, Caddis)

Hook: Daiichi 1160 #10 - #12  (BUY HERE)
Thread: UTC Ultrathread, 70 Denier, Olive  (BUY HERE)
Hot Spot: Ice Dub, UV Hot Orange  (BUY HERE)
Body: Ice Dub, UV Light Olive  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Pearl  (BUY HERE)
Under-Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk, Olive  (BUY HERE)
Head: 2mm Crosslink Foam, Olive  (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede Legs, Speckled Yellow/Olive, Med  (BUY HERE)
Post: Para Post Wing Material, Fl Orange  (BUY HERE)

Purple Moodah (Hoppers, Gen Attractor)

Hook: Daiichi 1160 #10 - #12  (BUY HERE)
Thread: MFC Tying Thread, 6/0 Purple  (BUY HERE)
Hot Spot: Ice Dub, UV Hot Orange  (BUY HERE)
Body: Ice Dub, UV Gray or Purple  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Pearl  (BUY HERE)
Under-Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk, Med Dun  (BUY HERE)
Head: 2mm Tying Foam, Purple  (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede Legs, Speckled Purple, Med  (BUY HERE)
Post: Para Post Wing Material, Fl Orange  (BUY HERE)