CDC Parachute Adams (Petitjean Variant)

[Neal Osborn]

Here is a Mark Petitjean CDC variant I created the other day –  The CDC parachute Adams.  One of my new favorite dry flies because it is easy to tie and requires little maintenance on the stream.  The CDC floats well and the fly stays buoyant.  It has been doing well on the Hootch here in Atlanta over the past 10 days (but then again so has just about anything). The CDC looks like little legs.  I have been tying the MP flies lately because I got that Magic Tool as a gift.  Interesting concept.

[Darrin Terry]

Nice Neal. I thought I saw the Petitjean dubbing tool in your Fly in Repose post.

I’ve considered picking one up. How do you like it?

[Daryl Human]

Learning lots from your posts Neal! Nice fly!
We use CDC on Klinkhammers for the streams in South Africa.

[Neal Osborn]

Darrin –

I really like the MP Magic Tool set.  As you may know I am fond of dubbing loops and brushes in general.  The use of CDC as a hackle substitute was a natural progression.  I had tried using CDC on the dubbing bench (pictured below) but found that the willowy fibers tended to blow off and scatter and I couldn’t get a nice tight dub with the colors nicely blended.  But what Mark Petitjean has done is revolutionary in many ways.  His “process” all comes together in one package with the magic tool and you can simply “stack” CDC together to get a wonderful natural blend of colors.  Furthermore, his idea of splitting the thread to introduce the fibers with the bulldog clamp works flawlessly.  I have tied all the basic flies already and they work well (e.g. the basic caddis, mayfly, emerger, streamer).  My goal with the parachute Adams was to see what else could be done with this technique.  

Here are some Youtube videos of Mark Petitjean using the magic tool set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rb3-hR8PpQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHAqFuevQ_Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu49CS5VdV4

This is my standard dubbing bench.  In my experience it is nearly impossible to efficiently add CDC to this setup.  You can always tie in a CDC feather and palmar it forward, but that still doesn’t solve the problem of how to make a bulky dubbing brush with the material itself.  That’s the advantage of the magic tool.  If you don’t need such a brush or if you aren’t going to tie with a lot of CDC then you probably don’t need the magic tool.

[anonymous]

Neal- good looking stuff:)) Photos and tying.

[Neal Osborn]

Neal- good looking stuff:)) Photos and tying.  If you are into dubbing loop work this fellow is worth a look. Some wonderfull concepts that can be played with.

http://www.jpdessaigne.com/

Will

Thanks Will – I probably won’t sleep now because I will be reading the great stuff on that site 😀  That is right up my alley.

The macro fly pictures are amazing – under the link Galleries Photos.  Did you learn about this site from your research on the macro bug photos you’ve been doing?  Looks like some of those images are stacked macro?  Seriously, between your work and that site I realize the long climb needed to reach the top.  Like Steve Martin said, “I found my special purpose.”

[Darrin Terry]

Thanks for the info Neal concerning the Magic Tool Set. I intended to post this last night but got sidetracked by that website and its flies. 😎

[anonymous]

Neal – I stumbled on his work while looking for folks doing other than “fly in vise”

[Neal Osborn]

Here is close-up shot with better detail.

[anonymous]

Good looking fly Neal- I’m curious have you experimented with a dubbing loop table as a vise

[Neal Osborn]

Dubbing loops are to fly tying what kneading is to bread making.

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