Tying and Fishing the Halfback

DEXHEIMER’S FLY                    MY VARIATION                     THE FULLBACK

The Halfback is an old B.C. pattern that was developed over 50 years ago by John Dexheimer. This simple but effective pattern can suggest nymphs such as dragonflies, damselflies, stoneflies, craneflies and some mayflies. I developed a variation of this fly that looks much the same.

The Dexheimer fly and the Fullback use pheasant tail fibers for the wingcases and tails, but my variation uses deer hair. Also, the Fullback has a segmented body. All of these patterns are very effective. They can be twitched near the bottom or up toward the surface as well as trolled from a boat. They can also be dead drifted in streams with good success. Below are the materials and directions to tie my style of Halfback.

Materials:

Hook: Mustad 9672, sizes 8-14

Thread: 2/0 to 6/0 black monocord

Tail: Dark brown hackle or pheasant tail fibers

Body: 3 to 4 Peacock herls

Wingcase: Deer hair or pheasant tail fibers

Thorax: Peacock herl

Hackle: Brown or pheasant fibers

Step 1. Tie in the tail and attach the peacock herls.

Step 2. Spiral the peacock herls forward 1/2 the body length and pull the fibers upright, tie them off and attach the deer hair and brown hackle.

Step 3. Spiral the peacock herl forward to 1/8 inch of the eye and then spiral the hackle over the peacock and tie off.

Step 4. Bring the deer hair forward over the top and tie off. Finish the head and cement.