Pale Evening Dun

The Pale Evening Dun imitates summer-emerging Heptagenia mayflies that appear in the last hour of light, triggering some of the most frenzied evening rises of the season. Its pale sulfur-yellow body and light dun hackle match the delicate coloration of this clinger-nymph adult perfectly. Fish it with a drag-free drift in the fading light on smooth water, where selective trout sip the dun with confidence.

Type

dry fly (Mayfly)

Hook sizes

#14–18

Target species

trout

Difficulty

intermediate

Best seasons

spring, summer, fall

Materials

• hook: Dry fly hook #14–18
• thread: Yellow 8/0
• tail: Pale dun hackle fibers
• body: Pale sulfur or cream dubbing
• wing: Light dun hen hackle tips or CDC
• hackle: Pale dun or cream rooster hackle

Tying steps

1. Mount a size 14–18 dry fly hook; start yellow thread at the bend.
2. Tie in pale dun hackle fibers as a split tail.
3. Dub a pale sulfur or cream body from bend to the 2/3 mark.
4. Tie in light dun hen hackle tips or CDC as upright wings.
5. Tie in a pale dun or cream hackle and wind 4–5 turns.
6. Build a small head; whip finish and cement.
7. Apply a tiny drop of head cement to the thread head only — keep any cement away from the CDC wing or hackle fibers.
8. Inspect the fly in a glass of water — the body should ride horizontal in the film with the hackle tips touching the surface plane evenly.
9. Check hackle fiber density from the front — fibers should radiate symmetrically on both sides with no crowding or gaps near the eye.