Sloan’s Mighty May

Sloan’s Mighty May – PMD

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Tying Instructions

1. Slide the appropriate sized bead over the hook. I’m using a 5/64 bead on a size 16 hook. Attach the hook to the vise. Attach the thread just behind the bead and wrap a thread foundation covering about 2/3 of the hook shank.

2. Clip 4 pheasant tail fibers, keeping their tips even. Attach the fibers at the end of the thread foundation with a couple of wraps just to secure and adjust the tail length to be about the same as the hook gap, no longer. Secure the tag ends of the fibers up along the top of the hook shank to where the thread will meet the hook point when it hangs from the shank. This is be where the abdomen and thorax meet.

3. Secure a strand of Krystalflash and a strand of Spanflex to the shank behind the bead.

4. Secure both of the strands to the top of the hook shank down to the tail tie-in position. Wrap the thread back up to the end of the abdomen where the thread meets to hook point when it hangs from the shank.

5. Wrap the Krystalflash with 4 spirols up to the tie-in position at the hook point. Trim the tag end and secure with some more wraps.

6. Wrap the Spanflex forward by stretching the material and keeping each wrap just in front of the previous. No overlap! Notice how the Krystalflash will appear as a subtle flash under the spanflex. Trim the tag end and secure with thread wraps.

7.Wrap a thorax that is about the same diameter as the bead. Dave likes to use Arizona Synthetic Peacock due to the spikiness and the flash it gives. The fibers are fairly short so use it sparingly as you dub the thread. This will help lock in the fibers for a tighter dubbing strand. Wrap the material right up to the bead.

8. Clip a 1/4 inch wide segment of Mottled Turkey quill. Prepare the quill by applying a small amount of flexament to the backside. This will help keep the segment from splitting when it’s tied in. Use an Exacto Blade or some similar blade to trim a notch into the quill material. Tie in the quill just behind the bead so that the end of the wingcase goes just beyond the thorax. To keep the material from bunching together, apply a loose loop wrap, then tighten. Apply a couple additional wraps to secure

9. Using a Soft Hen Hackle saddle, clip off about 8 fibers from a feather quill, keeping the tips even. Attach the clump to the side of the throax just behind the bead. You can adjust the length of the fibers by pulling the tag ends. The fibers should just extend to the end of the thorax. Secure with additional wraps.

10. Attach another clump of 8 fibers to the other side of the thorax, adjust the length, and trim the tag ends.

11. Wrap a sparse collar just behind the bead with the Arizona dubbing. Whip Finish. Finally, apply a drop of epoxy to the wingcase and let dry.

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	TMC 2487 #16-20
Thread	Uni-thread Camel 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Brown Flexfloss
Thorax	Arizona Synthetic Peacock, Dark Hare's Ear
Tail	Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers
Wingcase	Mottled Oak Turkey with Loons UV Fly Finish, Thin
Ribbing	Olive Krystalflash
Legs	Natural Brown Hen Back

Dave Sloan

Sloan’s Mighty May

Sloan’s Mighty May is designed by Dave Sloan of American Flyfishing out of Sacramento, CA. Dave developed this pattern while guiding on the Pit River in Northern California. He noticed a distinct notch in the wingcase of baetis nymphs and applied that attribute to the pattern, enhanced by a drop of epoxy on the wingcase.

An important attribute that Dave gave to his pattern was to create subtle triggers rather than flashy ones. To do this, Flex Floss is wrapped over the Krystalflash ribbing to reduce the flash yet still retain a subtle character of it. An exception to this is on his Baetis pattern using Black Flex Floss. The black is too opaque to show the Krystalflash through, so the Krystalflash is applied after the Flex Floss.

Dave also prefers a Black bead rather than Gold or Brass for the same reason. At times, too much flash will turn away the trout’s interest. Dave has had considerable success with this pattern and came up with a series of Mighty Mays for PMDs, March Browns, Callibaetis, Baetis, and Midges.

Mighty May Baetis

Hook	TMC 2487 #16-20
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Black Flexfloss
Thorax	Dark Olive Lightnin' Dub
Tail	Dark Olive dyed Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers
Wingcase	Cinnamon Tip Turkey with Loons UV Fly Finish, Thin
Ribbing	Olive Krystalflash
Legs	Natural Brown Hen Back

Mighty May Callibaetis

Hook	TMC 3761, #14-16
Thread	Uni-thread Tan 8/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Gray Flexfloss
Thorax	Callibaetis Superfine
Tail	Three Strands Olive Dyed Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers with Light Dun Z-lon
Wingcase	Mottled Oak Turkey with Loons UV Fly Finish, Thin
Ribbing	Olive Krystalflash
Legs	Partridge

Mighty May March Brown

Hook	TMC 2487, #12-14
Thread	Danville Tan 6/0
Head	Black Bead
Body	Brown Flexfloss
Thorax	Arizona Synthetic Peacock, Dark Hare's Ear and Golden Orange Quick Descent Dub mix
Tail	Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers
Wingcase	Mottled Oak Turkey with Loons UV Fly Finish, Thin
Ribbing	Olive Krystalflash
Legs	Natural Brown Hen Back

Mighty May Midget

Hook	TMC 2487, #16-18
Thread	Uni-thread Black 8/0
Head	Red Glass Bead
Body	Stripped Peacock Quill
Thorax	Peacock Herl
Tail	Dun Spade Hackle fibers
Wingcase	Mottled Oak Turkey with Loons UV Fly Finish, Thin