"John Juracek and I started tying the Sparkle Dun in the early 1980's as a Pale Morning Dun imitation for the selective trout on the Henry's Fork. The PMD emergences on this river are legendary, and to consistently fool the big rainbows we needed a better fly than was available at that time. We wanted a fly that was more durable and longer floating that the popular no– hackle pattern, and was a better imitation of an emerger/impaired–stillborn dun that the Comparadun style of fly. After a bit of trial and error we, and our fly tiers at Blue Ribbon Flies, came up with the Sparkle Dun, a simple but clean combination of zelon, deer hair and dubbing that gave the fly the silhouette and floating qualities we wanted. We soon discovered the new fly worked remarkably well. The Henry's Fork trout accepted it without hesitation. Shortly it became our standard mayfly imitation, and we started fishing it everywhere with confidence and success. For more that 25 years we've continued to use it as an imitation for all mayflies in the Yellowstone region, and around the world. If you are a mayfly fisherman this fly belongs in your arsenal. " ~ Signature Tyer Craig Mathews
