Fluorescent Purple Mallard Flank

Fluorescent Purple Mallard Flank Feathers

Purple is the best silhouette color nobody believes in until they fish it. Against a gray sky or in green water, it shows up darker than black and still gives off a little glow. Steelhead guides have known this for fifty years. Tarpon guides figured it out too. Now you know. Don’t tell everybody.

What you get: About 60 feathers in a 2 gram bag, mixed sizes. Hand-sorted, junk out.

Recipe 1: Purple Flank Spey

• Hook: Spey hook, #2–#6
• Thread: Purple 6/0
• Tag: Flat silver tinsel
• Body: Purple floss rear third, purple seal-sub dubbing front two-thirds
• Rib: Oval silver tinsel
• Body hackle: Purple schlappen, palmered
• Collar: Fl. Purple mallard flank, 2 turns
• Wing: A few strands of purple Flashabou, short

How to fish it: Classic down-and-across swing on a Spey or switch rod. Fish it on overcast days and in the morning before the sun hits the water. Step 2–3 steps between casts and cover the run. Steelhead are a numbers game. Keep the fly in the water.

Recipe 2: Purple Flank Tarpon Bunny

• Hook: Tarpon hook, 2/0–3/0
• Thread: Purple 3/0
• Tail: Purple rabbit strip, 3 inches, with 4 strands of purple Flashabou
• Collar: Fl. Purple mallard flank, 3 turns, then black schlappen in front
• Head: Purple thread, built up and coated with UV resin
• Eyes: Small lead or bead chain, optional for deeper water

How to fish it: Lead the tarpon by 6–8 feet so the fly crosses its path, not its face. Strip in long, slow pulls. When the fish eats, strip-set hard two or three times and bow when it jumps. Purple and black is the standard for laid-up and rolling fish in dark water.