MIKULAK SEDGE

SUBMITTED BY: Andy King


Fly Tied and Photo taken Andy King

From " Fly Patterns for Stillwaters", by Philip Rowley

FISHING METHOD: When fished dead drift or with a hand-twist retrieve to run the fly across the surface, the Mikulak Sedge is deadly.

 Hook  Size #6 - #10 - 2x or 3x
 Thread  6/0 or 8/0 Olive or green
 Tail  Natural Deer

 Hackle

  Brown saddle, clipped top and bottom.
 Body  Olive to mint green seal's fur.
 Wings

 Natural Deer tied in 3 sections along the body.

TYING NOTES:

  1. First pinch your barb, then lay a thread base down.

  2. Cover the hook shank with tying thread to provide a firm base for the deer hair. Prepare and stack a clump of deer hair. Tie in the deer hair just back from the eye along the entire hook shank.

  3. Cover the rear 1/4 of the hook with seal's fur dubbing. The first body section should finish just in front of the hook point.

  4. Prepare and stack a second clump of deer hair. Measure the deer hair so the tips extend about half way back onto the tail, pre-trim the deer hair. Tie in the deer hair at the halfway point.
  5. Cover the deer hair butts to the halfway point with seal's fur dubbing. Advance the tying thread to the 3/4 point on the hook.
  6. Prepare and stack the third clump of deer hair. Measure the wing so it extends back about half way on the second wing. Do not pre-trim this clump. Tie in the deer-hair at the eye of the hook securing the deer hair back in place to the end of the dubbing.
  7. Prepare a saddle hackle and tie in at the base of the third wing.
  8. Palmer the hackle over the front 1/4 of the fly. Make sure the first wrap of hackle encircles the base of the wing. Tie off the hackle and trim the excess.
  9. Lift the remaining deer hair butts and build a neat head and whip-finish. Apply head cement to the hackle tie off point in addition to the head area.


 The Mikulak Sedge was the brainchild of the late Art Mikulak from Calgary, Alberta. Art had watched trout gorge themselves silly on adult sedges only to have them refuse anything he threw at them. Spurned on by this challenge, Art felt there had to be some pattern out there that trout would accept as the real thing. In the winter of 1973-1974 art set out creating a suitable imitation, looking for a durable floating pattern that offered the right silhouette, size, and color of the natural sedges.