Bushy's Horror          

Hook:  Mustad 9672 # 6 - 10

Thread: Black 6/0

Rib: Silver Tinsel

Hackle: Ginger Cock

Body: Black Chenille

Wing: Ginger Cock (poor quality)

Eye: Jungle Cock

1/ First off wrap a nice even base of thread starting from near the front of the hook and extending to the point where you are going to tie in your first part of the fly, the ribbing. This point should be roughly level with the barb on the hook as with most fly patterns. Once this is completed go to the next step.
2/ Take a piece of silver tinsel and tie in at this point. It should be attached so that it extends out to the rear of the hook and is therefore out of the way of the following steps. This is especially so with this particular fly pattern as it is a finicky one that can be difficult enough without having to constantly move materials out of the way of the workspace. Trim the excess and go to step 3.
3/ Now get your piece of black chenille. Tie it in the same way you tied the wire in previously. If you are not using very thick chenille tie it in in the middle section of the chenille allowing you to twist the two ropes you create together. This will give you the desired thickness required. Remember this is a bulky fly. Trim any excess you may have and move the thread forward to a point just to the front of the lead.
4/ Take your chenille rope and wind it forward to the thread. Make sure each successive turn of chenille is to the front of the previous one giving you a lovely bulky body. Double up on wraps where necessary to get the desired look to the pattern. When you reach the thread tie it off and trim the excess chennile.
5/ Pick out a ginger or brown cock hackle. Pick a pretty big one out say for tying a size eight dry fly. Tie it in at the front of the pattern angled at 45 degrees up and to the rear of the pattern. Trim off the excess feather stubs and move to step number 5.
6/ Pinch the hackle between your fingers or use your hackle pliers if you prefer and wind it back to the rear of the fly (palmered body). About 5 turns is correct but one either side of this number will get the desired look. When you reach the rear of the hook you will notice you have no thread to secure it with. Use the tinsel taking several tight wraps in the same plane to hold it in place. Trim the excess feather and proceed.
7/ Now select four equal sized cock brown cock feathers. The ones from a cheap cape (many of us have the first capes we bought and these are ideal), you know the ones with the black centre. Position two on top of each other, shiny side out. Do this for both pairs and then place back to back on top of the hook as shown. Tie in at the front of the pattern and trim the excess feathers.
8/ To hold this feather in place you are going to have to do what you did in Step 6 with the palmered feather and tie it off with the tinsel. To aid in the ribbing gently stroke the fibres of the wing feather apart. This will help greatly when winding the rib in the next step. Once you have done this and have the feathers lined up evenly Tie the feathers in place at the rear of the fly with the tinsel as in Step 6.
9/ Now gently take the tinsel and start to wind it forward. It will be a little difficult and you will not be confident with the way it looks until you have completed a couple of these flies but stick with it. Rib forward being careful not to crush the feather fibres. Use up to 5 turns to reach the front of the fly and then tie off with the thread and trim. Feel free to gently stroke the feathers back down and into position.
10/  All that is left to do is to add the eyes. Take two Jungle Cock feathers of similar size and tie in as shown with one on either side of the fly. Be careful not to split them as the are delicate. To strengthen them simply add a dab of head cement to them. When you have tied them in evenly trim the excess and whip finish. Add head cement as a final touch and take fishing.

*Tips

- tail should be roughly equal in length to the hook shank

- use a poor quality cock feather as the black banding is an important part of the design

The Pattern

This fly, popularised by colourful fly fishing identity Kaj Busch is a real killer around the edges of lakes when fish are cruising taking both yabbies and large drowned terrestrial items such as worms. It is not a fly used for blind searching ( as if you didn't know with a tail like that! ) moreover it is a specialist sight fishing pattern It is however especially noted as an excellent fly for tricking those sometimes very difficult lake Jindabyne cruisers and it is for this reason we mention it. Its almost that time of year again and the browns should almost be patrolling the edges searching out food in the lake margins. So if you have the time and luck into a slowly moving high pressure system; grab your polaroids, a couples of horrors and get out and give it a go.

Good Fishing

Antony