Frenchie Perdigon Material List:
Hook: Hanak 260BL #16
Bead: Copper Slotted Tungsten 5/64
Lead Wire: 4 wraps of 0.10
Thread: Veevus Brown 14/0
Tail: Coq de Leon
Ribbing: UTC Extra Small Copper Wire
Body: Veevus Brown 14/0 Coated with Loon UV Flow.
Hot Spot Thorax: Danville Fly Master 6/0 Fl. Orange
I was made aware of the term Perdigon when I read a blog post by Devin Olsen of Tactical Fly Fisher. Devin has been a member of the USA Fly Fishing Team since 2006. From what I understand, Perdigons are Spanish style flies that worked well at the Bosnia World Championships, where Devin finished with an individual bronze medal.
Perdigon’s seem to be a new craze. To me, a “Perdigon” is a new name for a style of flies that are not necessarily entirely new. To me, a Perdigon could be defined as a style of fly created with a thread, or equivalent, style body coated with a cement or resin. For example, a Zebra Midge coated with cement could be considered a Perdigon of sorts. But that’s to me.
If you know me at all, it’s no secret that I place a load of confidence in Frenchie style patterns. When I was active in fly fishing competitions, I relied heavily on Frenchie’s. I originally started tying thread body style Frenchie’s coated with cement for durability purposes. I have recently added the classification of Perdigon to name this style of Frenchie pattern.
In 2013, I fished in a Team USA Fly Fishing NE Regional Qualifier. One stream in the competition consists of trout that are very drift sensitive in fast, deep water with tight hydraulics. This stream tends to be responsible for giving anglers “blanks”, or sessions without scoring a fish. I was able to catch a couple fish in this stream on the fly I am now calling a Frenchie Perdigon, which helped me finish 5th overall in the competition.
While the fly that I am now calling a Frenchie Perdigon is somewhat different than typical Perdigon flies, it has very similar properties. Thinly tied, thread body flies coated with resin sink quickly due to minimal resistance while falling through water. This gives an angler the ability to fish less weight in fast, deep water. Being able to achieve depth with less weight allows anglers to get slightly better drifts to help fool technical trout. For this reasoning, I feel that Perdigon style flies have a place in my nymph boxes.
This Frenchie Perdigon works well for me in the fast, deep water that I fish. I prefer smaller sizes such as the fly above that’s tied on a Hanak 260BL #16. Perdigon flies are fun to tie, and can be very effective when fished in the right situations. Tight wraps.
The Flow - Fly Fishing Blog 
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