The Purple Thread Frenchie is a new colorway of Lance Egan’s Thread Frenchie — a dense, fast-sinking jig nymph that Egan fishes on dry-dropper rigs, on Euro nymph rigs, and below an indicator on lakes. In this Fly Fish Food tutorial, Egan ties the purple version on a size 16 jig hook with a silver slotted tungsten bead.
Construction starts with a 3mm silver slotted tungsten bead on a 400-style jig hook — Egan calls out the Umpqua XC 400 and the Hanak 400 as options. Purple UTC 70 thread is started behind the bead and wrapped back toward the bend. The tail is a sparse pinch of speckled medium-pardo Coq de Leon, tied in with the tips evened up and bound forward to the bead to eliminate a tie-in bump. Egan notes the tag ends behind the bead don’t need cleanup since they’ll be covered later.
For the rib, Egan uses UTC silver wire in Brassy. He calls Brassy about as thick as he wants for a size 16: drop to small for 18s and 20s, keep Brassy for 14s and 12s, and step up to medium for anything larger. The wire is tied down the back of the shank, caught in the bead slot, and stopped one wrap shy of the tail tie-in so the first turn doesn’t flare the tail fibers. The thread is moved back to the bead, and the wire is wrapped forward in roughly four turns, captured under tension, and helicoptered off to avoid a burr. A whip finish releases the purple thread, and a small amount of Solarez Bone Dry is worked into the wire wraps — not coated like a Perdigon, just enough to lock the wire so it can’t slide down the hook — then set with UV light.
The hot spot is built with Danville 70 denier in fluorescent fire orange (Egan distinguishes this from standard fluorescent orange — the fire orange runs slightly redder). The thread is started behind the bead with a few wraps to hold it, and a small pinch of Hareline Ice Dub in Minnow Belly is dubbed tight on the thread, slid to the bead, and given just a few turns to terminate right at the bead. A whip finish leaves a band of the fire orange thread visible as the collar. Any longer dubbing fibers can be trimmed.
Egan describes the pattern as a mid-pupa profile, with the silver bead, fire orange collar, pearlescent white hot spot, and dark body running in contrast. The Thread Frenchie chassis is now available in two new colorways: black and purple.
Materials List
Hook: Umpqua XC400BL-BN – 16
Hook (Alternate): Hanak H 400 BL Jig Hook – 16
Bead: Fulling Mill Slotted Tungsten Beads – Silver – 3.2mm
Bead (Alternate): Hareline Slotted Tungsten Beads – Classic Colors – Silver – 7/64″ (2.8mm)
Thread 1: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier – Purple
Thread 1 (Alternate): Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread – 12/0 Bulk Spool – Purple
Tail: Spanish Coq De Leon – Pardo
Tail (Alternate): Coq De Leon – Hareline – Medium Speckled Pardo
Rib: UTC Ultra Wire – Brassie Size – Silver
Rib (Alternate): Semperfli Tying Wire – 0.2 – Bright Silver
Thread 2: Danville 6/0 Waxed Flymaster 70 Denier Thread – Fl. Fire Orange
Thread 2 (Alternate): Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread – 12/0 Bulk Spool – Fl. Red
Thorax: Ice Dub – Minnow Belly
Thorax (Alternate): SLF Prism Dubbing – Pearl
