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Dry fly

Pale Morning Dun

Also called PMD

Short answer

The Pale Morning Dun is a dry fly that imitates ephemerella mayfly duns. It is usually tied in sizes 16 to 20. Fish it late morning to mid-afternoon through summer, roughly June to August depending on elevation and latitude. Spinner falls in the evening can be even better than the hatch.

Dry fly Intermediate #16-#20

Pale Morning Dun — 7 of clubs from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description
7 of clubs · Dry Fly in the deck

Premier summer mayfly, especially in the West. Yellowish body and reliable daytime hatch.

Printed on the 7 of clubs

If the Blue Winged Olive is the hatch of bad weather, the Pale Morning Dun is the hatch of good. Through summer on western rivers, PMDs come off in the late morning and early afternoon in numbers heavy enough to get every fish in a run looking up, and they do it in pleasant conditions on beautiful water. It is, for a lot of anglers, the best fishing of the year.

The color is genuinely distinctive — a soft pale yellow with an olive or pinkish cast depending on the river — and unlike with the Adams, color here does matter. Fish see a great many of these insects over several weeks and get educated. Matching the specific shade on your water is worth the trouble.

The other thing worth knowing is that PMD hatches produce famously difficult cripples and stuck-in-the-shuck emergers. When fish are refusing a well-drifted dun during a heavy PMD hatch, they are usually eating something that never fully made it out. A crippled or emerger pattern solves more PMD refusals than any change of tippet.

What does a Pale Morning Dun imitate?

Ephemerella mayfly duns.

How do you fish a Pale Morning Dun?

Dead drift to individual working fish rather than fishing the water. Watch the rise form: a clean nose means duns, a bulge or a dorsal fin means emergers just under the film.

When should you fish a Pale Morning Dun?

Late morning to mid-afternoon through summer, roughly June to August depending on elevation and latitude. Spinner falls in the evening can be even better than the hatch.

What are the quick tips for fishing it?

  • Match the shade of yellow on your particular river — it varies more than you would expect.
  • Keep a cripple pattern in the same size; it answers most refusals.
  • Fish the spinner fall at dusk. It is quieter, and often bigger fish.

How is a Pale Morning Dun tied?

  • Hook: standard dry fly, #14-#20
  • Thread: pale yellow 8/0
  • Tail: light dun Microfibbets
  • Body: pale morning dun dubbing
  • Wing: light dun poly yarn or hackle tips
  • Hackle: light ginger or cream

Dressings vary by tier and region. Treat this as the common recipe, not the only one.

Parachute Adams — King of diamonds from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Rusty Spinner — 5 of clubs from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Frenchie — 4 of diamonds from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description Salmonfly — King of clubs from The Reel Deal Deck, showing the hand-drawn fly and its description

The physical version

Pale Morning Dun is 7 of clubs in the deck.

All 54 flies, drawn by hand, on Genuine Bicycle Rider Back stock with the patented Air-Cushion finish. A reference you can actually deal out — which was rather the point.

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