This version of the classic Madam X was created by Brandon Moon of Moonlit Fly Fishing. This one may be a bit easier to tie and will certainly be a bit more buoyant.
- Hook: #10-12 dry fly or terrestrial
- Thread: Body color
- Tail: Natural deer hair
- Head: 1-2 mm foam (color to match body)
- Wing: Natural deer hair
- Legs: Rubber
- Thorax: Any fuzzy dubbing
I recently did something that I haven’t done in years, and that is buy flies. Let me tell you why I did this. One of the newsletters I subscribe to comes from Moonlit Fly Fishing. This is one of the newsletters I get that I actually read. Brandon Moon runs that shop and he sends it out about every week or so.
And in his last one, I noticed that he had a sale on some flies. So I clicked on it, went to their website, and checked them out. And he’s selling some really cool patterns. And the fly that really caught my attention was a Madame X, or a variation he calls it the Madam X Foam Striker.
If you’ve ever tied the original Madam X, which is a very popular and successful fly, it’s not the easiest pattern as it’s got deer hair for the head, which is then folded over becoming the wing. So, it can be a little bit challenging to get that just right. But Brandon’s version uses foam for a head and the top part of the wing. And I think this one is probably a little bit easier to tie than the original Madame X and might even be more effective for me as I typically fish this fly as an attractor pattern, or maybe as a hopper.