Beginning Fly Tying

Part One
"An Introduction to Fly Tying"

By Al Campbell
Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
The normal evolution a fly fisher goes through usually includes fly tying
sometime after the first year or two. Some take up fly tying to cut the costs of all
the flies they seem to leave in bushes and trees everywhere they go. Others
want to try it to increase their involvement in the finer details of the sport. No
matter what your reasons are, tying flies seems to be an integrated part of the
whole fly fishing picture.
There have been perhaps more volumes of books and articles written on the art
of fly tying than any other aspect of fly fishing. If you subscribe to any of the fly
fishing magazines, you have encountered articles that included fly patterns. In
fact, a few magazines are dedicated to the art of fly tying. Those magazines will
enhance the information you find here and I encourage you to consider
subscribing to one or two.
Like I said earlier, there are a lot of books about fly tying
on the market. I won't try to duplicate those efforts, but
rather attempt to show you some of the basics. I won't try
to show you specific patterns, but you'll learn a few in the
course of this instruction. I will try to help you solve some
of the most basic but troubling problems new fly tyers
usually encounter.
As with any form of art, there are usually several ways to
do the same thing that will produce the same outcome. In some cases, I'll try to
show all the ways; in others, I'll attempt only the ones I've found to be the
fastest and easiest to master.
There are some tools you can make yourself, and others you will need to
purchase. When possible, I'll try to describe or show how to make the tools I
think you can make for yourself without difficulty.
I'd like to encourage you to become a Friend of FAOL Your involvement as a

"Friend of FAOL" will help support this and future courses this magazine wants
to offer. In the long run, your involvement will ensure future courses of
instruction that you and others will be able to use to enhance your pleasure and
involvement in this fine sport.
Enough of that!
The first thing you need to know about tying your own flies is a little bit about
the flies themselves. Some of you will probably know this information, but there
are a few who don't; so I'll give you a refresher course.
Dry flies are simply flies that float. They

usually represent adult insects that are
emerging (breaking out of their nymphal
shuck), drying their wings so they can fly
away, or returning to the water to lay
eggs.
Since dry flies are the most fun to use

(you get to see the fish take the fly), more fly patterns have been designed as dry patterns than any
of the rest. Although some folks separate emerger flies from dries, since they usually float, I'll include
them with dries.
Wet flies are simply flies that don't float.

They usually represent nymphs and pupae
that are swimming toward the surface of
the water or trying to break through the
surface film to become adults. Since many
insects become lunch menu items during
this stage of their existence, it's useful to
know how to tie wet flies.
Nymphs represent the nymphal or larva stage in an insect's life

cycle. Since insects spend most of their life in the nymph or larva
stage, this is an important stage in terms of fish forage.
I've heard that up to 95 percent of

a stream fish's diet is nymphs and larva in some form. Need I say
more about the importance of this type of fly?
Streamers are flies that represent minnows, crayfish, leaches and a
variety of other life forms that swim under the surface of lakes and
streams.Since fish often eat minnows, leaches and crayfish, this is an
important type of fly to learn how to tie.
In the weeks ahead, I'll show you

patterns and methods for tying all of
these types of flies. It will be simple and easy so don't give up yet.
It's easier than you think.
Next week we'll look at some of the hooks you'll need to start
tying your own flies.
Until then, go fishing and lose some more of those expensive gems we call flies. Your days of
wading across the stream or climbing trees to recover a fly are just about over. ~ Al Campbell
Beginning Fly Tying Archives
[ HOME ]
[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]
FlyAnglersOnline.com © Notice
Part Two
"The Hook"
By Al Campbell
It seems strange that I'd start looking at equipment by looking at hooks. After all,
there are many other important things to consider like vises, bobbins, scissors,
etc. to look at.
So why hooks? Well, hooks are the things that

hold the feathers, fur, hair and other fluff you use
to create a fly. Hooks are designed for specific
purposes. If you choose the right hook, your fly will
be better proportioned and thus perform better in
use. If you choose the wrong hook, you'll have a
flawed fly and your success with that fly will likely be less than the success you
would enjoy with a properly tied fly.
I won't spend a lot of time on barbed vs. barbless hooks. You'll have to decide
the direction to travel there. After all, a simple squeeze from a small pair of
pliers will turn a barbed hook into a barbless one. Rather than concentrate on
hook design, I'd like to spend as much of this time as possible working toward
tying quality flies. However, you'll need to know what the basic parts and
shapes of a hook are if you're going to succeed in tying your own flies.
Let's take a moment to look at the anatomy of

a hook. First, the hook has a "gape" or gap.
That's the distance between the shank (the
part of the hook you tie flies on) and the point.
Hook sizes are usually rated by the size of the
gape. Second, the hook has a bend. Depending on the shape of the bend, it
will have different qualities and be more suitable to certain types of flies. Third,
the hook has an eye. The shape and angle of the eye help determine the
possible uses for the hook. Finally, the hook has a shank. As I mentioned
earlier, the shank is the length of the hook where the body of the fly is usually
tied.
There are a lot of companies who make fly tying hooks. Many of their shapes
overlap from company to company. For this reason, I'll usually list more than
one hook for a specific fly. If your favorite hook company has a similar hook,
feel free to use that one instead of the hook I list.
Dry fly hooks come in several shapes and many sizes,

just like the flies. Depending on their use, they might
have a straight or a curved shank.
Some dry fly hooks are longer than others to accommodate the variables in
insect profiles.
Choose your hook according to its use. Many fly tying
books list the appropriate hooks for you, but you aren't
bound to any specific brand as long as the hook has a
similar shape, length and size.
Wet fly hooks are similar to dry fly hooks except they are usually heavier. Hook
bends and shank lengths vary in these hooks depending on their designed use.
Nymph hooks vary in design more

than any other type. Some are
designed to tie scuds , others
lend their design to stonefly
nymphs and some are just good
hooks for common nymphs like mayflies and caddis larva.
Try to select a nymph hook with a

shape similar to the natural
nymph you wish to imitate.
Streamers usually imitate minnows, leaches, crayfish or other swimming
critters. Their hooks are usually longer than the rest and often have specific
bends to accommodate the swimming pattern of the subject being copied.
Some hooks are designed for use in poppers for bass and panfish. These have
a hump in the shank to prevent any turning of the popper body.
As you can see, there are a lot of hooks out there.

They each have their designed uses. No one can
expect you to have all of them at first, but a minimum
selection of the ones you will use the most is a good
idea. Make a list of the flies you
really want to tie at first, then purchase the hooks you
need for those flies before you purchase any others. ~
Al Campbell
[ HOME ]
Part Three
"An Introduction to Fly Tying, The Fly Vise"

By Al Campbell
Perhaps the most important tool you'll use in fly tying is the fly vise. If you look
in fly fishing magazines, you'll have an opportunity to see plenty of
advertisements for lots of different fly vises. It can get confusing just trying to
sort out the features you need from the ones they say you need. So, what's the
bottom line? What features are important in a fly vise?
First, a good fly vise must hold a variety of hook sizes and shapes securely. It
isn't enough to hold just a few sizes or shapes well, it must hold them all. If the
vise won't do that, don't buy it. That's the most basic and important requirement.
The jaws of the vise must be positioned or be able to be positioned at an angle

that allows you to tie flies of various sizes with it. Some vises have jaws that are
too big to use with a variety of hooks. Others don't have the jaws positioned at
an angle that allows the tyer to work with small hooks.
Look for a vise that has jaws positioned at an angle that allows you to work
around and with the smallest hooks you might someday use. That might be size
28, so check to see if the vise will hold this size hook securely while allowing
complete access to the main length of the hook shank.
Many vises have heads that pivot or rotate. These are nice features you should
consider when shopping for a fly vise. Although a rotary feature isn't a
necessity, it is a convenient feature you should consider. Many expert tyers use
vises with heads that are fixed and don't pivot or rotate. You'll have to decide if
these are important features you're willing to invest in. Keep in mind, a lot of
extra features won't make a vise hold a hook any better.
A good vise should be easy to adjust to fit a variety of hooks. Although many
vises will adjust to hold a variety of hook sizes, some are easier to adjust than
others. I use a Regal vise most of the time because it doesn't require any
adjustment for hook sizes or shapes. This isn't just because I'm lazy, but as a
past commercial tyer, I found it much faster to have a vise with jaws that
opened and closed with a squeeze of a lever. Less adjustment resulted in
saved time and time is money to a commercial tyer.
Avoid any vise that takes a lot of time or manipulation to adjust to a specific
hook. One or two twists of a knob should be the maximum adjustment required
to set any vise to a specific hook. After adjustment, a good vise should clamp
down on a hook with a simple twist of a knob, squeeze of a lever or push of a
cam. If it's harder than this, let someone less informed monkey with the vise
while you tie flies on your new, easy functioning vise.
The size of the head and jaws of a vise will have an impact on how easy it is to
use with certain size hooks. One specific vise on the market has a fast rotary
feature that looks nice, but the jaws of the vise are so big it isn't feasible to use
with small hooks. Small jaws are easier to work with.
Another thing you need to consider is how the vise is supported. A clamp is
nice if you have a permanent tying bench or you want a vise that just won't
move while you're putting pressure on a hook. A pedestal base is convenient if
you are working on the kitchen table or traveling. It supports the vise with a
heavy base that sets on the table like a lamp would, and it's easy to move. Most
vises can be purchased with either a pedestal base or a clamp. Some vises
come with both support systems. Try to get a look at both before you buy a
vise.
Take a look at the warranty. Some nice vises don't have a warranty. That
doesn't mean they won't work for you, just that you'll have the opportunity to
buy another vise if anything goes wrong with your vise. For my money, I like a
vise with a lifetime warranty. For the record, Griffin vises have a replacement
warranty that can be serviced at the dealer. I don't know of any other vises with
that nice a warranty, but most quality vises have at least a lifetime warranty
against defects. Likewise, most lifetime warranted vises must be sent to the
manufacturer for repair.
So, what vise is the right one? That will be a matter of personal preference. If
budget is a prime consideration, I've found Griffin vises to be very nice for a
modest price. Even the least costly Griffin vises hold a hook very well. If speed
is the prime function, Regal is likely to be the fastest. If true rotary is a feature
you must have, consider Renzetti, Griffin or Dyna-King. It won't take long to
notice the price difference you'll have to pay for name and function.
Here's a quick run-down on Griffin vises.�

I include this because I believe they have
the most vise for the buck available on
today's market. And, they were kind
enough to send a couple of vises for me to
photograph for this series.� The Griffin
Superior 2A vise is an economical vise
(about $40), that held all the hook sizes I
tried in it, and is easy to adjust. It has a
swivel head that adjusts for angle. �The
Griffin 3AR (not pictured) is a rotary vise with adjustable head angle and an arm
that allows you to place the vise head away from the stand.
� The Griffin Patriot Cam vise has a rotary/swivel head that locks the hook
with a cam.� Once the head is adjusted, all it takes is a twist of the cam lever
to change hooks.�It also has a small enough head to work on the smallest of
flies. At the top of the list is the Griffin
Odyssey vise.� This is a true rotary
vise.� Unlike similar vises on the market,
it has a feature that allows adjustment of
the head to accommodate different hook
sizes and continue to maintain its true
rotary function.�It also has a bobbin
cradle to hold the bobbin away from your work at critical steps in the
process.� All of these vises can be obtained with a clamp or pedestal base.
When you go to a fly shop to look for a vise, take a couple of hooks in several
sizes with you. If the hook bends or breaks without slipping in the vise jaws, it's
a good vise for that hook. If it holds all your hooks that well, has all the features
you want, and is easy for you (not just the salesman) to adjust, buy it. That's
the vise you need.
I've never found a motorized vise that was really functional. Nor have I found a
bargain vise that was a bargain. Before you purchase a vise, play with a couple
of them at a fly shop. If you must order a vise through the mail, insist on a return
policy that allows you to return any vise that won't hold a hook or doesn't
perform the way you need it to perform.
Look at a few vises in a fly shop and the magazines. Somewhere out there is
the vise you need. You just have to find it.
We'll look at more tools next week. ~ Al Campbell
[ HOME ]
Part Four
"An Introduction to Fly Tying, Tying Tools"

By Al Campbell
There are a lot of tools that pertain to fly tying. It's amazing how many tools you
can find that are supposedly the "greatest fly tying tools you'll ever use", but
when you buy them, you can't find a use for them. I've got a drawer full of
"great" tools that don't work as advertised. It's pretty easy to get duped by a
nice looking ad or a salesman trying to unload a slow moving product. There
are also a bunch of tools I couldn't do without. Let's take a look at the essential
ones.
One tool you'll use every time you tie a fly is a bobbin. This little gem holds the
thread and keeps tension on it while you tie the fly. It has a small tube (some
are larger than others) that the thread runs through. Thank God it's smaller
than my fingers, or I'd never get a small fly tied.
Bobbins come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but

they all perform the same duty. Some have ceramic
tubes the thread runs through, others are just
stainless steel. Some are flared, some are straight at
the end of the tube, and some have mysterious
bends in the frame designed to make them easier to
hold. Some have ceramic or jeweled inserts on the
end of the tube and some have springs that reel up the slack thread while you
use them. Good bobbins never cut the thread and cheap bobbins almost
always cut the thread, so it's wise to invest in a good bobbin or two. One thing
they all have in common; they all hold the thread and have a small tube that
makes it easier to direct the thread to the right place on the hook. I have over a
dozen ceramic bobbins pre-loaded with thread on my fly tying desk at all times.
Good scissors are an absolute necessity for fly tying. This is another tool you
don't want to save money on. You'll need at least one pair of scissors to start,
but in time you'll want to have several others. All your scissors should have
finger loops large enough to fit over your thumb. Anything smaller is just too
hard to use.
The first scissor you'll need is one with small, fine

points designed to cut thread and fine materials.
This should be one designed for fly tying, not
something you found at the department store. It
can have curved tips or straight ones depending
on your desires. The serrated scissors available
from Dr. Slick are excellent scissors that will last
you many years without trouble. Many other
companies offer good scissors too.
Another scissor you'll want to have is a heavy duty one for cutting hair. This
can be any scissors designed for that purpose like a heavy fly tying scissor or a
heavy hair scissor you might find in a beauty salon or barber shop. Make sure
it's stout enough to handle a heavy bunch of hair without working loose at the
hinge. I also have an old worn pair of scissors I use to cut wire and other hard
materials.
Hackle pliers are small pliers with a constant tension designed to wrap hackle
feathers around the hook. They come in all sizes and shapes but all perform
the same duty. Some even have a swivel head to make it easy to rotate the
hackle around the fly. I manage to find many uses for these handy tools
besides the one they were intended to perform. If you're limited to one hackle
plier, select a midge one since it will do all the duties of the larger ones, and it
will wrap hackles on flies that are too small for larger hackle pliers.
A bodkin is simply a needle in a handle. You can make your own or buy one at
a fly shop. It has many uses including applying head cement, cleaning cement
out of hook eyes, picking hair out of fuzzy flies and folding synthetic nymph
wings. I'm sure you'll find dozens of other uses, so it's nice to have a couple of
these handy tools around when you're tying flies.
Hackle guards are designed to hold the hackle back

from the hook eye when you tie the finish knot (called
a whip finish) on the head of the fly. You can tie flies
without them, but they sure are handy on small flies or
flies with heavy hackle.
Hair stackers are designed to align the tips of hair
you're using for wings, heads and tails. They come in
a variety of sizes from very small (used on small hair
wings and tails) to very large (used on large clumps of hair when spinning hair
heads on bass bugs). It's nice to have a variety of these things, but if you can
afford only one, get a medium sized one since it will do most of the stacking you
need to do.
Bullet head tools help make bullet heads on flies like the Madame X and the
Henry's Fork Hopper. You might be able to perform this task without a special
tool, but they sure make a hard job easy if you have them.
Next week we'll look at whip finishers. These are tools that make the neat knot
at the head of the fly. Surprisingly, a lot of fly tyers never learned how to use
some of these tools, especially the whip finisher. ~ Al Campbell
[ HOME ]
Part Five
An Introduction to Fly Tying,

Matarelli-style Whip Finishers
By Al Campbell
Whip finishers are probably the least used and least understood, basic tool in
the average fly tyer's arsenal. This is the tool that creates the nice knot at the
head of the fly that keeps the fly together. If your flies fall apart, it's most likely
due to the whip knot you didn't do or didn't do right when you finished the fly.
Some fly tyers use their fingers to do a whip finish knot. Although this often
provides an acceptable knot, it sometimes provides an un-acceptable knot.
Since learning to use a whip finisher is one of the basic skills of fly tying, I'll
show you how to use the tools right. I won't show you how to do a whip knot by
hand, at least not until the series is over, and maybe not then. I'm convinced
that this is one skill you must learn to do right to be as good a tyer as possible.
There are two main styles of whip finishers. One is the Matarelli and the other
is the Thompson. (You might see a simple whip finisher; it functions the same
as the Matarelli.) While I'm not certain of the origins of these tools, I think it's
reasonable to assume they bear the names of their inventors. Both styles can
be used on a variety of flies, but each style has specific benefits when used on
certain types of flies.
This week we'll learn how to use the Matarelli whip finisher. This is the easiest
of the two whip finishers to use. It can be used on a variety of flies, but it is
much easier than the Thompson to use on bullet head, jig head, bead head,
cone head and foam head flies. Any time you need to create a whip knot back
away from the hook eye, this is the tool for the job.
First, you need to know how to start the thread on the hook. This is done by
holding the end of the thread in one hand and the bobbin in the other. Start
winding the thread over itself as you wind it around the hook.
About three or four wraps should be sufficient. Be sure to keep the thread
length short as it leaves the bobbin. You must use a bobbin to hold the thread if
you want to have any realistic chance at tying quality flies.
Once you have the thread started, grab your Matarelli whip finisher, hold it
hook end down and hook the thread with the hook of the whip finisher as
shown in the picture.
Wrap the thread around the whip finisher as shown. It should look like an
upside-down 4 if you've done it right. Don't apply much pressure to the thread,
just enough to keep it slightly tight.
Next start rotating the whip finisher clockwise around the hook. Again, don't
apply much pressure to the thread, just enough to remove any slack in the
thread. Continue to wrap the thread with the whip finisher, allowing thread to be
pulled into the knot as needed. If you have too much pressure on the bobbin,
the thread will bind up and won't feed into the knot as needed.
After you've made four to seven wraps, lift the whip finisher as shown in the
picture above.
Let the thread slide off the bump in the whip finisher, keeping slight tension on
the thread.
Pull the bobbin away from the hook and pull the whip finisher to the hook. Once
the whip finisher is pulled to the hook, you can pull it out of the thread.
You'll need to practice this whip finish knot a few dozen times to rivet it to your
memory. Start with a bare hook and practice, practice, practice. When you've
built up a bump, strip the hook with a razor blade and start over.
By next week you should have this one under your belt. Then we'll learn a
completely different type of whip finisher. So, if you don't want to have
confusion factor six at work in your mind, practice using this tool until you have
it committed and drilled into your memory.
See ya next week. ~ Al Campbell
[ HOME ]
Part Six
An Introduction to Fly Tying:

Thompson style whip finisher.
By Al Campbell
The Thompson style whip finisher ties the same knot the other whip finishers
do, it just does it a little differently. This is a little more difficult tool to learn to
use, but just as important a tool as the other style of whip finisher.
Thompson style whip finishers are best suited for work in small confined
places. If you're trying to tie a whip knot on a small dry fly and don't want to tie
the hackle down, this is the right tool for the job. This is the best choice of whip
finishers if you're using a hackle guard to hold the hackle out of the way.
This type of whip finisher isn't very suitable for flies with bead heads or bullet
heads. It won't maneuver around jig heads or lead eyes. It isn't suitable for flies
that must be whip finished back away from the hook eye. It is the best whip
finisher to use on hair heads and small hackled flies, because it won't bind the
hair or hackle down like a Matarelli whip finisher will.
To start a whip knot with the Thompson style whip finisher, hook the thread
between the fly and the bobbin with the arm of the whip finisher. With the open
end of the s-shaped bend on the end of the whip finisher, hook the thread as it
comes off the fly. Then lay the thread from the bobbin in the dip of the s-shaped
bend nearest the arm of the whip finisher.
Next, rotate the whip finisher clockwise behind the eye of the hook with your
fingers. You won't need much pressure on the thread, just enough to keep the
slack out of the thread. Make six to ten turns with the whip finisher. The arm will
flex toward the hook eye as thread is used up in the knot.
When you've made the required turns (fig.3), place your index finger on the
whip knot (fig.4). Carefully back the s-style bend of the whip finisher out of the
whip knot (fig.5). Keep pressure on the thread and knot with the arm of the
whip finisher as you pull the slack out of the whip knot with the bobbin. When
the arm of the whip finisher reaches the knot (fig.6), remove the whip finisher
and snug the knot.
For a movie showing the use of the Thompson Whip Finisher, click on one of
the links below. It is available for download in three different formats to best
suite your operating system. These are large files and may take a while if you
have dial-up Internet.
Windows Media MPG Video Apple Quick Time
Tip: You can use your mouse to right click on the link and choose
"save target as" for use later (even off-line) If you save it to your
desktop by selecting it for the "Save As" location, it will place an icon
on the desktop to use whenever you wish to play it again.
Again, you'll need to spend about a week practicing this knot with this tool to
Again, you'll need to spend about a week practicing this knot with this tool to
become reasonably proficient with the tool. A bare hook, razor blade and thread
are the only other tools you'll need to do the practice.
Next week we'll really tie a fly. Yippee! I plan on starting simple and working to
the complex. This also means I plan on using less materials on the first flies and
more on the later ones.
We're a few weeks from hackled flies, but it's probably a good time to consider
quality hackle. This is one material that has no bargain prices. You can
purchase cheap imported hackle necks, but it will cost you more per dry fly in
the long run than if you just purchase a quality neck or saddle from one of the
companies that offers genetically engineered hackle capes. Those companies
include Hoffman, Metz, Spencers and Keogh.
You'll find the most useful colors to be grizzly (black & white barred), brown,
dun (dark gray), black and ginger. I'm sure most of you won't find it easy to
purchase all these colors at one time, so try to get at least a brown and grizzly
hackle neck sometime soon.
Next week you'll need some wet fly hooks (standard length) in Mustad 3399A or
3906B or an equivelent from any of the hook manufacturers in sizes 10, 12 or
14. I'm not too big on demanding a certain hook as long as it's approximately
the same size, style and shape as the one I use. You'll also need a prime
pheasant tail feather (the long ones in the center of the tail) and black thread.
That's all.
By now, I hope you have the tools you'll need to tie a few flies (vise, scissors,
whip finisher, bobbins, thread, hackle pliers, etc). If not, get them soon. We're
about to start the core of our adventure.
[ HOME ]
Part Seven
The EZ-Nymph
By Al Campbell
Lots of Photos, Be Patient!
As I promised last week, it's time to tie our first fly. First we need to look at the
traditional way you will see flies listed in fly tying books. If you know how they
are usually presented, it will be easier to pick out the key things you need to
know.
First, there is usually a narrative that describes something about the fly and
how or when to use it. Next, there is a list of components used in the fly. Then
you'll probably see a short list of tying steps, sometimes assuming you know a
lot about fly tying. Finally, there is often more narrative about the fly and how it
is useful.
Since I tend to be a little less conventional, you might not see this series of
events listed this way in my fly tying series. Don't worry, it isn't written in blood
anywhere that you must do things the conventional way. Just kick back and
enjoy, it's about to get fun.
List of materials:
Mustad 3399A or 3906B hook or equivalent Size 10 to 16.

Pheasant tail feather - A long one from the center of the tail, can be dyed.
Black 3/0 or 6/0 thread.
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread on the hook. You did this last time, so I won't go into detail
again.
2. Pull about 12 strands of feather fiber from a large pheasant tail feather.
Since length is important, be sure to get these fibers from the upper 2/3 of the
feather. Trim the base of feather stem material.
3. Position the butt ends of the feather fibers about 1/5 of a hook shank back
from the hook eye. This leaves room for the head of the fly later. Using two
loose wraps, start tying the fibers down to the top of the hook. If you don't start
with loose wraps, the fibers will twist around the hook. Once you have the loose
wraps in place, you can snug them with downward pressure of the bobbin. This
is a rule any time you start tying any material to the hook.
4. Use a slight upward lift on the fibers as you wrap them down to the hook.
This will prevent twisting of the fibers and keep them on top of the hook. This is
also a rule any time you tie in a tail or any other material that will extend over
the bend of the hook. Tie the fibers down to the hook bend adding a couple of
extra snug wraps of thread at the hook bend end of the fibers to keep them
securely in place and prevent twisting. Wrap the thread back to just behind the
hook eye.
5. Start wrapping the fibers forward toward the hook eye. As you get closer to
the hook eye, you'll probably need to use your index finger to hold the fibers in
place so you can grab them and continue wrapping. Try to adjust your wraps to
cover the hook shank yet leave enough fibers to extend to the hook bend or
just beyond it.
6. When you reach the place where you started tying the fibers down, tie the
fibers off behind the hook eye. Be sure not to crowd the head area just behind
the hook eye. This is one problem beginner tyers seem to always have, they
crowd the hook eye and don't leave enough room for a proper head on the fly.
7. Tie the fibers down to the hook eye. There should not be any fiber wraps
in the head area of the fly, just tied down fibers.
8. Using your thumb and index finger, fold the fibers back toward the hook
bend. Grab the fibers with the thumb and index finger of the other hand and pin
them to the hook. The fibers should be evenly distributed around the hook, not
just on top. Tie the fibers down in the head area of the fly, forming a smooth
head. You don't need to make too many thread wraps here, just enough to form
a smooth head.
9. Whip finish the head with six to ten wraps of a whip finisher. Since you are
tying in the head area of the hook, any whip finisher will do.
10. Cut the thread and cement your wraps with a thin head cement. I've found
Griffin Thin head cement to be a good type of cement for this task, but
Flexament or any other thin cement will work.
You can add a bead head to this pattern very easily. I often use gold or black
beads with this fly to get it down deep. To add a bead, here's the steps.
Bead Head Version
1. Slip a bead on the hook and push it to the hook eye. Tie in the fibers to the
hook bend as you did in the first fly. Bring the thread back to the head.
2. Wrap the fibers forward, leaving a small amount of room for the head. Tie
the fibers off like you did in the first fly. Tie the fibers right up to the bead.
3. Flair the fibers back and tie down like you did in the first fly. You should
now have a small amount of room behind the bead where the thread has the
fibers tied down. You could whip finish it here if you wanted, but it's nice to fill in
this area if you can.
NOTE: Dubbing is available in many textures and colors. Some of it is fine and
works well with dry flies. Some is course and works well with wet flies and
nymphs. You can obtain dubbing ready made, or you can make your own by
blending up yarns and furs in a blender or coffee grinder. I have a coffee
grinder at my tying bench all the time to blend dubbing to the desired
consistency and color. If you wash and dry a throw rug, be sure to check the
dryer screen for some great sparkle dubbing that might have collected there.
4. Take a small amount of dubbing in you hand and pull a few strands of
dubbing fibers loose from the rest. Since beginners tend to use too much
dubbing, a good rule is to select half the amount of dubbing you think you'll
need, cut that in half, and then you'll only have twice as much as you really
need. Place the few strands of dubbing up to the thread and roll it between
your thumb and finger until it becomes a tight yarn around the thread. Use only
a few strands at a time, you can always add more if you need it.
5. Wrap the dubbing around the hook behind the head to fill the gap behind
the bead. If you twisted the dubbing around the thread properly, it won't unravel
when you wrap it around the hook.
6. Whip finish and trim the thread. This time you'll need to use a Matarelli
style whip finisher to work around the bead.
7. Cement the thread just behind the bead, allowing some of the cement to
absorb into the dubbing.
I often tie this fly with pheasant tails that have been dyed black or olive. If you
wish to dye up some feathers, a Rit dye with some boric acid or vinegar to help
the dye set will work just fine. Be sure to rinse the feathers well after dying so
your fingers wont turn black or olive.
The EZ-nymph isn't completely my creation. It's more an adaptation of the
'teeny nymph' than anything. I've found it to be more productive in small sizes
than its predecessor, and also easier to tie.
This is a killer when fished as a soft hackle wet fly. It also works well as a
nymph, especially with a bead head. When you've finished letting it drift, lift the
rod tip slightly and allow it to swing to the surface. This imitates the rising
motion of an emerging insect and often entices the fish into a hit.
In lakes, the non-bead version of this fly is a favorite of mine for perch, crappie
bluegills and trout. During the first few weeks after ice out on northern lakes,
this fly will often bring strikes on every cast. It's also a great wet fly during the
spring months on local rivers and streams.
On the Bighorn River, I've used this fly in olive colors to match caddis pupa that
were emerging in the riffles. I've hooked dozens of trout over 20 inches during
the caddis emergence on that river with the ez-nymph.
Several buddies of mine have used it successfully on salmon and steelhead in
Alaska and on the west coast. I've even managed to catch carp, bass and
suckers in several lakes and streams during the early summer months with it.
This fly is easy to tie and easy to fish, but it gets its name from how easy it fools
fish.
[ HOME ]
Part Eight

Fall Midge Emerger
By Al Campbell
Lots of Photos, Be Patient!
As we progress in this series, I will assume you have mastered the steps in the
previous lesson. For instance, I won't show you how to start the thread, whip
finish the fly, the loose wraps needed to begin tying down a material to the
hook, or how to tie that material down. If it's been covered, we won't waste the
time to cover it again. This will allow us the time and space to progress at a
faster pace, and allow you to learn more from this series.
This week we'll learn how to dub a body and attach a down-style wing. Most
beginners use too much dubbing, don't wrap the dubbing tight enough or use
way too much hair in a wing. The key to successful dubbing is to keep it thin
and tight around the thread. Practice makes for a perfect fly, so practice these
steps until you have them mastered. If you need to, use a razor blade to strip
the hook and start over. This is a building block to the rest of the series
and you must master these steps before you can progress to the rest of
the flies.
On with the series.
Midges are a significant part of the diet of fish (especially trout) in lakes and
streams. This tiny insect hatches all year, often hatching in the warm micro-
layer of air just above the water's surface even in sub-freezing temperatures.
Even in the summer when many hatches occur on a daily basis, trout and
Even in the summer when many hatches occur on a daily basis, trout and
panfish will zero in on the midge as the main source of their daily protein. For
this reason it's a good idea to have a few midge patterns in your fly box.
Midges are usually very small, but some hatches, especially in lakes, the
midges can be as big as a size 12, although most will be size 16 or smaller.
Start tying this pattern in a size 16 and work to smaller hooks as your abilities
grow. It's a good idea to have this pattern in sizes 16 to 22 if you want to be
able to match the hatch in most of the circumstances. I tie it in colors that range
from brown and tan to cream and light yellow. It's not a bad micro-caddis
pattern either.
List of materials:
Hook: Eagle Claw L061B, Tiemco 100, Mustad 94840 or equivalent.
Dubbing: Anglers Choice pure silk, tan mink, or any extra fine dubbing.
Rib: Anglers Choice Super Floss, black horse hair, small black nylon.
Wing: Small cluster of pine squirrel tail hairs or similar hair,antron.
Thread: Tan, brown, cream or black. I prefer Gudebrod 8/0 or 10/0.
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread. Tie down ribbing material to the hook bend.
2. Select a few strands of dubbing and twist them around the thread with your
thumb and finger.
Be sure to keep the dubbing thin or you will have a big clump of dubbing on the
hook and it won't look natural. A few strands at a time is all it takes. Your
dubbing should look like very fine, smooth yarn on the thread. Make a few
wraps, add more as needed and make more wraps until you have a body of the
right proportions. I stress this because most beginners use way too much
dubbing for the fly they are trying to tie. Dub the body to just behind the hook
eye, leaving enough room for the head of the fly.
3. Stretch the super floss to a thin, thread like thickness. If using hair or
nylon, you won't need to stretch it. Wrap the ribbing material to the front of the
body.
4. Tie the rib off and trim.
5. Build a thin thread base behind the hook eye. This will help keep the wing
from twisting around the hook.
6. Select a small cluster of hairs for the wing. Don't use too many hairs, about
12 will be enough.
7. Make two loose wraps over the hair, keeping the hair on top of the hook
with your fingers. Slide the front of the wing back to the hook eye then tighten
your first two wraps. Tie down the wing with several more thread wraps. A
slight upward pressure will keep the wing from rotating on the hook.
8. Build the head up slightly and trim or tie down any loose strands of hair.
Whip finish the head and cut the thread.
9. Clip the wing above the hook bend. There is a little room for varying wing
lengths, but I prefer a shorter wing like this one.
10. Apply a small drop of head cement to the head of the fly. If you get
cement in the hook eye, clean it out with a needle or bodkin.
11.Your finished fly should look like this.
I use midge patterns a lot. Winter is a great time to fish if you have a good
midge pattern. The Bighorn River and many others in the west have huge
midge hatches in the winter, spring and fall. I've used this pattern to catch fish
every time I've been to the Bighorn. It was also a winter favorite when I lived on
and fished the Missouri river in Montana.
You can fish the fly with a dead drift or let it swing. I usually grease it up a bit
and drift it over a fish, then let it swing at the end of the drift. It frequently
triggers a strike just as it starts to swing across the current. A few of my
buddies fish it as a nymph with good success too.
In lakes I cast the fly in front of cruising fish and retrieve it with small twitches. If
that doesn't work, I use long, slow pulls on the line to keep the fly moving slowly
on or just below the surface.
Tie a few up in various sizes and colors. It will likely become a favorite of yours
too.
[ HOME ]
Part Nine

SHWAPF (swept hackle, wingless, all purpose fly)
By Al Campbell
If you could only have one fly pattern in your fly box, what would it be? Would
you choose a dry fly or a nymph?
If that pattern could be modified to match many insect hatches, or if it could be

fished as a dry, wet, nymph or streamer; would it be more likely to be your pick?
What if someone designed a fly that would fit almost all occasions with only a
slight modification in size, hook or materials, but the tying steps remained the
same? Would that earn this fly a place in the hallowed halls of your fly box? In
my case, it earned this fly the right to its own fly box.
This pattern was featured in the fall 1998 issue of Fly Tying Magazine from
Frank Amato Publications. It's called a SHWAPF (swept hackle, wingless, all
purpose fly). It's a simple fly to tie and a simple fly to fish. You can change any
number of materials to change the looks and attributes of the fly and still tie it
with the same simple steps. It can be a salmon fly, a dry fly, a wet fly, a
streamer or a nymph depending on the length, size and style of hook or the
materials used.
You can add a bead head, change the body materials or hackle materials and
still use the same simple steps to tie a shwapf that looks very different than the
one you tied the last time. That's the key to this simple fly, it's adaptable
enough to match almost anything you want it to match. That's why it's called an
all purpose fly.
I first designed this fly to chase brookies in my native Montana waters. It was so
easy to fill my fly box with fish catching flies in very little time, that it became a
favorite of mine. That gave me more time to fish and freed me from the tying
bench more often. I like that idea! Need a caddis, mayfly or ant imitation? I've
used the Shwapf for all of them. Royal Shwapf? Yup, that one too.
I've been using the Shwapf and teaching it in my fly tying classes for fifteen
years. It's a local favorite for several reasons. First, it catches fish. Second, it's
so easy to tie and modify to most occasions; even a novice tyer can master the
endless variations it offers. Third, since it's so versatile, it fills many gaps in the
fly angler's arsenal of flies.
Don't be afraid to experiment with new materials when tying this pattern. I tie it
with dozens of materials in sizes 2 through 22. Just change the colors or
materials to match any insect or water critter you want to match. It's just that
simple. And, it simply catches fish; from bluegills and trout to salmon and pike.
Simple fly, simple tie, simply productive.
List of materials:
Hook: Dry, wet, nymph or streamer hook. Your choice for the type of fly you
want to tie. I often use a dry fly hook.
Hackle: Squirrel tail hair, badger hair, krystal flash, antron, ..again your
choice.
Back: Same material as the hackle.
Body: Rainy's No-Dub, punch embroidery yarn, glass beads and dubbing,
coarse or fine dubbing... again it's your choice.
Thread: Match the thread color and size to the body color and hook size.
For the first fly we'll use:
Hook: Dry - Mustad 94840, Tiemco 100, Eagle Claw L061B or equivalent.
Hackle and Back: Fox squirrel tail hair.
Body: Rainy's No-Dub, glazed carrot color.
Thread: Gudebrod 3/0 orange or equivalent.
Tying steps:
1. Select a small clump of hair from a squirrel tail (about 12 to 20 hairs). Trim the
tips of the hair and tie it down, tips first, to the bend of the hook.
2. Tie no-dub to the hook. Again, tie this material down all the way to the hook
bend.
3. Leaving the thread to the back, wrap the no-dub forward, leaving room for the
head of the fly.
4. Bring the thread forward in front of the no-dub, over the hook, then over the no-
dub to tie the no-dub off. Make several wraps of thread before you trim the no-dub.
5. Pull the hair forward over the back of the fly. Tie the hair down behind the hook
eye. A slight upward pressure on the hair will keep it on top of the fly as you tie it
down.
6. Tie the hair down to the hook right behind the hook eye.
7. Fold the hair back with your thumb and fingers. Try to get the hair to flair
7. Fold the hair back with your thumb and fingers. Try to get the hair to flair
completely and evenly around the fly.
8. Build the head up slightly and trim or tie down any loose strands of hair.
9. Finishing building a small, even head. Whip finish and cement.
10. Trim the hair behind the hook bend.
11. Your finished shwapf should look like Figure 11.
If you decide to use dubbing for the body, that's OK. Most beginners make the
mistake of using too much dubbing and not twisting it tight enough around the
thread.
When you dub a body, select half the amount of dubbing you think you will
need, cut that in half, and then you'll only have twice as much dubbing as you
need to twist around the thread. Keep the dubbing sparse and add more as
needed. Dub the body to the same point you wrapped the no-dub. Finish the
rest of the fly in the same manner you did the last one.
To tie a Shwapf imitation of a blue wing olive mayfly, change the hair to badger
hair. Select olive or gray Anglers Choice silk dubbing or a fine muskrat
dubbing. Use less dubbing to create a fine, dubbed yarn around the thread just
slightly thicker than the thread.
Dub a thin body to the same place on the hook as before. Pull the hair over the
back and finish the fly as before. Notice the different color the badger hair
provides? Changing where you select the hair from on a skin or tail will often
change the color or shade of the hair and the resulting fly.
Experiment a little with different types of hackle and body materials. If you use
the same tying steps, it's still a Shwapf.
For instance, I tie a Shwapf with a pearl Krystal flash back and hackle, and a
peacock body to imitate backswimmers (water boatman), those little aquatic
bugs that look like they have oars on the sides of their bodies. I also use glass
beads and dubbing to create flies that work as egg and flesh fly imitations.
You can fish this fly almost any way you wish. I often fish it wet with a down and
across approach. Sometimes I grease it up and fish it dry. I've added gold
beads to the head of many Shwapf's to use them as nymphs. In lakes I fish it
with a slow twitching retrieve for trout, bluegills, perch, carp and crappie. In
larger sizes I've caught walleyes, catfish, bass and pike.
The Shwapf is a versatile fly that offers endless possibilities. It will keep you
busy for weeks creating new matches for that fly you've always wanted to
match. Just let the creative juices flow and enjoy the simple way it ties and
fishes.

[ HOME ]
Part Ten

Tailwater and Spring Creek Favorites
By Al Campbell
If you live in an area that has spring creeks or tailwaters, you likely live in an
area that has scuds. You also are likely to have a lot of midges in the streams,
especially in fall, winter and spring. Unless you're a dry fly purist, you'll want to
have a few of these goodies in you fly box.
Before we start on the flies, it would be a good idea to discuss dubbing a

minute. Dubbing is what we call the stuff you twist around the thread to make
fly bodies. We've already used some pre-packaged dubbing, but we haven't
created any of our own. It's easy to create your own dubbing though. All you
need is a coffee grinder or a blender and some fur or yarn. You might also find
a little good dubbing in your clothes dryer screen after you wash a throw rug or
wool coat or sweater. Just remember, cotton is not a good type of dubbing.
If you set out to make your own dubbing, first you need some raw materials.
Macram� yarn, sparkle type knitting yarns, animal under furs, carpet yarns,
poly yarn, dacron, antron and rayon all make good dubbing materials. For fine
dubbing, the under fur of some animals is a good choice. Mink, beaver,
muskrat, opossum and rabbit fit this category. For coarse dubbing, yarns
(especially the course type), short hairs from the ears, feet and face of certain
animals, antron, krystal flash and wool are good sources.
Experiment a little and you'll open up a whole new arena of materials you can
use in your tying. A good example of what I'm talking about is the scud pattern
we'll tie this week. The dubbing is a coarse macram� yarn I cut into short
pieces (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch) and toss in the blender and mix with sparkle yarn
from the fabric store. I keep adding yarns until I have the right color and texture
blend for what I want to tie. Stop by a few yard sales for an old blender and
some macram� or knitting yarns and give it a try.
On to this week's flies.
Scuds are not flies but rather crustaceans of the amphipod family. Their closest
relatives are beach fleas you might find on the coast somewhere, but they
belong to the broad family of crustaceans that includes crayfish, lobsters,
sowbugs, crabs and shrimp. They are often called freshwater shrimp because
they resemble shrimp in many ways. If you care to count, (the fish never do)
they have seven pairs of legs and swim with a short, jerky sideways motion.
Scuds are important to the fisherman because they provide a large part of the
fish's diet in waters where they are abundant. In some cases, the fish feed
almost exclusively on scuds. Since that's the case, scuds should be one of the
patterns in your fly box.
List of materials:
Hook: Scud hook - Tiemco 2487, 2457;

Eagle Claw L055, L056; Mustad 80250BR;
Daichi 1130. Sizes 12 to 20.
Back: Scud back, Body stretch, plastic bag,

latex glove, or any similar material.
Dubbing: Any commercial or homemade

coarse dubbing, color to match the natural in your area (most range from olive
or tan to bright orange or pink, but some are so light they look gray).
Rib - Copper or gold wire.
Thread - 3/0 or 6/0, color to match dubbing color.
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread and tie down the back material around the bend of the hook. (If
you use plastic bags or latex gloves, cut the strips to about 1/4 inch wide.)
Tie the ribbing wire to the same point as the back material.
3. Dub a body of coarse dubbing. (This is one time you don't need to twist the
dubbing too tight around the thread.)
4. Stretch the back material over the dubbing, tie off behind the hook eye and trim.
Be sure to keep the back on top of the fly.
5. Wrap the ribbing wire around the body to form even segments. Tie off the wire
and trim it behind the hook eye. Build a head with the thread, whip finish and trim.
6. Use a needle to pick out some of the dubbing from the underside of the fly.
(This will form the legs of the scud.)
7. Trim the legs even with the hook point.
8. Cement the head. I like to cement the body too, by soaking cement up under the
back material from the sides.
You'll find other scud patterns in books and magazines, and in the "fly of the
week" archives here on FAOL. If you fish spring creeks, tailwaters or lakes that
are fed by these sources, you need a few scud patterns in your fly box.
Another insect that's common to these types of water is the midge. We looked
at a midge emerger a couple of weeks ago. Another form of the life cycle of
midges is the larva. This small worm-like larva is often called a blood worm
because it is often blood red in color. In certain waters and at certain times of
the year, fish feed almost exclusively on this tiny larva.
Many flies have been designed to imitate the midge larva; the most famous of
these is the brassie. The lace larva is another. I'd like to say I designed this fly,
and I may have (I've been tying this one for 15 years now), but it is so easy, it's
likely others have tied some version of it before me. No matter who tied the first
one, it's the best midge larva imitation I've used; a consistent producer on the
Bighorn River and in South Dakota tailwaters.
List of materials:
Hook: Dry fly or nymph - Tiemco 100, 200; Mustad 94840, 80050BR; Eagle
Claw L061B, L052; Daichi 1190, 1270. Sizes 16 to 24.
Body: Small clear tubing (midge Larva-Lace, small V-Rib, small

Liqui-Lace, Anglers Choice Body Stuff or any similar stretchy,
small tubing or lace).
Thread: 6/0, 8/0 or 10/0 (I like Gudebrod for its strength). Color
to match the natural in your water, usually red, orange, olive, gray or black. It's
a good idea to tie a variety of colors and sizes. The thread color will give the fly
its color.
Collar: Coarse sparkle dubbing, color to match the thread.
Tying steps:
1. Start thread and tie down lace to the hook bend. Be sure to cover the hook
and lace with thread, it's what gives the fly its color.
2. Wrap the lace tightly to just behind the hook eye.
3. Tie off and trim.
4. Dub a collar of coarse dubbing. Don't make it too big, just enough to fill in over
the thread that tied the lace off.
5. Whip finish, trim thread and cement.
In rivers or streams, fish this fly near the bottom by adding lead putty or a small
split shot to your leader near the tippet knot. In lakes, fish it near weed beds
suspended below a strike indicator.
Midges are so plentiful, even the largest trout will feed on them. To most, it
seems strange that any large fish would zero in on such a small meal, but if
you've ever eaten popcorn shrimp you know how small things can add up to a
mighty big meal. And so it is with midges; they are so plentiful, they add up to a
large meal and are the mainstay of many fish throughout the year.
[ HOME ]
Part Eleven

All Time Favorites - Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail
By Al Campbell
If you had to pick the most popular nymphs of all time, you'd be hard pressed to
find two nymphs more popular than the Pheasant Tail and Hare's Ear. I would
venture that more fish have been caught on these two nymphs than any other
ten nymphs combined. The secret to their success is probably in the fact that
these nymphs do such a good job of imitating a wide variety of aquatic nymph
forms.
The Hare's Ear is a good pattern to imitate a caddis larva case or a mayfly
nymph. Don't stop there though, it also does a good job imitating a stonefly
nymph or damsel fly nymph. I guess it's success is due to the fact it doesn't look
exactly like anything, but it does look a lot like everything in the nymph world.
Add the fact you can use dyed hair and synthetic fibers in the dubbing mix, and
you can produce a nymph that looks like almost anything.
The Pheasant Tail nymph is almost as versatile as the Hare's Ear. Substitute
dubbing for the peacock herl in the thorax area, or use bleached or dyed
pheasant tail feathers, and you can make a nymph that looks like anything you
want to imitate.
That's right, I suggested substituting materials. These are basic, standard

patterns, but you have the freedom to alter them to meet your needs. That's
why so many people take up fly tying in the first place; they can create flies that
better fit their needs by changing a standard pattern a little. You are in control
here. It's your fly, and you have the freedom to make it any way you want to, as
long as you aren't tying for commercial purposes. (Commericial tyers must
consistantly produce the same fly the buyer ordered.) So get creative if you
want, you might be surprised by the results.
Hares Ear - List of materials:
Hook: Wet fly, regular or 1x long. Eagle Claw L063; Mustad 9671; Tiemco
5262; Daiichi 1710.
Tail: Guard hairs from a hare's mask (the face and ears of a hare -rabbit).
Body: Coarse dubbing from a hare's mask or a mix of hair and synthetic
fibers.
Thorax: Dubbing, may be the same as the body or a different shade or

texture of dubbing.
Wing case: Fibers from a turkey tail feather or any similar feather.
Rib: Gold wire. (Copper wire can be used to add a different effect.)
Thread - 6/0 or 8/0, color as desired for effect, traditional is black or brown.
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread on the hook. Clip a small patch of hair from a hare's mask and
remove some of the long guard hairs. Save the rest of the hair for later, and tie in the
long guard hairs as a tail. The tail should be approximately half as long as the hook
shank.
2. Tie down the gold ribbing wire to the hook.
3.Blend some hair from the face and ears of a hare's mask, leaving the guard hairs
in with the under-fur. Dub a body approximately half the hook shank long.
4. Wrap the gold wire around the body, evenly ribbing the body into segments. Tie
off the wire and trim.
5. Select 6 to 10 fibers from the tail feather of a turkey or a similar feather to serve
as a wing case..
6. Tie in the wing case on top of the hook as shown.
7. Dub a thick thorax of the same dubbing you used for the body.
8. Pull the wing case tightly over the thorax and tie off behind the hook eye.
9. Trim the wing case fibers, build the head, whip finish and cement the head.
Brush the body and thorax with an old toothbrush to pick out the dubbing a little and
make the fly fuzzy.
Pheasant Tail - List of materials:
Hook: Wet fly, regular or 1x long. Eagle Claw L063; Mustad 9671; Tiemco
5262; Daiichi 1710.
Tail: Three to six fibers from a pheasant tail feather.
Body: Six to ten fibers from a pheasant tail feather.
Rib: Copper wire. (Gold wire can be used if desired.)
Thorax: Three or four strands of peacock herl. (The coarse fibers from a
peacock tail feather)
Wing case: Pheasant tail fibers, (an extension of the body material).
Legs: Pheasant tail fibers, (an extension of the wing case).
Thread - 6/0 or 8/0. Color as desired (traditionally black or brown).
Tying steps:
1. Start thread. Remove three to six fibers from a pheasant tail feather and tie in
as a tail.
Tail should be approximately 1/2 to 2/3 as long as the hook shank.
2. Tie in ribbing wire.
3.Select six to ten pheasant tail fibers and tie down to the hook, tips first.
4. Wrap the pheasant tail fibers forward to approximately 2/3 of the hook shank.
Tie the fibers down but don't trim them.
5. Rib the body with the wire, wrapping the wire the reverse direction you wrapped
the body.
6.Fold the fibers you used for the body back toward the hook bend and tie down.
7. Tie in three or four peacock tail fibers (herl) for the thorax.
8. Wrap the peacock herl to form a thorax. Tie off the herl and trim.
9. Grab the pheasant tail fibers you folded back in step 6, and pull them over the
thorax to form a wing case. Tie the fibers off behind the hook eye, but don't trim.
10. Split the pheasant tail fibers into two bunches, tying each bunch back along
the sides of the hook to form two clumps of legs, one on each side of the hook.
11. Trim each leg clump at approximately the back of the thorax. Whip finish the fly
and cement the head.
You can modify each of these flies by adding a bead head or changing some of
the materials or colors.
By now, you've learned some tying skills, so it's time to get a little creative. It's
one thing to tie a fly, but entirely another to design a fly. In the first case, you
are merely tying someone else's creation. In the second case, you are creating
a fly that is similar to something else, but designed to meet your needs.
There's nothing wrong with tying these flies on a longer or shorter hook,
substituting hair for feather or feather for hair, or using synthetic blends or
fibers in the body or thorax. For instance, a flashback nymph replaces the wing
case material with a piece of pearlescent tinsel.
You've worked hard to learn the skills you have, now it's time to use them
creatively. You might be surprised by the results you can obtain from a little
creative experimentation.
[ HOME ]
Part Twelve

Hackle and the Woolly Worm
By Al Campbell
Several individuals have mentioned that this series is a good substitution for
formal fly tying lessons or a good fly tying book. I can't agree with that thought.
In my opinion, there is no substitution for formal lessons if they are taught right.
Likewise, there is no substitution for a good fly tying book. This series is
designed to provide a detailed map to fill the gaps that those two methods don't
have the time or space to fill.
To keep the costs affordable, books must be limited to a certain amount of

pages. And, the time allowed for formal tying lessons limits the scope of those
lessons to the bare necessities and basic patterns. Hopefully, for those of you
who don't have access to formal lessons, this will do the job for now, but I
would encourage lessons for those of you who can obtain them.
Authors like Randy Kaufmann, Skip Morris, Jack Dennis and Dick Talleur to
name a few, lend worlds of information to your skills that can be found nowhere
else. I personally own and refer to books by these authors and many others. I
also subscribe to every fly tying magazine I can find. There is no substitution for
a good reference manual. There is no substitution for quality instruction in any
of its forms.
Please keep this in mind when you consider passing up one form of instruction
because you have another form handy. You will never know the value of that
jewel you may be passing up. I encourage you to dig and prod for any form of
information you can find on the subject of fly tying, and fly fishing for that
matter, whether it be here or elsewhere.
Now, on to this week's tying!
One of the items we use in fly tying on many flies is hackle. Hackle is the fuzzy
stuff on the front of most flies, especially dry flies.
Depending on how the hackle is applied to the fly, it will help it float or help it
sink. We'll look at the three most common hackle wrapping techniques this
week. You'll see the difference, and what you learn this week will be used often
in the weeks ahead.
Hackle on a fly is created by wrapping feathers (usually from the neck or saddle
of a rooster) around a hook.
Most of the time when we refer to hackle, we are talking about the hackle on
the fly, but sometimes we are talking about the feathers used to create the
hackled effect. Since hackle feathers vary in quality and type, we need to look
at some of the differences.
You can buy hackle in several forms. Sometimes you'll find it sown together in a
bunch. This is called strung hackle, and it is often of a poor quality for anything
but streamers or woolly worms. Most of the time it is found on the skin, either in
a neck or saddle form. This is usually the best quality hackle, but it can be
defined more than that.
Hackle feathers have several qualities that make them suitable for dry fly, wet
fly or streamer uses. For dry flies, you want a long thin feather with short, stiff
barbules and a flexible stem. For wet flies, the feather can have softer barbules,
but they still need to be fairly short. For streamers, long, soft barbules are the
best.
Quality saddle hackles provide the best dry fly hackle, but are limited in the
sizes of hooks that can be used. They are much longer than neck feathers and
are more consistent in size from bottom to top. They have the highest barbule
count per inch, and the barbules are stiffer than those found on a neck feather.
A good neck from a bird that was raised for fly tying feathers (Metz, Hoffman,
etc.) will have a larger variety of feather sizes than a saddle, and is probably
more versatile for the beginner fly tyer. You need to be aware that all feathers
are not created equal. Good neck feathers will have similar characteristics to
saddle hackle feathers, they just aren't as nice to tie with. On the other hand,
some neck feathers are shorter and softer than others.
Cheaper necks and saddles have more web and softer barbules than good
quality necks and saddles from the better growers (notice the web and thin
barbules in feather on the left in the picture above).
Imported necks and saddles look like they cost less at first, but in the long run
they cost a lot more because you have to use up to four feathers to tie the
same fly you can tie with one quality neck feather. You can tie up to five good
dry flies with a quality saddle feather because they are much longer and have a
higher barbule count.
You also get more feathers and a greater size selection in a quality cape (neck
or saddle) than you get in an import. You'll tie more flies with one good half
neck than you'll tie with four import capes, and they'll be better balanced and
better floating flies.
So, let's tie a fly or two and see how it works. We'll tie the Woolly Worm several
ways and you'll see how the method of wrapping hackle is important to how it
looks and reacts when it hits the water.
List of materials:
Hook: Streamer 2xlong; Eagle Claw L058, Tiemco 5263, Mustad 9672, Daiichi
1720.
Body: Chenille, any color you wish.
Hackle: Saddle or neck, saddle is preferred. Color to match the body if desired.
Thread: 3/0, color to match body or black.
Rib: - Wire (used in one method of tying).
Tying steps:
Type 1 - Dry style.
1. Select a good neck or saddle feather (saddle is preferred). The length of

the barbules should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the hook gape. You can determine the
barbule length by wrapping the hackle around the bottom of the hook or
bending it near the hook.
2. Strip the fluff and web from the bottom of the feather. Trim the stem to
leave a short stem without barbules to tie to the hook.
3.Tie the stem of the feather to the back of the hook just in front of the bend,
curvature (dull side) facing up.
4. Tie in chenille to the bend.
5. Wrap chenille forward, form a thick, even body.
6. Tie off and trim. Leave room for a head.
7. Grasp the tip of the hackle feather with hackle pliers and wrap it evenly forward.
Be sure to keep the curvature (dull side) to the front as you wrap. This will keep the
curvature of the barbules forward and aid in the flotation qualities of the hackle.
8. When you reach the front, tie the hackle off, trim. Whip finish and cement the
head.
9. Notice how the barbules slope forward on the fly and the curve of each barbule
is forward? This is the proper method of applying a dry fly hackle.
If you tie a dry Woolly Worm in small sizes with grizzly hackle and peacock herl
for the body, it's called a Griffith's Gnat, an excellent midge imitation. Give it a
yellow body and brown hackle, and you have a fair hopper imitation. These are
hot bluegill flies too.
Tying steps:
Type 2 - Common Wet Style
1. Prepare a hackle feather as before. Pull some of the barbules down from
the tip as shown.
2. Tie the hackle feather in by the tip, curvature down.
3. Wrap a chenille body as before.
4. Wrap the hackle forward, keeping the curvature of the barbules (dull side)
toward the back of the hook.
5. Tie off hackle, trim, whip finish and cement. Notice how the barbules slope
toward the back of the fly and the curve of each barbule is back also? This is
the common way to tie a wet Woolly Worm.
For a more durable Woolly Worm, here is another method of tying this fly. It
sinks a little faster too.
Type 3 - Durable wet style.

Tying steps:
1. Tie a gold or copper ribbing wire to the hook.

2. Wrap a chenille body as before.
3.Tie a hackle feather to the front of the fly, curvature facing back.
4. Wrap the hackle evenly to the bend of the hook. Be sure to keep the curvature
of the barbules toward the back of the hook.
5. Keeping the hackle feather tight, wrap the ribbing wire forward over the hackle,
securing it to the hook.
6.Tie off the wire, trim, whip finish and cement the head.
7. Trim the hackle tip at the bend of the hook.
This last method of wrapping hackle is more durable than the others. You'll see
it again next week when we tie the Woolly Bugger. Practice all three methods of
hackling flies, they are building blocks to the rest of your fly tying education.
[ HOME ]
Part Thirteen
Woolly Bugger and Montana Nymph
By Al Campbell
We've worked with hackle, we've worked with chenille, let's take it another step.
Each step we take adds to our skills and expands our knowledge of fly tying.
The Woolly Bugger and Montana Nymph will continue that trend.
The woolly bugger is often used as a streamer, but tied in the right sizes and
colors, it makes a great crayfish, dragonfly nymph, egg cluster, salmon flesh or
leech imitation. It's the one fly that has probably hooked more big fish and more
species of fish than any other. Because it looks so edible to the fish, it
consistently fools trout, bass, salmon, pike and walleyes, not to mention a host
of panfish and saltwater species. You'll want to have a variety of these fish
catching morsels in your fly box at all times. Add black, gold and copper beads
to the head for a swimming action the fish can't resist.
List of materials:
Hook: Streamer 2xlong; Eagle Claw L058, Tiemco 5263, Mustad 9672,
Daiichi 1720.
Tail: Marabou - Black, olive, brown or any other color desired.
Body: Chenille, any color you wish, but black, orange, brown and olive are
most common.
Hackle: Saddle or neck, saddle is preferred. Color to match the body if

desired.
Thread: 3/0, color to match body or black.
Rib: Wire (gold, silver or copper).
Tying steps:
1. Tie a small bunch of marabou to the hook, length approximately the same as
the hook shank.
2. Tie in a ribbing wire.
3. Tie in and wrap a chenille body as in a woolly worm.
4. Tie a hackle feather to the front of the fly, curvature facing back.
5. Wrap the hackle evenly to the bend of the hook. Be sure to keep the curvature
of the barbules toward the back of the hook.
6. Keeping the hackle feather tight, wrap the ribbing wire forward over the hackle,
securing it to the hook.
7. Tie off the wire, trim, form a head.
8. Trim the hackle tip at the bend of the hook.
9. Whip finish and cement the head.
The Montana Nymph is a stonefly nymph imitation. It's easy to tie, and very
productive in waters that have a good stonefly population. Surprisingly, it's also
very productive in lakes and streams that don't have a good stonefly
population. If you substitute brown hackle, dark olive chenille for the body and
light olive chenille for the thorax, you have a great dragonfly nymph imitation.
The tails of the Montana nymph are hackle

tips from short spade hackles found on the
sides of necks. These hackles are also
used to supply fibers for dry fly tails.
The hackle wrapped around the thorax is

usually neck hackle from a lesser quality,
soft hackle neck. Soft hackle "breathes" better than stiff hackle providing a nice
action similar to the movement of the legs on a real nymph. Since that's what
this hackle is supposed to imitate, it makes sense to use soft hackle.
Materials List:
Hook: Nymph; Eagle Claw L063, Mustad 9671, Tiemco 5262, Daiichi 1710.
Tail: Two black, brown or olive hackle tips, usually from spade hackles.
Body: Black, brown or olive chenille.
Wing case: Chenille, an extension of the body chenille.
Thorax: Yellow, orange or olive chenille.
Hackle: Black, brown or olive neck hackle. Soft hackle is preferred.
Thread: 6/0 or 3/0, color to match body or black.
Tying steps:
1. Select two spade hackles for a tail and prepare them by stripping most of
the webbing and fluff from the stem, leaving them about the length of the hook
shank.
2. Arrange the hackle tips back to back, curvature away from each other and
tips even with each other.
3. Tie the tails to the hook, being careful to keep them on the sides of the
hook and the curvature facing away from each other. The tails should be about
1/2 as long as the hook shank.
4. Wrap a chenille body just a hair longer than half the hook shank. Tie the
chenille off on top of the hook, but don't trim.
5. Fold the body chenille back over the body and tie in a prepared soft neck
hackle, curvature down, tight against the body.
6. Tie in the chenille for the thorax tight against the body.
7. Wrap the thorax chenille forward, tie off behind the hook eye and trim.
8. Wrap the hackle forward, keeping the curvature of the barbules facing
back.
9. Grasp the body chenille you left hanging over the body and pull it over the
top of the thorax to form a wing case. Tie the wing case off and trim.
10. Whip finish and cement.
Notice how using a neck hackle forms legs that are shorter in front than in
back? This is a common characteristic of most real nymphs too. Take a good
look at the proportions of this and other nymphs and try to keep those
proportions in you own flies. Practice will help you become consistent.
Adding a bead head to any nymph will help it find the bottom areas of a stream
or lake faster. It also adds a little flash that often triggers a strike. You can also
place a bead in the thorax area for a different effect if you wish.
[ HOME ]
Part Fourteen
Marabou Damsel Nymph
By Al Campbell
If you live near a lake or slow moving stream, you likely see damsel flies and
maybe dragon flies near your home. These are aquatic insects too. In lakes,
they make up a large part of the diet of insects the fish eat. In fact, you might be
surprised at how important they are.
During the summer of 1997, several biologists from South Dakota completed a
project of identifying the food sources of the major game fish in a sampling of
local lakes. What they found should open the eyes of many local fishermen.
You would do well to pay attention to their findings as well.
For the months of June, July and August, the most common item in the
stomachs of trout, bass (small mouth and largemouth), walleye and panfish like
crappie, perch and bluegills was a mix of adult and nymph damsel and dragon
flies. Yes, I said walleyes. And, the nymphs were still prominent in stomach
samplings during the spring, fall and winter months. Reason enough for me to
fish a damsel or dragon fly nymph on the local lakes.
Even the biologists were surprised that fish noted as minnow eaters like
walleyes, crappie and largemouth bass were eating more nymphs than
minnows. Another thing that caught their attention was the number of northern
pike that had a fairly large percentage of damsel and dragon fly nymphs in their
stomachs. Seems these fish are opportunistic too.
Why not? Dragon and damsel flies live in the weeds and grow to meal sized
treats fairly fast. Fish like to look for food in the weeds, so why wouldn't they
eat the most common big nymph in their dining room? Maybe the pike think of
them as desert?
With this in mind, maybe it's a good idea to have a few imitations of these two
treats in your fly box. You might be surprised at how easy they are to tie. It only
takes a few materials to do the job.
Before we get to the tying steps, it has been brought to my attention that there
is a web site that has hook conversion charts and fly patterns that you might
enjoy looking at. As you learn the basic techniques of each style of fly, you
might enjoy trying a few others in the same category that use the same
techniques. When you have a moment, check out this site.
Now, to the nymph patterns you panfishermen have been looking for.
List of materials: Marabou Damsel:
Hook: Nymph, 1xlong; Mustad 9671, Tiemco 5262 or 200R, Eagle Claw L063
or equivalent. Size 10 to 18.
Thread: Gudebrod 3/0 black, brown or olive, or equivalent.
Thorax: Marabou, same as body.
Rib: Clear Angler's Choice Body Stuff, midge Larva Lace, V-Rib or equivalent.
Wing Case: Strip of fibers from a turkey tail feather or pheasant tail feather. If
you want some flash, you can use pearl tinsel for a wing case.
Eyes: Pearl or black plastic craft bead string, brass bead chain or melted
monofiliment.
Tying steps:
1. Start thread and tie rib material to the hook.
2. Attach a pair of eyes to the front of the hook using a figure 8 wrap. (If the
eyes turn a little on the hook, you can straighten them out by hand before you
continue.)
Note the size of the eyes!
Make plenty of wraps to ensure the eyes stay firmly in place. A drop of super
glue will help hold the eyes in place.
3. Attach a small bunch of marabou to the hook, tying it down to the place
where the body will end (approximately 1/3 hook shank length back from the
eye). It should extend beyond the hook bend about half the length of the hook
shank. You can either tie it down where the body will end (see picture) or tie it
down from the eyes to that point, whichever is easier for you. I usually use the
thread tie down point as a visual reference for body dimensions, thus I tie it in
where the thorax begins.
4. Wrap the ribbing material forward creating even segments, tie off at the place
where the thorax will start.
5. Tie the marabou down to behind the eyes if you haven't done this already.
6. Tie down the wing case material at the back of the thorax area.
7.Wrap the remaining marabou in the thorax area, using as much of it as you can
to create a full, thick thorax.
8.Tie the marabou off behind the eyes and trim the excess.
9. Pull the wing case material over the thorax and tie down behind the eyes with
four to six wraps of thread.
10. Pull the wing case material over and between the eyes and tie it down at the
hook eye.
11. Trim the wing case material, create a smooth thread finish, whip finish and
cement the thread. Using an old tooth brush, brush the marabou thorax gently to fluff
it out.
12. Your finished fly should look like this.
I use marabou for this fly because it "breathes" so well in the water. If you wish,
dyed ostrich herl will work the same way. Or, if you want to vary it a little,
maybe ostrich herl for the thorax and marabou for the body? It's your fly,
experiment a little and find the style you like.
Dragon fly nymphs are fatter than damsel fly nymphs. You can use this pattern
though by wrapping a fat underbody of yarn, similar in color to your marabou,
after you attach the eyes and rib, but before you attach the marabou. The rest
of the tying steps remain the same except trimming the tail (dragon nymphs
have very short tails). I leave the tail a little long and trim it on the lake after I
catch a dragon nymph in a nymph net, just to be sure of dimensions. Hey, the
fish don't seem to mind if you don't trim it as long as it's about the same size as
the natural.
Have you noticed how much your skills are improving? It's easy if you practice a
little. Have fun with damsel and dragon nymphs this week. Next week we shift
gears again. (Shhhh, it's a secret.) You'll need to have that dry fly hackle then.
[ HOME ]
Part Fifteen
The Basic Dry Fly
By Al Campbell
For all you dry fly purists, the time has come to fulfill your tying destiny. This
week we begin tying dry flies. In fact, we'll tie a lot of dry flies over the next few
weeks, but first we need to look at what it takes to make a dry fly float.
Some dry flies float because they are created from materials that float. CDC is
a feather from the preen gland area of a duck that has natural floatation
qualities. It floats by trapping air bubbles in the tiny fibers that extend from the
tiny shafts of each feather fiber. If you put something on the CDC that mats
down the little fibers, it won't capture air bubbles and it will sink.
Closed cell foam floats like a cork and is a great material for fly tying. The only
real problem here is that it's so big, it's only useful in large flies like hoppers and
crickets. If all you want to tie is hoppers, your search has ended. But, if you
want to tie the rest of the patterns, you need to learn the other type of
floatation.
Most dry flies float by the miracle of nature called surface tension. The surface
of any body of water has a tension that will float a needle if it lands on the water
lightly enough. This same tension forms a barrier the pupa and emerging
nymphs of most aquatic insects must break though to "hatch" into adulthood.
Standard dry flies are light and have many surfaces that rest on the surface
tension (also known as surface film) and support the weight of the fly. As long
as the materials the fly is made of don't absorb water, the fly will usually float a
long time on the surface tension of the water. If the fly tilts to the eye of the
hook, is pulled through the surface tension by the current, or absorbs water, it
will sink. That's why proper proportions and using the right technique to apply
the hackle and tail are so important.
Properly tied, a dry fly will float forever as long as another force doesn't force it
through the surface tension. So, let's take a look at the parts and proportions of
standard dry flies.
First, there are certain parts of a dry fly you need to know. The tail is usually
made from hackle fibers or stiff hair. It should be about the same length as the
hook shank.
Depending on the type of dry fly, the body should be between 1/2 and 2/3 the
length of the hook shank and tapered slightly to look like the taper of a real
insect. To minimize water absorption, the body should be made from a fine,
non-water-absorbing dubbing material. Angler's Choice Pure Silk dubbing is the
nicest dubbing material I've used for dry flies. It's super fine, twists very
smoothly around the thread, and won't absorb water.
The hackle should be stiff and free of web. Webbing in the hackle will absorb
water and cause the fly to sink. As a general rule, the hackle barbules should
be approximately 1 1/2 times the hook gape. You can measure this using a
Griffin hackle gauge,
or by pulling a hackle feather up under the hook and looking at the length of the
barbules.
The hackle barbules should generally curve toward the eye of the hook to
prevent the fly from tipping on the hook eye.
There's a difference between quality hackle and cheap hackle. The bargain
hackle feather on the left has longer barbules, less barbules, the barbules are
softer, the feather is webby and shorter. It won't work very well as a dry fly
hackle. The feather on the right is excellent hackle material with a high barbule
count, short stiff barbules, less web, and it's longer.
Quality saddle hackles are a great choice for dry flies if you're tying a large
quantity of the same size fly and you can find a saddle with hackles in that size
range (usually size 10 to 18).
Since saddle hackles are longer, you can tie as many as four or five flies with
one feather. You can see by the picture, it's a far better bargain to buy quality
than economy. All three of these feathers will tie the same size fly. For the best
economy, buy a quality neck with its full range of sizes or a quality saddle if you
are tying a lot of flies in one size.
The wings on many flies are there to please the angler and serve no other
purpose. In some cases, the wings serve to make the fly more visible to the
angler. In a few cases, the wings are there to support the fly in the surface
tension. We'll look at those flies later.
Tied properly, standard dry flies rest on the surface tension by balancing on the
hackle and tail. The more hackle and tail that come into contact with the
surface tension, the more support the fly has and the better it floats. The weight
of the hook bend serves to keep the fly riding upright. You should be able to
draw a line between the hackle tips and the tail and find the hook bend just
touching the water's surface.
In the case of thorax flies (also considered standard), the fly rests on the wide
stance of hackle that has been trimmed on the bottom to increase the amount
of hackle in contact with the surface tension. The tail of thorax flies is usually
tied in a V shape to increase the amount of tail fiber in contact with the surface
tension and add balance to the fly. In this case, the hook point and bend
penetrate the surface, but the increased contact with the surface tension that
the hackle and tail gives the fly keeps it on top of the water.
Although thorax flies tend to look more natural to the fish, it's nice to have a
variety of flies in your fly box. Since wings usually aren't necessary to fool a
fish, the first fly we tie won't have wings. This will give us a chance to work on
basic proportions for a while.
List of materials: Gray Dun
Hook: Standard dry fly; Mustad 94840, Tiemco 100, Eagle Claw L059, Daiichi
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Thread: 6/0 to 10/0 Gudebrod or equivalent, color to match body or black.
Body: Angler's Choice pure silk dubbing, mink under-fur, muskrat under-fur, or
any other synthetic or natural fine dubbing. Color to match the body of the
insect you want to imitate.
Hackle: Quality neck or saddle hackle, webby parts removed and 1/16" of the
remaining stem stripped of barbules. Color to match natural insect or any
pattern you want to tie. (In this case, a gray dun.)
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread and tie in a tail about the same length as the hook shank.
A slight upward pressure on the tail fibers while tying them down will minimize
the tendency for the fibers to turn around the hook.
2. Wrap a dubbed body to approximately 1/3 of the hook shank back from the
hook eye. Create a smooth tapered body.
3. Tie in a prepared hackle, curvature (dull side) facing up or forward.
4. Using a hackle pliers, wrap the hackle forward, dull side facing forward. Keep
the wraps even. It doesn't take a killer grip to get the hackle to wrap tightly.
5. When you get to just behind the hook eye, tie the hackle off and trim. If you tied
any hackle barbules down over the eye, trim them. You can carefully singe any
hackle fibers in the hook eye with a lighter and a hackle guard over the hook eye to
prevent singeing the rest of the hackle.
6. Build a smooth head, whip finish and cement.
Notice how the hackle barbules are curved slightly forward? This will help
Notice how the hackle barbules are curved slightly forward? This will help
prevent the fly from tipping onto the hook eye. It also keeps the fly balanced
between the hackle and tail.
We'll play with wings next week, but for now practice tying standard dry flies to
get the proportions right. Most beginners use too much dubbing and crowd the
hook eye. Carefully practice proper proportions this week so your future dry
flies will be based on sound tying techniques.
[ HOME ]
Part Sixteen
Split Tails, Wings and Thorax Flies
By Al Campbell
Using the basic dry fly we learned last time as a reference pattern, we will
expand on that learned skill to fan tails and split tails. We'll also tie our first wing
this week. Each fly is a stepping stone to the next fly. Each fly will add a new
dimension to your tying skills.
I mentioned split tails last time. The advantage to split tails is increased
buoyancy and balance. They also look a lot like the split tails that occur on
mayflies. A twist on split tails is a fan tail. Our first fly this time will have a fan
tail. Otherwise, it's the same fly as the one we tied last time. We're just adding
to what we already know.
You are also going to learn how to use a rotary hackle plier. Nothing matches a
rotary hackle plier for speed and control once you've learned how and when to
use one. I've tried several models of rotary hackle pliers and like the Griffin one
far better than any of the others I've tried. It just holds the hackle better and
rotates smoother than the rest.
I believe I mentioned before that I'm a little unconventional at times. Last week
you learned the conventional method of wrapping hackle. This week we'll try
something new. Rotary hackle pliers are a little unconventional. Our second fly
this week uses a method of wrapping hackle that's even more unconventional.
Hey, don't run away just yet; it isn't all that bad. Like I said before, I'll try to pass
on several ways to do the same thing if I can. Who knows, you might like the
unconventional methods more than the conventional ones.
On with our first fly, a fan tailed gray dun. Of course, you can change colors to
match a blue wing olive or Hendrickson if you wish; the steps remain the same.
That's the beauty of fly tying; you can often just change the materials to make a
different fly. It will look different, but the steps used in tying it will be the same.
Somehow, I think this puzzle just got a little easier to solve.
List of materials: Fan Tailed Gray Dun
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread and dub a small (very small) ball of dubbing on the back of
the hook where the bend starts.
2. Measure and tie in your tail materials, keeping a slight upward pressure on
the tail until you reach the dubbing ball at the hook bend; then let it fan around
the ball trying to keep it even on both sides of the ball. Don't let the tail spin to
the bottom of the hook. If it does, straighten it by pulling up on the wayward
fibers.
3. Dub a smooth body about 2/3 of the hook shank long. (Just like you did
last time.)
4. Tie in a prepared and measured hackle feather just like you did on the first dry
fly. Move the thread to just behind the hook eye, leaving room for the head.
5. Twist a little more dubbing around the thread and taper it back to where the
hackle is tied in. This will simulate the thorax. (Real mayflies have a pronounced
thorax where the wings are attached, so why not our imitation?) Leave the thread
where the hackle is tied in.
6. Grasp the hackle with the rotating hackle pliers and wrap it evenly over the
dubbing to just behind the hook eye, leaving room for the head. Notice how fast you
can wrap the hackle with rotating pliers?
7. Keeping tension on the hackle with one hand, bring the thread forward and over
the hook in front of the hackle, then over the hackle to tie it down. Tie the hackle
down with several wraps of thread.
8. Trim the hackle, whip finish and cement.
Notice how the tail is fanned in this top view?
If you prefer a split tail, just clip the barbules in the middle of the tail even with
the dubbing ball. Now, that wasn't too hard was it?
Most fly tying books take you through a myriad list of standard dry flies before
they look at thorax flies. I do things a little different. Thorax flies are relatively
easy to tie, and they work wonders on the stream. With that in mind, let's take a
look at a thorax fly.
You'll notice that I leave a lot of options open to you when it comes to material
selections. The important thing is to learn how to do the steps, not how to
match some particular pattern. You can pick up pattern books almost
anywhere. They usually assume you know how to perform the steps and list the
materials to match a particular fly. Here, you'll learn how to perform the steps,
and you can select the materials based on the things you have handy or the
particular pattern you want to match.
Fly tying is all about the ability to create something with your own hands that
will fool the fish. If you learn the skills it takes to tie a particular type of fly, you
can use those skills to tie any of the others that fall into that category, and you
can also create a few patterns of your own design. In that sense, a thorax fly is
a thorax fly, and a dry fly is a dry fly, etc.. Keep it simple, life's too short to make
things more complicated than they already are. This is supposed to be fun.
This next fly is a somewhat different type of Hendrickson thorax, although you
can modify the materials to match almost anything you want to match as long
as it's a mayfly. This is a good fly to learn some tying skills on.
Thorax flies get their name from the pronounced thorax the flies have. Hey, we
already know something about that, don't we? The wing and hackle are tied
closer to the middle of the hook on a thorax fly than on most standard dry flies.
Although the very first thorax flies used a fully rounded hackle, I like to trim the
hackle flat or in a V on the bottom of the fly. This increases the amount of
hackle that comes into contact with the surface tension, and theoretically
increases the buoyancy of the fly. It also places the body of the fly in or near
the surface of the water, something that's more natural in appearance than
standard dry flies. Thorax flies are usually tied with a V-tail. We'll do that too.
Materials:
Hook: Standard dry fly; Mustad 94840, Tiemco 100, Eagle Claw L059,
Daiichi 1180. Size 10 - 22.
Tail: Hackle fibers, moose hair, any other fine, stiff hair, synthetic tailing
material. Color to match the natural insect you're imitating or the hackle.
(Hackle fibers work best.)
Body: Angler's Choice pure silk dubbing, mink under-fur, muskrat under-fur,
or any other synthetic or natural fine dubbing. Color to match the body of the
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread, leave the tag end of the thread about 4 inches long. Wrap
thread to the hook bend with the tag on top of the hook.
2. Select some hackle fibers for the tail and tie them to the hook as you did in the
standard dry fly tail. Grasp the tag of thread and pull it up through the center of the
tail fibers and forward over the hook shank. Tie the tag of thread down to the hook
shank securely.
3. This will split the tail into two even tails.
4. Select a wood duck flank colored feather from a Hungarian Partridge skin.
5. Strip the fuzz from the bottom of the feather and secure it where the wing will be
tied in (about 1/3 to 2/5 hook shank back from the hook eye) with a couple of loose
wraps of thread.
6. Slip the wing feather through the loose wraps until it is the right length for a
wing (1 1/2 times the hook gap). If you need to measure this, use a piece of paper or
mark the feather stem with a marker before you tie it in. Tighten the thread wraps,
finish tying the stem down and trim the stem. Secure the butt of the wing feather with
more thread wraps.
7. Lift the wing and pull it back toward the hook bend. Make about a dozen wraps
of thread in front of the wing to hold it upright.
8. Wrap the thread around the base of the wing a few times to keep the wing
bunched together. You don't need to pull the thread too tight or it will slip off the
wing. Wrap the thread just tight enough to secure the wing base. (This is also how
you secure the wing post for a parachute fly, except you wrap the post several times
for a parachute wing.)
9. Your wing should now look like this.
10. Dub a body forward to behind the hook eye. Notice how the body is thicker
near the wing? This is true in real mayflies too.
11. Tie in a hackle feather, dull side forward, at the front of the body.
12. Wrap the hackle back toward the hook bend with a standard hackle plier until
it's about the same distance behind the wing as it is in front of it; then wrap it back
toward the hook eye. Practice wrapping the hackle evenly so you get the same
amount of hackle behind the wing as you have in front of the wing.
13. Tie the hackle off and trim the hackle feather. By wrapping the hackle this
way, you build a hackle that supports the fly evenly, preventing it from tipping on the
head or settling on the tail.
14. Build a head with the thread, whip finish and cement the head.
15. Trim the hackle flat or in a V on the bottom.
16. I usually trim the hackle flat on the bottom rather than forming a V, but it's your
choice.
Practice these techniques, we'll build on what you learned next time.
Experiment a little with wing materials, tail styles and body colors. Remember,
you can change the body and wing colors to match any number of mayfly
hatches you want to imitate. Have fun and remember, this is your fly, you can
tie it with any method that works and you want to use.
[ HOME ]
Part Seventeen
Turkey Flats and Hackle Tip Wings
By Al Campbell
How are your tying skills coming along? Do you realize how far you've
progressed since we started this series? Hopefully you've been practicing
enough so that each new challenge is easier than you thought it would be. This
session, we'll start with something familiar and progress to a new challenge.
We've already tied a standard dry fly, split tails a couple of ways and tied a
thorax fly. What if we tied a fly that has a split tail, hackle trimmed like a thorax
fly and a thorax fly wing, but positioned the wing and hackle closer to the front
of the hook like it is in a standard dry fly? Would that be considered
unconventional? Of course it would, but then again, I'm a little unconventional
anyway, so let's do it.
If you look at a real mayfly, you'll notice that in some species of mayflies, the
wings are attached forward of the regular attachment point for a conventional
thorax pattern.
In others, the wings are attached to the real fly in the same place as in a regular
thorax pattern.
Therefore, I tie flies with the wings attached in both places so I can match the
hatch of the day.
I guess I prefer to match the hatch more than I prefer to be conventional. Our
first fly this week is an unconventional twist on the conventional thorax fly. It
uses a conventional wing and tail, but the wing and hackle are moved forward
slightly to match those mayflies with forward attached wings.
Conventional thorax flies use turkey flats for wings.
Notice that the top of the flat is flat? That's how the feather gets its name. This
type of feather forms a nice wing with the tips of the wing being flat, just like in
the feather.
List of materials: Gray Dun
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Wing: Turkey flat - either a cluster of fibers from a flat, or the center of the
feather. Try to keep the amount of wing material proportionate to the hook size.
Length of the wing should be about 1 1/2 times the hook gap.
(Hackle fibers work best.)
Tying steps:
1. Start the thread and create a split tail. We've done this before, so I won't
show you how to do it again.
2. Select a cluster of fibers from a turkey flat, measure for length and tie in
approximately 1/4 hook shank back from the eye of the hook.
3. Trim the excess wing material and cover the ends with thread.
4. Pull the wing material back and make about a dozen wraps of thread in front of
the wing to keep it upright.
5. Wrap the thread a few times around the base of the wing to keep it bunched
together.
6. Dub a body and attach the hackle, dull side forward. (I've shown you several
ways to hackle a fly. You may use any of the methods, but I'm going to show the
rotating hackle plier method again here).
7. Dub from the head space back to the hackle, forming a smooth thorax. Leave
the thread at the hackle tie-in point.
8. Using a Griffin rotating hackle plier, wrap the hackle forward, back and forward
again. Keep the hackle even on both sides of the wing.
9. Keeping tension on the hackle, bring the thread forward through the hackle,
over the hook in front of the hackle, then over the hackle tying it down.
10. Trim the hackle tip, form a head, whip finish and cement. Trim the hackle flat
or in a V on the bottom of the fly.
Another popular style of dry flies uses hackle tips for wings. I'll show you one
method of attaching hackle tip wings this time, and another method next time.
For the gentleman who asked about gray drake patterns, this and several of the
previous patterns should fill that need. Just match the body and wing colors
with the appropriately colored materials and create a gray drake fly that suits
your needs.
Materials:
Hook: Standard dry fly; Mustad 94840, Tiemco 100, Eagle Claw L059,
Daiichi 1180. Size 10 - 22.
Body: Angler's Choice pure silk dubbing, mink under-fur, muskrat under-fur,
or any other synthetic or natural fine dubbing. Color to match the body of the
Wings: Hackle tips, color to match the wings of the natural insect you want to
imitate. Length of the wings should be about 1 1/2 times the hook gap.
Tying steps:
1. Create a tail of your choice, standard or split. Since this is a standard type of fly,
I used a standard tail.
2. Select a pair of matching hackles and measure for wing length. If you prefer,
mark the stems of the feathers at the proper length.
3. Turn the hackle tips so that the backs (shiny sides) face each other (curvature
facing out).
4. Slip the hackle tips over the hook (one on each side of the hook) dull sides
facing out, and secure with two loose wraps in front of the hackle tips.
5. Grasp the stems of the hackle tips below the hook and keep the hackle tips in
place while you make several more loose wraps behind the hackle tips.
6. Keeping the hackle tips even with each other and upright, pull the stems of the
hackle tips down until they reach the right length above the hook to make the wings.
Pull on the thread, cinching the hackle tips to the hook. Make several more wraps in
front of and behind the wings to secure them in place, then lift the stems up under
the hook and tie them off to the hook. Trim the excess stem material.
7. Dub a body and attach a hackle. (Again, you can use any hackling method you
wish, but I'm using the conventional method.)
8. Dub a thorax. (Although dubbing a thorax isn't exactly conventional for most dry
flies, I feel it makes the fly look more natural, so I use it on many of my dry flies. It's
your fly, therefore it's also your choice.)
9. Wrap the hackle trying to keep it relatively even on both sides of the wings. Tie
off and trim the hackle, build a head, whip finish and cement.
10. Your finished fly should look like this from the front. Notice how the wings are
split (divided) on the sides of the hook? This is the simplest method I know to keep
the wings divided and upright.
It takes a few flies worth of practice to get the wings to do what you want them
to do, so spend some time practicing. Work on proportions, tie up a few hackle
tip winged flies with a thorax design, split the tails on some of them. It's always
your fly, so tie it the way you want it to look.
[ HOME ]
Part Eighteen

The Adams
By Al Campbell
The Adams is probably the most popular dry fly of all time. It might be the
simple name that draws people to this fly, but I would bet it is results that keep
them coming back. This is one very productive fly. It matches most mayfly
hatches well enough to work most of the time, and it can be tied in any variety
of sizes to fit most needs.
You already have the skills to tie a regular Adams, except you haven't wrapped
two hackles on the same fly yet, and that's how the Adams is tied. It isn't hard to
wrap two hackles on one fly (or four for that matter), you just have to try it to
know you can do it. We will also tie our first hair tail and learn another method
of tying hackle tip wings to a hook. See, we're learning something new every
week.
I mentioned several weeks ago that the hackle floats the fly by resting on the
surface tension of the water. If you increase the amount of hackle on a fly, you
can fish it in faster water because of the increased buoyancy created by the
extra hackle in contact with the surface tension of the water.
Many "western" flies have more hackle on them than their eastern counterparts
because western waters tend to be faster on average than eastern waters.
Many of the flies I tie have a decidedly western "flavor" in that they are heavier
hackled than those used in calmer waters.
As we progress from the Adams to the Royal Wulff (later) and the Humpy (even
farther away) you will notice the heavier hackle on these western style flies. If
you live in an area that has calm water, you might find these heavier hackled
flies a bit "thick" for your water. Don't give up yet, most patterns can be adapted
to any type of water by tying them with more or less hackle.
If you feel you need to adapt this or any fly to a calmer type of water, just
extend the body slightly, and wrap less hackle on a shorter portion of the hook
shank. That means less hackle wraps, and a fly that floats in slow water but
would sink in fast water. That wasn't too hard was it?
Of course, some flies were designed for fast water, and adapting them to slow
water would be a disaster. Wulff, Humpy and Stimulator patterns must have
heavy hackle to look or perform right, and therefore are specialty flies designed
for fast water. Likewise, some flies were designed for slow water, (Catskill dry
flies for example) and adding hackle to them to increase the floatation qualities
of the fly would be grounds for expulsion from the ranks of purist Catskill fly
fishing clubs.
The Adams is one fly that can be adapted to almost any type of water. It can
also be tied as a thorax fly with various types of wing material, and several
types of tails. If you're like me, you won't be content to merely tie the traditional
dressing, but would rather experiment a little with the skills you have learned to
this point. You might also want to tie this fly in some heavy hackled versions for
riffles and pocket water, and some lightly hackled versions for calmer water.
Experiment with different types and colors of body materials and wing materials.
It won't be an Adams anymore, but it will probably catch fish. That's the beauty
of tying your own flies, you can create, modify, alter, adjust and refine any
pattern you wish, and still use the same basic tying steps you would use on
another fly.
Let's get to this week's pattern. If you don't have the right hackle for this pattern,
use the hackle you have with the same tying steps as a form of practice. For
instance, if you use dun hackle and wings, you simply create a Gray Dun
instead of an Adams.
List of materials: The Adams
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Body: Angler's Choice pure silk dubbing, muskrat under-fur, or any other
synthetic or natural fine dubbing.
Wing: Grizzly hackle tips from spade hackles or the hackle found at the top of
the neck. Hen hackle tips also work well. Length of the wing should be about 1
1/2 times the hook gap.
remaining stem stripped of barbules. One grizzly and one brown hackle. (Be
careful to match the length of the barbules of the hackle feathers.)
Tying steps:
1. Cut about a dozen moose hairs from a patch of moose neck or body hair,
and drop them tip first in a hair stacker. Be sure to remove any short hairs and
under fur before you place the hairs in the stacker. (Pictured are Griffin hair
stackers. The short one is adjustable).
2. Tap the stacker on your table a few times to align the tips of the hairs. Tip
the stacker on its side and remove the cone from the stacker body. Your hairs
should appear as in the picture, the tips aligned with each other.
3. Tie in the hair tail, length about equal to the hook shank. Don't use too
much thread pressure near the bend of the hook or the hollow hair will flair or
be cut by the thread. Gentle pressure is all that's required to tie a tail in
properly.
4. Select two grizzly hackle tips, place them back to back (curvature facing out),
and align the tips.
5.Measure the hackle tips for length, lay them on the hook with the tips over the
eye of the hook (curvature facing out), and secure them to the hook with a few
gentle wraps of thread.
6. Gently pull the hackle tips back and wrap thread in front of the wing, tight to the
base of the wings. (Notice how I've tied down the loose hackle fibers that extend
over the eye of the hook? This will help prevent the wings from twisting.)
7.Trim the hackle fibers extending over the hook eye and the hackle stems that
extend over the back of the hook after you finish tying the wings in place. If your
wings moved around the hook slightly, upright them by hand by twisting them back in
place.
8. Finish tying the wing hackle stems and loose fibers down to the hook before
you start the body. If you need to, place a small drop of head cement near the base
of the wings to prevent them from turning around the hook.
9. Dub a body to the point shown.
10. Attach both hackles to the hook just in front of the body. If you wish, you can
dub the area around the wings to just behind the hook eye, but that is not the
traditional method.
11.Wrap the top hackle forward and tie off. You might want to trim the hackle add
a half hitch here to prevent mistakes while wrapping the second hackle.
12. Wrap the second hackle forward through the first hackle. Try to keep the
number of hackle wraps the same as you used with the first hackle. Tie off the
hackle after you wrap it.
13. Trim the hackle tips, form a head, whip finish and cement.
14. Your finished fly should look like this from the front. The curvature of the
hackle tip wings should be enough to separate them.
Practice this new method of placing hackle tip wings on your flies this week. A
little bit of practice and a gentle hand is all it takes to produce a professional
looking fly. If you do it right, your summer should be filled with results like this.
[ HOME ]
Part Nineteen

Royal Wulff
By Al Campbell
I doubt Lee Wulff knew how popular his Wulff series of flies would become
when he tied his first one. I'd bet his thoughts were focused on a fly that would
float like a cork in fast water, rather than popularity or fame.
The Wulff series of flies definitely float well in fast water. They are all popular,
but none is as popular as the Royal Wulff. In fact, I would label the Royal Wulff
as one of the most popular fast water flies of all time, and rightfully so. This fly
catches fish in fast water when other flies are ignored.
Another feature that adds to the popularity of the Royal Wulff is the white wings
that are easy for fishermen to see when other flies would disappear in the flow.
As age starts to creep up on you, you appreciate any fly that's easy to see.
Heck, I was grateful for visible flies even when I was in my teens. I'm just more
grateful for them now than I was back then.
If you want a fly that will catch fishermen, create a pretty fly. The Royal Wulff is
a pretty fly. If that pretty fly catches a lot of fish, it will be a big hit. The Royal
Wulff catches a lot of fish, so it's a big hit. However, the Royal Wulff doesn't
catch more fish than the other Wulff patterns, but because it is pretty, it catches
a lot more fishermen. That makes this one very popular fly.
As we learn how to tie the Royal Wulff, we will venture into the world of hair
wings. Hair wings are the most durable wings you can put on a fly. They are a
little more difficult to tie than the post wings you use in a thorax fly, but not too
difficult to master. If you are tying for yourself, you can use a post wing rather
than splitting the wings, but it's always nice to learn how to do it right.
One of the secrets to a nice looking hair wing is using fairly straight hair. Many
hair wings are tied from calf tails. If you are selecting a calf tail for wing
material, look carefully to choose the one with the straightest hair. Many calf
tails have curly hair that doesn't work too well as wing material. A better source
for white hair that's easier to use than calf tail is calf body hair. This hair is fairly
straight, but has the same qualities as calf tail hair when you use it for wings.
If you can find a source for white goat body hair, you will have the straightest
hair of all for wings. So far I haven't found many steady sources for white goat
hair, although. Hunter's Angling Supplies does offer kid goat in white and
assorted colors. They are also a source for Anglers Choice products (a sponsor
for this series). If you contact them, mention that you learned about them here.
The traditional Royal Wulff pattern includes red floss as part of the body. I've
found Anglers Choice Super Floss to be far superior to regular four strand
floss. This super floss stretches and won't fray like regular floss will. It's also
color fast and won't bleed or fade in your fly box. I always substitute super floss
whenever I can because of its superior qualities.
This is another "western" pattern that uses a fairly heavy hackle. It's important
to use high quality hackle if you want a fly that floats right. When possible,
saddle hackle is preferred to neck hackle for western flies, but sometimes size
dictates that you use a neck hackle. Any hackle you use should be of the best
quality you can afford.
List of materials: Royal Wulff
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Body: Angler's Choice red super floss and peacock herl.
Tail: Moose body hair.
Wing: White calf tail, calf body hair, goat hair or synthetic hair.
Hackle: Quality brown neck or saddle hackle, webby parts removed and 1/16"
of the remaining stem stripped of barbules.
Tying steps:
1. Create a moose body hair tail like you did last week when tying the Adams.
2. Select a fairly large bunch of white hair and comb out the short hairs and
fuzz. When you only have long hairs left, drop them tip first in a hair stacker and
even the tips of the hair. Then measure the wing for length (a little more than 1
1/2 times the hook gap) and tie down with a few loose wraps of thread.
3. Gently pull the wing back and wrap the thread tightly in front of the base of
the wing.
4. Continue wrapping the thread in front of the wing until it stands upright. A single
wrap of thread around the base of the wing will keep it bunched together. Trim the
extra hair extending over the back of the fly and tie it down.
5. Split the hair wing evenly and make about six "figure 8" wraps of thread through
the middle of the wing. Figure 8 wraps are made by wrapping the thread first forward
through the wing, then around the hook, then back through the wing.
6. If you keep the thread tension even, they will separate the wing into two fuzzy
wings.
7. Make several gentle wraps of thread around the base of each wing to define the
wings. You don't need a killer grip with the wraps, in fact, if the thread pops off the
wing, you're using too much thread tension. Once you have the wings separated and
defined properly, position them back on top of the hook by hand, and apply a drop of
head cement to the base of the wings to secure them in place.
8. Select two or three strands of peacock herl and tie them to the hook.
9. Wrap the herl to form a clump of herl just in front of the tail then tie the herl
down to the hook. Don't trim the herl yet, just tie it down to the hook.
10. Tie in a single strand of red super floss.
11. Wrap a short thick body of super floss in front of the peacock herl. Tie off and
trim the floss.
12. Wrap another clump of herl in front of the floss, keeping it about the same size
and thickness as the first clump of herl. Tie off the herl and trim.
13. Tie in a prepared brown hackle in front of the herl and behind the wing.
14. Wrap the hackle forward to form a thick, even hackle on your fly. Tie off and
trim.
15. Create an even head, whip finish and cement. Your finished fly should look
like this.
16. This is a front view of the fly showing the visible separations of the wings.
Notice how the wings are the same length as the hackle? This is the right length for
the wings, although some tyers make the wings a little longer than the hackle.
Hair wings take a bit of practice to get them exactly right. Spend some quality
time perfecting your hair wings by tying a few dozen Royal Wulffs this week.
Your time won't be wasted. If you're like me, you'll probably lose half of them to
a tree anyway. Just be sure to lose the ones that don't look as good as the
others.
If they don't look exactly perfect (your goal) the fish won't mind. If the
proportions are so out of balance that the fly tips over on its eye or wing, the
fish will mind, so work on proportions and balance.
Be sure to read Al's Product Review on Mustad Hooks in Product Review!
[ HOME ]
Part Twenty
The Humpy
By Al Campbell
If you live in an area that has a lot of alpine streams or freestone waters, you
have probably fished the Humpy. This fly is designed to float in the fastest,
roughest water.
You will see the Humpy tied several ways and with many body colors when you
visit fly shops in the west. It has endured a number of name variations too.
Called the Goofus Bug by Dan Bailey, the Crazy Goof, Turtle Bug and Fuzzy
Beetle Bug by others, it lives on as a favorite fly for many western anglers. If
you're headed to one of the rocky mountain states this summer, you need a few
of these flies in your fly box.
As I mentioned at the start of our dry fly adventure, there are several things that
float a fly. Up to now, we have concentrated on flies that are designed to float
on the surface tension of the water. The extra heavy hackle and stiff hair tail of
the Humpy are designed to increase the surface tension floatation qualities of
this fly. The addition of elk hair in the wings and on the back of this fly adds the
dimension of buoyancy to the fly.
Elk hair is hollow. The air trapped in the elk hair (or deer, caribou, antelope or
moose) will cause a fly to pop to the surface even after it breaks through the
surface tension of the water. This buoyant quality of the elk hair aids in the
floatation qualities of the Humpy in turbulent water. Coupled with the extra
heavy hackle, this is one of several flies that are ideal for fast water.
For the individuals who asked how to tie the Humpy, this fly's for you. I suspect
those who have tried to tie a Humpy and failed had a slight problem with thread
tension control. Most problems with hair wings and bodies result from too much
tension on the thread while working with the hair. Too much thread tension
while working with hollow hair results in flaring or cutting of the hair. It also
results in breaking or bending the wings, or in some cases, the thread
consistently slips off the wings.
It doesn't take a lot of thread tension to accomplish a properly tied fly. Since fly
tying thread stretches, even a slight amount of thread tension will result in a
tight fly body. If you insist on using killer thread tension on your flies, use it in
areas where flared or cut hair won't impact the structure of the fly, like under
the dubbing. Any place else, use gentle thread tension.
It's wise to practice careful thread tension control all of the time if you wish to
consistently produce quality flies. Most of the time, problems with materials
twisting around the hook, not standing upright or laying down properly or thread
breakage are due to improper thread tension. And, almost always, new tiers
use too much thread tension.
This said, there is one place on a humpy where extra thread tension is needed.
At the start and tie down points for the humpy back, you need to add a couple
of wraps of thread with a little more tension than you use on the rest of the
body. This will cause the hair to flare slightly creating the 'hump' on the back of
the fly.
Tied with a yellow under-body, the Humpy is a productive hopper pattern in fast
water. Change the under-body color to red and you have a fly that will fool the
fish into thinking they are observing a stonefly coasting by. In fact, the under-
body can be tied in as many colors as you like to match anything on the water.
Like the SHWAPF we tied earlier, this is a versatile fly. Unlike many flies we
tied earlier, the success of this fly is usually limited to fast water.
I can't think of a better fly to use in the pockets of water behind boulders in a
fast flowing mountain stream. It's also my favorite fly for the current seams
below small waterfalls and heavy rapids. If you want a buoyant fly to use as a
strike indicator for a small nymph, this would be a good choice. Need I say
more about the benefits of a buoyant fly?
List of materials: Humpy
1180. Size 10 - 22.
Tail: Moose body hair. (Traditionally elk hair.)
Underbody: Angler's Choice super floss, poly yarn, antron or dubbing, color as
desired.
Overbody: Elk hair tied to form the humped back that gives the humpy its name.
Wings: Elk hair.
Hackle: Quality brown neck or saddle hackle, webby parts removed and 1/16"
of the remaining stem stripped of barbules.
Tying steps:
1. Create a fairly heavy moose body hair tail (12 to 16 hairs). You can use elk
hair if desired, but it is more brittle and tends to flare or break easier.
2. Select a medium sized bunch of long elk hair and comb out the short hairs
and fuzz. When you only have long hairs left, drop them tip first in a hair stacker
and even the tips of the hair. Then measure the wing for length (a little more
than 1 1/2 times the hook gap) and tie down with a few loose wraps of thread.
Continue wrapping the hair down to just short of the tail. Do not trim the hair.
3. Gently pull the wing back and wrap the thread tightly in front of the base of
the wing. Separate the wings, define them and position them like you did in the
Royal Wulff. Add a drop of head cement to the thread at the base of the wings
to secure them.
4. Clip any short elk hairs extending over the tail short to the body. Thin the
number of hump hairs to about half of the number you used in the wings, then tie
them down to where the tail starts. Wrap a body of floss, poly, etc. over the hairs you
tied down, tie off then trim.
5. Pull the remaining elk hair over the back of the fly and secure with several tight
wraps of thread.
6. Trim the elk hair close to the wraps you used to tie it off, then cover the ends
with thread.
7. Tie in one brown and one grizzly prepared saddle or neck hackle.
8. Wrap one hackle forward keeping the curvature of the feather and barbules
facing forward. Tie off and trim. A half hitch will prevent the hackle from unwrapping.
9. Wrap the other hackle forward, tie off and trim.
10. Build a head, whip finish and cement.. Your finished fly should look like this.
11. From the front, you can clearly see the wings.
It might take a few flies to get everything exactly right, but the Humpy is a
perfect fly for perfecting thread tension control. It's also a perfect fly for fast
water.
You can modify a humpy several ways to produce different results. If you use
white wings, brown hackle and a red floss body, it's called a Royal Humpy,
another western favorite.
Or, if you want to, you can tie it with black wings and a black body. Olive and
olive, why not? This is your fly now, and you have the ability to tie it any way
you want, as long as you're tying it for yourself.
For different version of a Humpy, check out the Yellow Humpy in the Fly of the
Week.
Be sure to read Al's Product Review on Mustad Hooks in Product Review!
[ HOME ]
Two Flies
By Doug Terry, Angleton, Texas
Bream Killer:
The bream killer is an old pattern that you don't see much any more and that's
too bad. It's a very effective fly for warm water fishing, particularly pan fish and
black bass.
Materials: Bream Killer
Hook: #8 or 10 curved nymph hook.
Thread: Black 6/0.
Weight: 0.015" lead wire.
Body: Black Chenille.
Tail: (Optional, original had none) Squirrel tail.
Wing: Gray squirrel tail.

Legs: White rubber legs.
1. #10 or #8 curved nymph hook-thread wrapped.
2. 1/4 inch wrap of 0.015" lead wire about mid-shank to help get the lure
down in the water a bit faster.
3. Tie in the chenille (I generally use black) at the bend of the hook. This
lure traditionally does not have a tail though the pictured one does have a
squirrel hair tail - probably more for the edification of the tier than of any
real interest to the fish.
4. Wrap the chenille up the shank to the eye. Tie off the usual thread
head.
5. Tie in a single wing over the top at the eye, traditionally with gray
squirrel tail hair, about 3/4 of the shank length.
6. Cut 4 rubber legs a bit longer than the length of the hook. I usually use
white.
7. Tie in the rubber legs, two to each side in the middle of the legs and in
the middle of the fly or maybe just a bit forward of center.
8. Coat the head and leg wraps with quick set epoxy.
The fly is typically fished with twitches of the rod tip which makes the lure
"swim" through the water, like it's swimming with the legs.
Black and white has been most effective by far though late in the day and in
some dark water situations I've had good luck with all white. Brown
Chenille/white or yellow legs is OK. I've never had much luck with reds, yellows,
greens, etc.
It's as simple a fly as you can tie but it's my "go to" fly. I've caught more fish on it
than any other one fly. It's good for bass as well as panfish.
Desperation Bug:
This one is my invention, the Desperation Bug. It started out as almost a joke. I
tied it on a #12 hook back when I never tied anything that small. When the fish
are just pecking at other lures and not taking them, and you're desperate to
catch something - well you get the picture. Turned out to be a pretty dog-gone-
good lure. One of the first fish I caught on it was a 2.5# bass. And of course this
is an even more simple fly than the bream killer. You can use regular rubber
legs on this of course but since the legs (or what ever they are) are short on
this fly, I often use a material I get from Academy that is intended for skirts on
jigs (Stanley Jigs is the brand - 2 bundles in a package secured by rubber
bands - all of 99 cents). It's a little more flexible, a bit too much so for the bream
killer but good on this size and some of it has shiny flecks in it that fish seem to
like. I've tied these bigger too but pretty much limited them to 12's and 10's -
mostly 12's. I put a little lead on the shank of these too to get it under the water
surface.
There are times when fish just peck at lures and if they're in a pecking mood,
they will hit the legs of Bream Killers and poppers and not take the hook. I've
tried a couple of different patterns in which the legs lay close to the body and
the hook. It often does work and I'll start catching fish.
Materials: Desperation Bug
Hook: #12 or #10 curved nymph hook.
Thread: Black.
Weight: 0.015" lead wire.
Body: Black chenille.
Legs: Rubber shirt material.
1. #12 or #10 curved nymph hook (a dry fly hook would work too,
particularly 1X or 2X).
2. Wrap the shank with thread.
3. 3/16" or maybe even a bit less wrap of 0.015" lead wire around the
shank.
4. Tie in black chenille at the bend of the hook and wrap to just behind the
eye. Tie it off.
5. Cut 4 pieces of the skirt material a bit longer than the shank of the hook.
6. Tie them in at the head. It's easiest to tie them in 1 at a time, evenly
spaced around the hook and then build the thread head after all 4 are
secured.
7. Secure the head with quick set epoxy. ~ Doug Terry

dterry@beamans.com.
Archive of Panfish
[ HOME ]
Mustad Hooks
by Al Campbell
Those who have been following the Beginners Fly Tying series have no doubt
noticed that I suggest several hook brands to use with each pattern. Truth is, I'm not
totally sold on the idea that one brand is totally superior to the others. In fact, I
frequently use hooks that some tyers have deemed inferior to some of the others on
the market.
When I started tying many years ago (in the 60's), the only hooks available to me
were from a company called Mustad. I suppose most fly tyers my age started with
Mustad hooks. For some reason, they seemed to work fine with only an occasional
failure due to a poor tempering job. As the years passed, the hooks seemed to get
better and fewer failures occurred.
I won't try to tell you I only use Mustad hooks now. I occasionally use hooks from
several other manufacturers including Tiemco, Daiichi, Dai-Riki, Fenwick and Eagle
Claw. Most of these other hooks seem to perform fine, and some have unique colors
and taper s that lend a special touch to some of my patterns. Still, I tend to use
standard Mustad hooks for the bulk of my tying. I guess it's hard to break away from
my roots.
When Mustad offered to send me a few hooks to try and asked if I'd write an honest
review, (the only kind I will write), I expected to receive some of the same models of
hooks I already use most of the time. With that in mind, I was a little surprised to see
only chemically sharpened hooks in the package I opened.
I'm familiar with Mustad's chemically sharpened hooks; I've been using them since
the first ones hit the market. So, what can I say about these hooks? I could say
they're sharper than the standard hooks; they are. I could say they have a finer barb
than the standard hooks; they do. I could say they are much tougher than the
standard hooks; by far. But, that wouldn't be much of a review, would it?
I decided the best review would be a comparison to the other chemically sharpened
hooks I use. After all, Mustad boasts a three step tempering process that they claim
makes their hooks tougher than the rest. We'll see if that's a truthful statement.
I put similar samples of each brand in my vise and tried to break or bend them with
kevlar thread. One brand (no names) broke several times. Another brand bent
easily. In fact, one brand was too flimsy to apply much pressure at all without
bending the hook (not nearly as strong as a standard Mustad hook). It wouldn't do
very well if hair spinning was the task. Mustad chemically sharpened hooks
performed at least as good as the best of the other brands, and outperformed the
rest. These are truly strong hooks with a great temper.
I compared wire diameter on the dry fly hooks. Mustad was as fine as the finest,
except the hook brand that was weak and bent easily. One other thing I noticed was
a consistent length in the Mustad hooks that several other brands didn't seem to
have.
All of the hooks I compared had a fine point that was very sharp. They all had a very
fine barb. They all had a well designed eye. Conclusion - Mustad was as good as
the best, and superior to most. Mustad also cost less than the only other brand that
equaled its performance.
I wasn't done yet. I compared the chemically sharpened Mustad hooks to the
standard Mustad hooks I had been using for years. How would standard Mustad
hooks compare to the best Mustad hooks? How would they compare to the other
hooks?
I found the standard hooks to be stronger than two of the other brands. They didn't
break or bend as easily as the two brands I had trouble with earlier. However, they
didn't hold up to the standards of the chemically sharpened Mustad hooks. In fact,
the temper of the chemically sharpened hooks was stronger and more consistent
than the standard hooks.
Mustad's chemically sharpened hooks were sharper, had a finer point, a smaller
barb, and had a better formed eye than standard Mustad hooks. The dry fly hooks
were lighter and the streamer hooks were much stronger that their standard
counterparts.
Conclusion - Mustad's chemically sharpened hooks are as good as the best, and
better than most other hooks on the market. In all, they are good hooks at a better
price than the other brands I compared them to. They are better hooks than
Mustad's standard hooks. I'll be including these hooks in more of my tying in the
future.
You can identify Mustad's chemically sharpened hooks by their 80000 series
number. You'll find some of the specialty tapers you associate with other brands in
Mustad's chemically sharpened hooks too. ~Al Campbell
[ HOME ]

Beginning Fly Tying

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Beginning Fly Tying

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Beginning Fly Tying

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Part One

"An Introduction to Fly Tying"

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

I'd like to encourage you to become a Friend of FAOL Your involvement as a

Dry flies are simply flies that float. They

Since dry flies are the most fun to use

Wet flies are simply flies that don't float.

Nymphs represent the nymphal or larva stage in an insect's life

I've heard that up to 95 percent of

In the weeks ahead, I'll show you

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

So why hooks? Well, hooks are the things that

Let's take a moment to look at the anatomy of

Dry fly hooks come in several shapes and many sizes,

Nymph hooks vary in design more

Try to select a nymph hook with a

As you can see, there are a lot of hooks out there.

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

"An Introduction to Fly Tying, The Fly Vise"

The jaws of the vise must be positioned or be able to be positioned at an angle

Here's a quick run-down on Griffin vises.�

We'll look at more tools next week. ~ Al Campbell

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

"An Introduction to Fly Tying, Tying Tools"

Bobbins come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but

The first scissor you'll need is one with small, fine

Hackle guards are designed to hold the hackle back

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

An Introduction to Fly Tying,

See ya next week. ~ Al Campbell

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

An Introduction to Fly Tying:

Windows Media MPG Video Apple Quick Time

See ya next week. ~ Al Campbell

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

Lots of Photos, Be Patient!

Mustad 3399A or 3906B hook or equivalent Size 10 to 16.

Black 3/0 or 6/0 thread.

Bead Head Version

See ya next week. ~ Al Campbell

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

An Introduction to Fly Tying:

Lots of Photos, Be Patient!

On with the series.

Hook: Eagle Claw L061B, Tiemco 100, Mustad 94840 or equivalent.

Thread: Tan, brown, cream or black. I prefer Gudebrod 8/0 or 10/0.

4. Tie the rib off and trim.

11.Your finished fly should look like this.

See ya next week. ~ Al Campbell

Beginning Fly Tying Archives

[ Search ] [ Contact FAOL ] [ Media Kit ]

An Introduction to Fly Tying:

If that pattern could be modified to match many insect hatches, or if it could be