Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Czech Nymphing
Straight from the source
By Pavel Adamovsky
Development of mayflies, stoneflies, sedges, midges and other insects takes place on the bottom, under stones, among underwater plants and in sediments. Have a good look at the river bottom in some shallow place. Turn over a few stones, take out a sunken branch or wash a bit of pool mud through a sieve. You will see real abundance of life here. Among other things you will discover various nymphs and larvae and also an animal of approximately 1 cm length - a scud - freshwater shrimp. Most of the animals you find under the water surface is an indispensable part of menu of the primary target of our interest and fishing passion - the fish we are catching with flies.
Already after a short look at life under the water mirror it is not difficult to understand, why nymph-fishing is successful. When nymph-fishing on flowing waters we fish with flies in the water column, often near the bottom or on the bottom. Exactly in places, where there is majority of fish food and where fish are readily taking it. When nymph-fishing, we will most often imitate scuds - fresh water shrimps - as well as nymphs of mayflies, caddis flies and midges.
For many fishermen nymph-fishing will never equal the classic dry fly fishing and its beauty. But thanks to its effectivity this method is indispensable for modern flyfishermen and it will bring a lot of unforgettable experience to everybody, who will master nymph-fishing.
What's Czech nymphing?
Czech nymph and Czech nymphing is a special fly and method of nymph fishing, that developed in the regions of middle and eastern Europe. The original Polish nymph was taken over by Czech fishermen during the eighties of the twentieth century. Especially the top Czech competitors have experimented with this new method, developed it and brought it nearly to perfection.
The principle of nymph-fishing with Czech nymph is short-distance fishing, practically under the tip of the rod, that we are keeping in the outstretched arm. The flyline is hanging under the tip of the rod and its end often does not even touch the water level.
Two or three nymph flies of various weights are used. Classic baits for the method of fishing Czech nymph are the so called Bobeshs - this original Czech name we do not translate, because the name Czech nymph has quickly spread and now it is widely used. But also other types of flies are used (jig flies, flies with beads etc.)
Czech nymphs are weigthed flies tied on gammarus hooks, imitating fresh water shrimps or caseless larvae of sedge flies. Imitative as well as fantastic patterns are used, mostly sizes 8 - 16. Czech nymph is quite a simple fly regarding its construction. Its characteristic sign is a rounded (bent) gammarus hook, that is weighted with lead wire. The body is created from natural or synthetic dubbing. Another typical feature of a Czech nymph is the back, made from latex foil or a material with similar characteristics. For ribbing of the fly monofil or coloured wire is used. A real Czech nymph is always tied as a very thin one, to sink very quickly towards the bottom.
History of CZN
Paradoxically the history of the Czech nymph has its beginning in Poland, where during the international fly fishing competition in 1984 the Czech competitors got acquainted with the method of fishing at short distance, used by local competitors. Most of the Polish competitors were forced to fish short, because they had no fishing lines at disposal and had to substitute them with thick nylon monofilament. Flies used by Poles were imitations of Sedges Hydropsyche and Rhyacophila.
Czech competitors got acguainted with the method of short nymph very quickly and already next year they used it during the World Championship, that took place on the Polish river San and where Czech team won the second place - just behind the Poles. In 1986 method of short nymph has brought the first gold medal for the Czech team, when the Czech Slavoj Svoboda won the title of world champion in Belgium.
First Czech nymphs were tied from materials, that would bring smiles to faces of today´s fly tyers. Imagine a plastic foam body from a washing sponge, ribbing from horse hair and back from a mackintosh or bast. Use of gammarus hooks gave the Czech nymph its characteristic shape and the at first thick patterns changed into thinner ones with coming up of new tying materials of higher quality.
At the beginning of this history imitative patterns were preferred, like scuds and caddis larvae. The originally monotonous bodies of these flies were consecutively enriched by various colour spots and the evolution went so far, that today in fly boxes we can find nymphs of various colour combinations not having anything in common with natural patterns.
Technique
The basic method of fishing with Czech nymph is the so called short nymph (rolled nymph). When using this method we are catching fish practically under the tip of the flyfishing rod and commonly without making use of the flyfishing line, the end of which does not touch the water surface in most situations. After casting upstream we leave our flies sink to the bottom gradually and follow their movements downstream with the tip of the rod. We keep the rod in the hand with the arm stretched in front of us all the time. When the flies reach the area under our site, we lift the flies from the bottom with a movement of the rod upwards and cast again.
The main prerequisite of success of the method of short nymph is keeping a permanent contact with the flies. A bite of a fish shows up as an inconspicuous movement of the leader/flyline upstream or to the sides, or just like a short stop of the whole system in the course of the travel of the flies through the water column. When we are not able to keep our contact with the flies, our chances to observe a take is markedly reduced.
There are several things that can help us to keep our contact with the flies. First of all it is, however, proper leading of the flies and "copying" their movements in the water by rod and line, while trying to keep the leader (cast) stretched all the time. Another important help is also the length of the leader. When using a short one, keeping good contact with the flies is easier than with a long one. Last but not least, it is very important to have a corresponding weight of the fly system. Keeping contact with heavier flies is much easier than with lighter ones (lighter flies, however, behave more naturally in the water).
Czech nymphs are not necessarily to be used only in the "short" way, but with similar success also in the "long" way, when we cast flies farther and lay the line on the water. Then we identify the takes by movements or stop of the line tip. In this way we can fish upstream, across the stream and downstream as well. When fishing, we combine both methods (short and long) according to given conditions.
Equipment
As a universal and generally recommended gear for fishing with Czech nymphs is a rod AFTMA 5, length 275 cm (9 feet). We use a normal double tapered line of the same class as the rod. Recently there is a trend for using lighter rods (AFTMA 4, 3 or even 2). It is important to use a rod as light as possible, because regarding the technique of fishing with Czech nymph (fishing with the arm stretched forward, frequent casting) we feel every superfluous gram.
The leader is made from three monofil parts (there is no need for a tapered cast) of 0,12 - 0.18 diameter. The legth of the leader should not exceed the length of the rod.
A useful part of the system for Czech nymphing is a strike indicator. As we identify many takes according to the movements of the line, it is always good to have a well visible end of the line. Especially the so called speed connectors pieces in different colours are very popular. These are also a good device for connecting the flyline and the leader.The last important equipment of a Czech nymph fisherman are wading trousers. As we are looking for fish at a short distance, it is often necessary to wade even to such places, where a fisherman using another flyfishing method only casts to.
Other parts of the gear do not differ from those, used with other techniques.
Tactic
Tactics of fishing with the Czech nymph will always differ according to current conditions and universal directions for right tactics do not exist. In any case it is important to take several checked up facts into account:
Where to fish:
With a Czech nymph we usually fish in shallow as well as in deep currents and in the boundary lines between them and eddies and calm pools. We look for places, where there are deep places (pits), in these there are often fish. We will be successful also in deep pits between two currents and near bunches of water plants like water buttercups.
When to fish:
When reading some foreign journals we can get an impression, that the Czech nymph method can be effective only when it is used for catching grayling in winter. On the contrary, Czech nymph is successful all the year round. Especially effective it is (when compared with other methods) during times of high water, as after a rain, when other methods are failing, because with them it is difficult to get a fly to places, where fish are feeding. Practically in most cases, when we cannot see any fish activity on the water surface, it pays to use the Czech nymph method.
How to fish:
We fish at a short distance, often only so far, that the distance ist just a bit larger than the length of our rod. We leave the flies drift freely, only during the end phase we often meet with success, when we let the flies rise from the bottom to the surface. Proper weighting of flies is important. The flies must be heavy enough to sink to the required depth, but on the other hand they must not be weighted too much, so as they do not often get snagged on the bottom and also when overweight, they can not be led through the water as naturally as possible. Weighting of the flies we must flexibly adjust to depth and speed of the current. During the actual fishing the flies must be as near to the bottom as possible in places, where we expect a bite. Regarding the short distance we are fishing at, we must be careful not to spook the fish. While fishing in clear or shallow water, the effectivity of our fishing can be remarkably increased, when we lower our silhoutte.
What fish:
Grayling is the fish, that responds to the Czech nymph best. But we can successfully fish for brown and rainbow trout, chub, dace, roach or barbel.
What flies:
There is no general rule determining the most effective pattern of Czech nymph. When we do not know, to what flies the fish will positively respond, we put three fly patterns on the leader, in distinctly various colour combinations and test the effectivity of individual patterns. Usually a natural pattern is tied as the tip fly or first dropper and a "wilder" pattern as the second dropper. The deeper the water and the larger the fish we are expecting, the larger fly patterns we can use.
For fishing for brown trout imitative patterns are more suitable, for rainbow trout and grayling beside natural patterns we use various colour combinations, having nothing in common with imitations of natural food. For catching non-salmonids flies of "sober" colours are best.
Flies
The basic pattern for fishing with Czech nymph is a fly, in Czech called Bobeš (read bobesh = Czech nymph). It is a weighted fly tied on a Gammarus hook. The Czech nymph imitates freshwater scuds, caseless caddis larvae, or is tied in absolutely fantastic colour combinations.
A true Czech nymph must be thin, to sink as near to the bottom as possible during its short trip through the water. Sizes of the flies differ according to fishing conditions (water depth, clarity, current speed, size of fish etc.). The most used sizes for European waters are #10 and #12. When nymph fishing on large rivers or expecting a strike of a large fish we often use flies up to the size #6. On small streams we can get down to nymph size #16.
Czech nymph is not the only type of a fly, we can successfully use for Czech nymphing. Also other types of artificial flies are effective, like jigs, nymphs with beads (gold, silver, brass), classical nymph types (pheasant tail, hare´s ear etc.) or nymph tied on special hooks (e.g. nymphs tied on hooks with a drop).
We can combine types, patterns, sizes and colours of the flies to our heart´s content and there is no guaranteed or best combination. When we know, what flies the fish are taking, we can fish with three identical patterns. In a situation, when we are not acquainted with the river or do not know the fish appetite, there is nothing left but to make some experiments and in such a case it gives us an advantage, when we tie on three different flies in different colours and sizes.
Fly-tying basics
Tying a Czech nymph is very simple and no special or exotic materials are needed for it. Fot tying a standard Czech nymph we need to have the following items in our tying box:
tying thread
Gammarus hook
lead wire
natural or synthetic dubbing material in various colours (rabbit, hare, opossum, antron etc.)
vinyl foil
nylon
With these materials we will be amply supplied for the beginning. If we wish to experiment more with tying Czech nymphs, then it will be good to add the following to the above mentioned materials:
gold tinsel
synthetic mother-of-pearl dubbing
metal beads
various types of wire
special foil for tying nymph backs
alcohol felt tip pen
The basic tying procedure of tying a classical Czech nymph we will show in the folowing tying process (text and drawings by Bohumir Sumsky. Another version can be found here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. We lay a foundation of lead wire in tight turns on the shank of a hook, fixed in the vice. Number of turns and diameter of the lead wire we choose according to the requisite weight of the fly. In flies, where we do not put much weight on, or none at all, we use copper wire, or we leave out this step entirely. We make the turns in the middle third, or two thirds of the shank. We leave some space at the hook eye for the head and at the end of the shank for tying in the material and tapering of the rear of the abdomen. (Ill. 3)
2. We fix the tying thread between the eye and lead and wind a few turns of the wire over it, so as they do not get loose and do not turn around the axis of the shank. It is advisable to put a drop of varnish over the lead on the turns. We leave the thread and bobbin hanging at the end of the shank (Ill. 4).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Here we tie in the material successively. We begin with that one, that we will use as the last and consecutively we tie further material in the reverse succession, than we will use it. We begin by tying in about 10 cm of nylon line of 0,10 - 0,15 mm diameter, that we will use for final ribbing and strengthening of the fly. We fix the end of nylon line behind the lead turns with the tying thread, the rest is directed to the rear and we proceed with several turns (3-5) to the end of the shank. It is good to flatten the end of the line a bit with help of a forceps. Then it holds better (Ill. 5)
4. Further on we tie in a 3-4 mm wide vinyl strip, the dim side up. There where it is tied in, we shape it into a point with help of scissors and this point we tie in to the back. We tie the whole length we have, we will shorten it to the proper length till before tying the head. Thus it is easier to work with and we spare the material (Ill. 6).
5. Now we tie in about 10 cm of a golden glossy tinsel. These are sold under various business names in various colour and iridescent shades. We are using them for various flies, especially in gold and silver (Ill. 7)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Now we come to dubbing. We make a 10 - 12 cm long dubbing loop from the tying thread and hang a twister in it. We fix the loop with a few turns and proceed with the thread to the hook eye, where we leave the bobbin hanging (Ill. 8)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. By pulling the twister with the left hand we close and again open the loop a bit. We close the loop and smear it lightly with dubbing wax. With help of tweezers we choose small wisps of hair and insert them into the opened loop successively.We close and open the loop again. The wax should hold the hair, even when the loop is opened. First we must check, what amount of hair to put in. It is better less than more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. When we have inserted the required amount of hair along the whole length of the loop, we spin the loop with the hair, producing a wick by means of the twister (Ill. 9 a, b)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. We wind the wick in tight dextral turns towards the hook eye. At the eye we leave enough space for finishing the fly. We fix the wick with two turns of the thread and clip off the rest (Ill. 10)
10. We rib the body of the fly by 5 - 6 dextral turns of the tinsel and fix the ribbing with the thread (Ill. 11)
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11. We put the slightly stretched vinyl stripe along the back of the body and fix it at the eye with the thread (Ill. 12)
12. We rib the whole fly with 6 - 8 tight sinistral turns of the nylon line. We must take care not to move the vinyl stripe to one side. Therefore we fix it with our left hand and keep straightening it during the process. Then we fix the line with the thread and clip off the rest (Ill. 13) We form a tiny neat head from the thread and whip-finish in the least three times. We cut off the thread and varnish the head (Ill. 13)
13. With a brush from a dry zip fastener we comb out downward pointing legs from the body on both sides (Ill. 14)
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Instead of a dubbed wick we can use a ready made wick twisted from copper wires, instead of nylon line we can use a thin copper or brass wire. We can dye the head and a small part of the hair adequately with some dark permanent felt-tip pen. In this way we also can darken the whole back of the body or its part. A darker back and lighter abdomen is sometimes very effective. A conspicuous colour dot, e.g. a red dot in the centre of the body can be also very effective. We must keep in mind the whole shape of the fly, that should be thickest in the center and gradually thinner towards the head and tail.
Ed: For more information on Czech Nymphs, I suggest readers visit web site Czech Nymphs
Straight from the source
By Pavel Adamovsky
Development of mayflies, stoneflies, sedges, midges and other insects takes place on the bottom, under stones, among underwater plants and in sediments. Have a good look at the river bottom in some shallow place. Turn over a few stones, take out a sunken branch or wash a bit of pool mud through a sieve. You will see real abundance of life here. Among other things you will discover various nymphs and larvae and also an animal of approximately 1 cm length - a scud - freshwater shrimp. Most of the animals you find under the water surface is an indispensable part of menu of the primary target of our interest and fishing passion - the fish we are catching with flies.
Already after a short look at life under the water mirror it is not difficult to understand, why nymph-fishing is successful. When nymph-fishing on flowing waters we fish with flies in the water column, often near the bottom or on the bottom. Exactly in places, where there is majority of fish food and where fish are readily taking it. When nymph-fishing, we will most often imitate scuds - fresh water shrimps - as well as nymphs of mayflies, caddis flies and midges.
For many fishermen nymph-fishing will never equal the classic dry fly fishing and its beauty. But thanks to its effectivity this method is indispensable for modern flyfishermen and it will bring a lot of unforgettable experience to everybody, who will master nymph-fishing.
What's Czech nymphing?
Czech nymph and Czech nymphing is a special fly and method of nymph fishing, that developed in the regions of middle and eastern Europe. The original Polish nymph was taken over by Czech fishermen during the eighties of the twentieth century. Especially the top Czech competitors have experimented with this new method, developed it and brought it nearly to perfection.
The principle of nymph-fishing with Czech nymph is short-distance fishing, practically under the tip of the rod, that we are keeping in the outstretched arm. The flyline is hanging under the tip of the rod and its end often does not even touch the water level.
Two or three nymph flies of various weights are used. Classic baits for the method of fishing Czech nymph are the so called Bobeshs - this original Czech name we do not translate, because the name Czech nymph has quickly spread and now it is widely used. But also other types of flies are used (jig flies, flies with beads etc.)
Czech nymphs are weigthed flies tied on gammarus hooks, imitating fresh water shrimps or caseless larvae of sedge flies. Imitative as well as fantastic patterns are used, mostly sizes 8 - 16. Czech nymph is quite a simple fly regarding its construction. Its characteristic sign is a rounded (bent) gammarus hook, that is weighted with lead wire. The body is created from natural or synthetic dubbing. Another typical feature of a Czech nymph is the back, made from latex foil or a material with similar characteristics. For ribbing of the fly monofil or coloured wire is used. A real Czech nymph is always tied as a very thin one, to sink very quickly towards the bottom.
History of CZN
Paradoxically the history of the Czech nymph has its beginning in Poland, where during the international fly fishing competition in 1984 the Czech competitors got acquainted with the method of fishing at short distance, used by local competitors. Most of the Polish competitors were forced to fish short, because they had no fishing lines at disposal and had to substitute them with thick nylon monofilament. Flies used by Poles were imitations of Sedges Hydropsyche and Rhyacophila.
Czech competitors got acguainted with the method of short nymph very quickly and already next year they used it during the World Championship, that took place on the Polish river San and where Czech team won the second place - just behind the Poles. In 1986 method of short nymph has brought the first gold medal for the Czech team, when the Czech Slavoj Svoboda won the title of world champion in Belgium.
First Czech nymphs were tied from materials, that would bring smiles to faces of today´s fly tyers. Imagine a plastic foam body from a washing sponge, ribbing from horse hair and back from a mackintosh or bast. Use of gammarus hooks gave the Czech nymph its characteristic shape and the at first thick patterns changed into thinner ones with coming up of new tying materials of higher quality.
At the beginning of this history imitative patterns were preferred, like scuds and caddis larvae. The originally monotonous bodies of these flies were consecutively enriched by various colour spots and the evolution went so far, that today in fly boxes we can find nymphs of various colour combinations not having anything in common with natural patterns.
Technique
The basic method of fishing with Czech nymph is the so called short nymph (rolled nymph). When using this method we are catching fish practically under the tip of the flyfishing rod and commonly without making use of the flyfishing line, the end of which does not touch the water surface in most situations. After casting upstream we leave our flies sink to the bottom gradually and follow their movements downstream with the tip of the rod. We keep the rod in the hand with the arm stretched in front of us all the time. When the flies reach the area under our site, we lift the flies from the bottom with a movement of the rod upwards and cast again.
The main prerequisite of success of the method of short nymph is keeping a permanent contact with the flies. A bite of a fish shows up as an inconspicuous movement of the leader/flyline upstream or to the sides, or just like a short stop of the whole system in the course of the travel of the flies through the water column. When we are not able to keep our contact with the flies, our chances to observe a take is markedly reduced.
There are several things that can help us to keep our contact with the flies. First of all it is, however, proper leading of the flies and "copying" their movements in the water by rod and line, while trying to keep the leader (cast) stretched all the time. Another important help is also the length of the leader. When using a short one, keeping good contact with the flies is easier than with a long one. Last but not least, it is very important to have a corresponding weight of the fly system. Keeping contact with heavier flies is much easier than with lighter ones (lighter flies, however, behave more naturally in the water).
Czech nymphs are not necessarily to be used only in the "short" way, but with similar success also in the "long" way, when we cast flies farther and lay the line on the water. Then we identify the takes by movements or stop of the line tip. In this way we can fish upstream, across the stream and downstream as well. When fishing, we combine both methods (short and long) according to given conditions.
Equipment
As a universal and generally recommended gear for fishing with Czech nymphs is a rod AFTMA 5, length 275 cm (9 feet). We use a normal double tapered line of the same class as the rod. Recently there is a trend for using lighter rods (AFTMA 4, 3 or even 2). It is important to use a rod as light as possible, because regarding the technique of fishing with Czech nymph (fishing with the arm stretched forward, frequent casting) we feel every superfluous gram.
The leader is made from three monofil parts (there is no need for a tapered cast) of 0,12 - 0.18 diameter. The legth of the leader should not exceed the length of the rod.
A useful part of the system for Czech nymphing is a strike indicator. As we identify many takes according to the movements of the line, it is always good to have a well visible end of the line. Especially the so called speed connectors pieces in different colours are very popular. These are also a good device for connecting the flyline and the leader.The last important equipment of a Czech nymph fisherman are wading trousers. As we are looking for fish at a short distance, it is often necessary to wade even to such places, where a fisherman using another flyfishing method only casts to.
Other parts of the gear do not differ from those, used with other techniques.
Tactic
Tactics of fishing with the Czech nymph will always differ according to current conditions and universal directions for right tactics do not exist. In any case it is important to take several checked up facts into account:
Where to fish:
With a Czech nymph we usually fish in shallow as well as in deep currents and in the boundary lines between them and eddies and calm pools. We look for places, where there are deep places (pits), in these there are often fish. We will be successful also in deep pits between two currents and near bunches of water plants like water buttercups.
When to fish:
When reading some foreign journals we can get an impression, that the Czech nymph method can be effective only when it is used for catching grayling in winter. On the contrary, Czech nymph is successful all the year round. Especially effective it is (when compared with other methods) during times of high water, as after a rain, when other methods are failing, because with them it is difficult to get a fly to places, where fish are feeding. Practically in most cases, when we cannot see any fish activity on the water surface, it pays to use the Czech nymph method.
How to fish:
We fish at a short distance, often only so far, that the distance ist just a bit larger than the length of our rod. We leave the flies drift freely, only during the end phase we often meet with success, when we let the flies rise from the bottom to the surface. Proper weighting of flies is important. The flies must be heavy enough to sink to the required depth, but on the other hand they must not be weighted too much, so as they do not often get snagged on the bottom and also when overweight, they can not be led through the water as naturally as possible. Weighting of the flies we must flexibly adjust to depth and speed of the current. During the actual fishing the flies must be as near to the bottom as possible in places, where we expect a bite. Regarding the short distance we are fishing at, we must be careful not to spook the fish. While fishing in clear or shallow water, the effectivity of our fishing can be remarkably increased, when we lower our silhoutte.
What fish:
Grayling is the fish, that responds to the Czech nymph best. But we can successfully fish for brown and rainbow trout, chub, dace, roach or barbel.
What flies:
There is no general rule determining the most effective pattern of Czech nymph. When we do not know, to what flies the fish will positively respond, we put three fly patterns on the leader, in distinctly various colour combinations and test the effectivity of individual patterns. Usually a natural pattern is tied as the tip fly or first dropper and a "wilder" pattern as the second dropper. The deeper the water and the larger the fish we are expecting, the larger fly patterns we can use.
For fishing for brown trout imitative patterns are more suitable, for rainbow trout and grayling beside natural patterns we use various colour combinations, having nothing in common with imitations of natural food. For catching non-salmonids flies of "sober" colours are best.
Flies
The basic pattern for fishing with Czech nymph is a fly, in Czech called Bobeš (read bobesh = Czech nymph). It is a weighted fly tied on a Gammarus hook. The Czech nymph imitates freshwater scuds, caseless caddis larvae, or is tied in absolutely fantastic colour combinations.
A true Czech nymph must be thin, to sink as near to the bottom as possible during its short trip through the water. Sizes of the flies differ according to fishing conditions (water depth, clarity, current speed, size of fish etc.). The most used sizes for European waters are #10 and #12. When nymph fishing on large rivers or expecting a strike of a large fish we often use flies up to the size #6. On small streams we can get down to nymph size #16.
Czech nymph is not the only type of a fly, we can successfully use for Czech nymphing. Also other types of artificial flies are effective, like jigs, nymphs with beads (gold, silver, brass), classical nymph types (pheasant tail, hare´s ear etc.) or nymph tied on special hooks (e.g. nymphs tied on hooks with a drop).
We can combine types, patterns, sizes and colours of the flies to our heart´s content and there is no guaranteed or best combination. When we know, what flies the fish are taking, we can fish with three identical patterns. In a situation, when we are not acquainted with the river or do not know the fish appetite, there is nothing left but to make some experiments and in such a case it gives us an advantage, when we tie on three different flies in different colours and sizes.
Fly-tying basics
Tying a Czech nymph is very simple and no special or exotic materials are needed for it. Fot tying a standard Czech nymph we need to have the following items in our tying box:
tying thread
Gammarus hook
lead wire
natural or synthetic dubbing material in various colours (rabbit, hare, opossum, antron etc.)
vinyl foil
nylon
With these materials we will be amply supplied for the beginning. If we wish to experiment more with tying Czech nymphs, then it will be good to add the following to the above mentioned materials:
gold tinsel
synthetic mother-of-pearl dubbing
metal beads
various types of wire
special foil for tying nymph backs
alcohol felt tip pen
The basic tying procedure of tying a classical Czech nymph we will show in the folowing tying process (text and drawings by Bohumir Sumsky. Another version can be found here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. We lay a foundation of lead wire in tight turns on the shank of a hook, fixed in the vice. Number of turns and diameter of the lead wire we choose according to the requisite weight of the fly. In flies, where we do not put much weight on, or none at all, we use copper wire, or we leave out this step entirely. We make the turns in the middle third, or two thirds of the shank. We leave some space at the hook eye for the head and at the end of the shank for tying in the material and tapering of the rear of the abdomen. (Ill. 3)
2. We fix the tying thread between the eye and lead and wind a few turns of the wire over it, so as they do not get loose and do not turn around the axis of the shank. It is advisable to put a drop of varnish over the lead on the turns. We leave the thread and bobbin hanging at the end of the shank (Ill. 4).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Here we tie in the material successively. We begin with that one, that we will use as the last and consecutively we tie further material in the reverse succession, than we will use it. We begin by tying in about 10 cm of nylon line of 0,10 - 0,15 mm diameter, that we will use for final ribbing and strengthening of the fly. We fix the end of nylon line behind the lead turns with the tying thread, the rest is directed to the rear and we proceed with several turns (3-5) to the end of the shank. It is good to flatten the end of the line a bit with help of a forceps. Then it holds better (Ill. 5)
4. Further on we tie in a 3-4 mm wide vinyl strip, the dim side up. There where it is tied in, we shape it into a point with help of scissors and this point we tie in to the back. We tie the whole length we have, we will shorten it to the proper length till before tying the head. Thus it is easier to work with and we spare the material (Ill. 6).
5. Now we tie in about 10 cm of a golden glossy tinsel. These are sold under various business names in various colour and iridescent shades. We are using them for various flies, especially in gold and silver (Ill. 7)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Now we come to dubbing. We make a 10 - 12 cm long dubbing loop from the tying thread and hang a twister in it. We fix the loop with a few turns and proceed with the thread to the hook eye, where we leave the bobbin hanging (Ill. 8)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. By pulling the twister with the left hand we close and again open the loop a bit. We close the loop and smear it lightly with dubbing wax. With help of tweezers we choose small wisps of hair and insert them into the opened loop successively.We close and open the loop again. The wax should hold the hair, even when the loop is opened. First we must check, what amount of hair to put in. It is better less than more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. When we have inserted the required amount of hair along the whole length of the loop, we spin the loop with the hair, producing a wick by means of the twister (Ill. 9 a, b)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. We wind the wick in tight dextral turns towards the hook eye. At the eye we leave enough space for finishing the fly. We fix the wick with two turns of the thread and clip off the rest (Ill. 10)
10. We rib the body of the fly by 5 - 6 dextral turns of the tinsel and fix the ribbing with the thread (Ill. 11)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. We put the slightly stretched vinyl stripe along the back of the body and fix it at the eye with the thread (Ill. 12)
12. We rib the whole fly with 6 - 8 tight sinistral turns of the nylon line. We must take care not to move the vinyl stripe to one side. Therefore we fix it with our left hand and keep straightening it during the process. Then we fix the line with the thread and clip off the rest (Ill. 13) We form a tiny neat head from the thread and whip-finish in the least three times. We cut off the thread and varnish the head (Ill. 13)
13. With a brush from a dry zip fastener we comb out downward pointing legs from the body on both sides (Ill. 14)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of a dubbed wick we can use a ready made wick twisted from copper wires, instead of nylon line we can use a thin copper or brass wire. We can dye the head and a small part of the hair adequately with some dark permanent felt-tip pen. In this way we also can darken the whole back of the body or its part. A darker back and lighter abdomen is sometimes very effective. A conspicuous colour dot, e.g. a red dot in the centre of the body can be also very effective. We must keep in mind the whole shape of the fly, that should be thickest in the center and gradually thinner towards the head and tail.
Ed: For more information on Czech Nymphs, I suggest readers visit web site Czech Nymphs
The Fly Tyer's Primer
Beginning Flytying Equipment
INTRODUCTION:
This FAQ is divided into several sections discussing the recommendations of
members of @FLYFISH regarding flytying equipment. It cannot substitute for
a a course in flytying. For instruction in flytying, seek out your local
flyfishing club or organization such as Trout Unlimited or the Federation
of Flyfishers. These are organizations are your best source of local
information. If there are no classes, visit your library for books on
flytying and a local video store for rental instructional videos. Try the
flytying videos by Gary Borger, Jack Dennis, and Orvis.
Introductory books which are recommended are "The Art of Fly Tying" by John
van Vliet, "The Fly Tyer's Primer" by Richard W. Talleur, "The Beginning
Fly Tyer by Jim Brainbridge, and "Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple" by Skip
Morris. You can then move onto combined pattern/tying books. Examples are
"Tying Dry Flies" or "Tying Nymphs" by Randall Kaufmann, and " Western
Trout Fly Tying Manual Vols. I and II" by Jack Dennis. Pure pattern books
are "The Best One Thousand" by Randle Scott Stetzer, the The Orvis Fly
Pattern Index" by John R. Harder, and the patterns books by Dick Stewart.
"AK Best's Production Fly Tying" by AK Best is an excellent book of tips
for advanced tyers, but I think beginners can learn from it as well. It is
highly recommended if you are serious about tying,
Some of you may have already purchased a "flytying kit" containing both
tools and materials. Most such prepackaged kit are generally of substandard
quality, and it is recommended that you return it for credit toward
individual purchases of quality materials. These kits usually come in a
cardboard box with a nice picture on the front and sell for about $29.99.
There other kits (such as the Thompson "Regency" kit) which are built
around a Thompson vise and tools. These kits are more expensive and the
tools are of acceptable quality for a novice flytyer.
The purchase of flytying equipment is very different from the purchase of
flyfishing equipment. Flyfishing equipment, particularly rods are
constantly improving, and it is not unusual for a serious flyfisher to buy
a new rod every three to four years. Very few flyfishers are using the same
rod they used 10 years ago. The same is not true of flytyers. Flytying
equipment changes very little, and it would not be unusual for a flytyer to
use the same vise for over 20 years. Therefore I would recommend that you
purchase the best equipment you can afford because it is likely that you
will be using it for years to come.
Having said that, I realize that most beginners cannot purchase the
ultimate in tools. For these beginners, there are two companies, Sunrise
and Thompson, that specialize in basic tools. Thompson tools are generally
of higher quality. Griffin and Matarelli are two manufacturers who make
high quality tools with Materrelli having the best reputation.
I have split the equipment into several categories. The first three
categories are basic equipment, materials, and hooks. Basic equipment
along with materials, and hooks are the absolute minimum needed to tie
flies. I placed hooks into its own separate category because they deserve
some additional discussion. Entire books have been written about flytying
materials alone. Only the common materials are listed here.
You should be able to purchase the basic equipment kit for under $100 from
Sunrise or Thompson. The hooks and materials can run into several hundresds
of dollars if you were to purchase everything at once. There is no need to
go out and purchase all the hooks or materials listed below. Buy only what
you need. You will have to decide what hooks and materials are needed for
the flies you will tie. Just as you chose which flies to purchase, now you
will have to choose which hooks and materials to buy to make those flies.
After each item is a description. Some of the items will have a recommended
manufacturer. These recommendations are the popular favorites of the
flytyers on the @FLYFISH list. At the end of each category is a comment
section to help clarify the choices.
The final catergory, miscellaneous, is self explanatory. These are items
which you may want to consider as you become a more advanced flytyer. They
are listed for your consideration.
You will find no recommendations on where to purchase equipment or what to
pay. The retail market is dynamic and any information would soon be out of
date. This is one area where you might pose a question to the list prior to
purchase.
Another option is to purchase used equipment and materials particularly at
garage or estate sales. It is best to take a flytyer with you to look at
the equipment. There are some bargains available particularly with hooks,
and sometimes, you can find rare materials. Post your questions to the list
if there is no friend to whom you can turn for advice.
One final note before we start - It is impossible to answer or to
anticipate all the questions you may have regarding flytying with this FAQ.
Our motto is that there are no stupid questions. If you you have a question
which is not answered in this or other FAQ's, do not hesitate to post it to
the list. However, you are encouraged to read all the FAQs to help keep
common questions from being reposted.
BASIC EQUIPMENT:
Flytying Vise - At a minimum, a vise should hold the hook securely in a
wide range of sizes from saltwater size hooks 2-0 to tiny midge hooks size
22. If it cannot do that with a standard head, then there should be
interchangeable heads to cover all the hook sizes. The recommended starter
vise is the Thompson model "A". Somewhat more expensive are the Regal vise
and Renzetti "Traveler". The "Traveler" is the least expensive true rotary
vise (see discussion below). The Regal and Renzetti are the two most
popular vises as tyers move up from the Thompson vises. Lefthanders may
find some vises easier to use than others. You should try the vise to see
if the vise is truly ambidextrous. Check to see if the maunufacturer has a
"lefthanded" model.
Bobbin - The bobbin holds the spool of tying thread or floss. There are
"thread" bobbins and "material" bobbins. It is recommended that you
purchase at least one of each. As you accumulate different colors and
diameters of thread, you will be switching the spools every time you need a
different thread. Therefore, it is suggested that you purchase several
thread bobbins if you can. If you are going to tie with Kevlar thread it is
recommended that you purchase at least one "ceramic" bobbin to keep the
bobbin tube from being scored and ruined by the thread.
Hackle Pliers - This tool is used to hold the hackle tip as you wind the
hackle on the fly. The classic "English" designs tends to slip. I can
recommend two brands. The Griffin tear drop design works well, but I think
the E-Z Hackle Plier is the best. The E-Z product holds the hackle
tightly, has a small head for the tiniest flies, and a large ring so it can
rotate on your finger. Best of all, it is cheap. If you already have an
"English" design hackle plier that slips, try dipping the tips in melted
wax and then squeezing out the excess. It will improve the grip of the
pliers.
Scissors - Buy Fiskars Model 4301 Sport Scissors. If they are unavailable,
the 3 1/2" embroidery scissors will work. They have fine tips, are sharp
and inexpensive. Have a second pair of "trash" scissors available to cut
wire and such.
Gem Single Edge Razor Blades - To shape spun deer hair heads and bodies.
Bodkin - Make your own by sticking a sewing needle into a piece of wooden
dowel. Flatten the sides so it doesn't roll off the table. If you want to
purchase a bodkin, both Sunrise and Thompson make inexpensive models.
Whip Finisher and/or Half Hitch Tool - You can either whip finish or half
hitch the head of the fly. Both can be done by hand or you can purchase a
tool. If you need a whip finisher, buy a Matarreli standard length whip
finisher. There is also an extended body model.
Hair Stacker - There are many models and several sizes to choose from. You
can use rifle or pistol cartridge casings as a substitute.
Dubbing Wax - There are many brands with no clear favorite. It is used to
provide a tacky surface on the thread so that the dubbing will stick to it.
Personally, I learned to dub without wax, but most beginners find it
useful. The tackiness of the wax is a personal preference depending on your
needs. You can substitute cross country ski wax.
Head Cement - Buy Sally Hansen's clear "Hard as Nails with nylon"
fingernail polish. You can trim the brush or use the bodkin as an
applicator. It needs to be thinned before use. Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)
from a paint store is used as the thinner.
Dave's Flexament - A flexible cement for stiffening feathers and other
materials. It can also be substituted for head cement if you do not need
the high gloss of head cement.
Thread - Buy prewaxed thread. Danville Flymaster Plus is the most popular
6/0 thread and Monocord is the most popular 3/0 thread. Thompson also makes
a thread - called Monobond in 6/0 and 3/0. These are the standard threads.
There are now superstrong threads made by Unithread, Benecchi, and
Dynacord. Unithread and Benecchi specialize in the thinner sizes 6/0 to
12/0. Dynacord is the recommended 3/0 thread and should be used instead of
Kevlar.
Comments - You can purchase a vise as a C-clamp or Pedestal model. The
C-clamp models are less expensive and require you to clamp your vise to the
edge of a table. The pedestal model has a heavy metal base which holds the
vise down. However, if you are going to tie deer hair flies which require
heavy thread pressure, even the heaviest pedestal will move. The post of
the pedestal vise is shorter than the C-clamp. Therefore you cannot just
buy the pedestal to convert a C-clamp to a pedestal vise. You will need the
shorter post as well.
The Regal and Renzetti vises deserve some additional discussion. The Regal
Vise has a patented springloaded head, which you will automatically hold
the hook as the handle is released. This unique feature accounts for its
popularity. The Renzetti is a true rotary vise. When the head is rotated,
the hook will rotate along its shaft which makes placing and winding
materials on the hook much easier. The Regal can be bought as a "rotary"
meaning that the head turns but the geometry of the head does not allow the
hook to rotate around the axis of its shaft. The Renzetti head is also
smaller making it easier to tie the very small flies. The @FLYFISH list is
split as to whether the Regal or the Renzetti is the "better" vise. There
are also other fine vises including the HMH, A.K. Best, Nor-vise, Waldron,
and Dynaking.
Head cement serves two purposes. One is to seal the head and protect the
thread wraps so that they do not unravel. For this purpose the head cement
needs to be thinned so that it penetrates the thread. The other is to make
a glassy coating on the fly head especially on streamer patterns. Eyes may
be painted on later. For this purpose the Sally Hansen's is ideal but
unthinned, it is a poor penetrator. My solution is to finish off the fly
with a whip finish rather than half hitches. A 5 turn whip finish does not
need head cement, and it will not unravel. I only use head cement when I
need a glassy coating.
Use the thinest thread possible to tie your flies. This is particularly
important for dry flies to reduce the bulk of the fly. Match the color of
the thread to the body of the fly. This will hide the thread and prevent it
from "showing" through the dubbing when the fly is wet with water or
floatant. It will also help hide your dubbing mistakes. A basic thread set
would be the colors black, olive, brown and yellow in 6/0 and 3/0 sizes.
MATERIALS:
Dubbing - This is the material which is "spun" around the tying thread and
then wound on the hook to form the body of the fly. It can be split into
natural and synthetic, fine and coarse. In general, the fine materials are
used to tie dry flies and the coarse materials are used to tie nymphs. You
can choose to buy individual packages as the need arises or to buy a
spectrum of colors at the outset. The various colors you buy can be mixed
to get an intermediate shade.
Hackle - These are the feathers from chickens. It is recommended that you
buy "genetic" hackle meaning feathers from birds raised especially for
flytying. The two major suppliers are Metz and Hoffman with the Hoffman
being of higher quality. The hackle can be from a hen or a cock, but the
term "hackle" generally refers to the feathers of the cock unless specified
as hen hackle. Furthermore, the hackle can be from two areas of the body,
the "neck" or the "saddle". The "neck" has the smaller and finer hackle and
is more expensive than the "saddle". The hackle is further separated into
three grades - grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 in order of descending
quality. The best buy is generally grade 2, and it is recommended that you
start with this grade of hackle if you can afford it. Commercial flies are
generally tied with grade 3 or poorer hackle.
Deer/Elk/Moose hair - For wings, bodies and tailing.
Bucktail - For streamers
Calf (kip) body hair or tail - Used for wings on the Wulff patterns.
Cul de Canard (CDC) - Feathers from around the oil gland of a duck used to
imitate the wings on emergers and dry flies.
Chenille - Used for the bodies on many flies.
Marabou -Soft under feathers from a turkey used in streamers and nymphs.
Goose or Turkey biots - Used to wrap dry flies, and for tailing or winging
of nymphs
Misc feathers - Grouse, partridge, duck, pheasant, turkey, etc. The soft
body feathers are used in soft hackle flies to imitate insects legs or
emerging wings. The flight feathers are used for winging material or wing
cases on nymphs. Tail feathers can be used for tailing on nymphs or for
wing cases.
Peacock herl - An irridescent feather material usually used for nymphs and
some dry flies.
Antron or Zelon - A trilobed synthetic fiber used to add flash to dubbing.
Used also for winging.
Floss - Comes in single strand or multi-strand. Buy the single strand.
Flashabou or Krystal flash - Synthetic mylar like strands used for
streamers. Buy the Krystal Flash.
Microfibbets - A synthetic tailing material which is great for small flies
and will take color from a pantone pen. Highly recommended.
Lead wire and lead eyes - To weight the flies. The diameter of the wire
should match the diameter of the hook.
Metal beads and eyes of brass, copper, etc - Used to weight nymphs and
streamers.
Copper wire - 3For nymphs.
Tinsel or Tubing - Used for ribbing or bodies. Comes in metallic or mylar,
silver or gold.
Comments: Materials need not always be purchased. Many of the bird feathers
and animal furs are readily obtained from hunters. You can sometimes trade
flies for materials. Be sure to treat them for bugs, and keep them in
separate zip lock bags. Use moth crystals if the materials are untreated.
The feathers can be zapped in the microwave to destroy insect eggs. 20 Mule
Team Borax can be used as a preservative for bird and animal skins. You
must first remove as much fat and meat as possible from the skins, coat the
skin with borax and allow it to dry.
You can tell what animal furs are good for dubbing by examining the
traditional fly recipes. For example, the adams will call for grey muskrat
fur. You will then know that muskrat is a good source for grey dry fly
dubbing. Similarly, red fox provides a good pale cream dubbing for the
light cahill. From the hare's ear nymph pattern you learn that a hare's
mask makes good grey nymph dubbing.
The most plentiful furs for dubbing are rabbit and squirrel. Rabbit is good
for fine dry fly dubbing and squirrel for the coarser nymph dubbing. If you
have a source for white rabbit fur, it can by dyed. Natural squirrel comes
in various shades of the grey and fox squirrels. Other sources of materials
are taxidermist shops and furriers, who often have scraps of fur. Oldtime
"Rendevous" are also becoming popular, and they are a source of animal
skins.
Regular knitting yarn is a good source of dubbing. Use a comb to comb out
1" -2" fibers of the yarn. Cut them off, and then when you get a pile of
fibers, work them with the comb until they form a pile of dubbing.
Dazzleaire yarn is a source for "sparkle yarn" and Aunt Lydia's rug yarn is
a source for the coarser yarn that can be used for nymph patterns. Your
local craft and yarn shops are a good source for flytying supplies.
The hackle necks and saddles will be the most expensive materials you will
purchase. Brown and light to medium dun will be the most popular colors
followed by grizzly and then ginger. If you tie adams, you can substitute a
cree hackle for the mixture of grizzly and brown.
If your finances are limited, it is best to only buy the materials for the
flies you currently need to tie. You can gradually add patterns and
materials as your skills improve. Don't hesitate to substitute materials in
a pattern if you feel they will work. This type of substitution works well
if you are working within the same materials group, for example,
substituting a grouse soft hackle for a partridge, deer for elk, zelon for
antron, etc.
HOOKS:
Flies are tied to imitate living creatures. Hooks are the skeleton upon
which you will build that creation. You would not start with the skeleton
of a horse to make a dog. Similarly, you cannot build a proper fly on the
wrong hook.
Perhaps a few definitions are order before we go further. Hooks are defined
in terms of their gap (or gape), their length, and the shape of the hook
bend. The hook size is the width of the gap. This is the distance from the
shank of the hook to the point. The length of the shank of a standard hook
is 1 1/2 times the gap. The shape of the hook is defined by the bend. They
carry names such as sproat, aberdeen, perfect, etc. You have to memorize
the names.
There are two other descriptors - the diameter of the wire and whether the
hook is shorter or longer than the "standard" length. These descriptors are
directly related to the wire diameter, length and size of the mythical
standard hook series. If the diameter of the hook is thinner, it is is
noted by an "X-Fine or X-Light"; if it is thicker, it is noted by a
"X-Heavy or X-Strong". Similarly, the length of the hook is described a
"X-Long" or "X-Short". These designations are related to the other hooks in
the standard series. For example a size 12 2X-Fine 2X-Long hook has the gap
of the standard size 12 hook but is made from the wire of a size 14 hook (2
sizes lighter wire) and has the shank length of a size 10 hook (2 sizes
longer hook). Confused? Don't worry, the patterns will tell you what hooks
to use. In general the X-fine hooks are used for dry flies and the X-heavy
for nymphs. The X-Short are used for small flies and the X-Long for
streamers, grasshoppers, etc.
Having said that, I must warn you that there is no "standard" between
manufacturers for sizing hooks (gap size). The gap measurement in
millimeters of a size 12 hook from one manufacturer will be different than
that from another. It is as if the shoe industry had no standards for
length and width of shoes. The hook industry has no standards for length
and gap. You must do what we would have to do with the shoes - you must try
them on and learn what sizes fit from experience.
At this point, let me digress, so as to avoid confusion over fly size and
it's relation to hook length and gap. Hooks are sized by the gap and not
the length. However, as fly tyers and fly fishers, the insect we imitate is
sized by the length. When we commonly refer to a size 18 BWO, we mean the
fly is tied on a hook length of a standard size 18 hook. It is the length
of the hook that is important in the imitation and not the gap. The length
and shape of the hook will determine if the pattern looks like the natural.
This is what I meant by trying the shoes on to see if they fit.
You will find descriptions of hooks which are "chemically sharpened" and
have "mini barbs". Purchase these hooks if you can. Barbless hooks are also
an option but are not available in all models.
There are three major hook manufacturers. They are Mustad, Tiemco and
Daiichi. Tiemco and Daiichi have the broadest assortment of flyfishing
hooks, with Tiemco being Hertz to Daiichi's Avis. Mustad had fallen behind,
but now they offer a series of chemically sharpened and minibarbed hooks in
their "Accupoint" line. These are designated by the letters "AC" before the
model number. Partridge of England makes the most expensive fly fishing
hooks, and they are known for their salmon hooks. They are excellent hooks,
if you can afford them.
Hooks and hackle will be, on a per fly basis, the most expensive parts of
the fly. You can save money by purchasing only dry fly hooks and using them
for your nymphs as well. Just add lead wire to the nymphs to compensate for
the lighter hook. Similarly, multipurpose hooks such as the Tiemco 200R or
Daiichi 1273 can be used for streamers, grasshoppers and nymphs. It is not
possible to discuss all the individual hook shapes and models available.
There is a hook chart available which cross references the hooks from
various manufacturers. (ADD A LINK TO THE HOOK CHART HERE)
MISCELLANEOUS:
Material Clip - Some vises come with a material clip to temporaily hold
materials. If yours doesn't, you can purchase one separately.
Hackle Guard - Used to keep hackles out of the way and prevent them from
being caught as you the whip finish the fly.
Parachute or "gallows" tool - Keeps tension on the upright parachute wing
during winding of the hackle.
Dubbing Twister - For making and spinning dubbing loops.
Dubbing Teaser - Roughens the dubbing on nymphs. Just buy a nylon 22
caliber cleaning brush to do the job.
Hair Packer - Tool for packing deer hair bodies. It saves your fingernails.
Hackle Guage - For measuring hackle length for dry flies.
Waste-Trol - A waste basket that clamps to your vise or table and catches
the clippings.
Bone or shell comb - A nonstatic comb for getting the underfur out of deer hair.
Bobbin Threader - Buy some Butler dental floss threaders instead.
Super Glue - To secure materials or windings in critical areas.
Tying lamp and magnifier - For those small flies.
FINAL COMMENTS:
One of the best suggestions I can give you is to take a flytying course,
preferably where the equipment and materials are supplied. Ask your
instructor for purchase suggestions in light of the information I have
provided. During the course, you will be taught how to ties both nymphs and
dries. The materials the instuctor uses are those you will want to purchase
so that you can practice these flies. Since the rest of the members of the
course will also need materials, perhaps you can get together and split the
cost of some of the expensive materials such as hackle, eg, buy a neck and
split it in half.
Use only the finest quality materials for your flies. You cannot construct
a good fly out of poor materials. Quality materials have two benefits - not
only will the flies be better, but they will be easier to tie. Whenever you
are faced with the choice of getting more of a poorer quality material or
less of a higher quality, choose the higher quality. The most expensive
part of flytying is the time you put into it. Make it enjoyable and less
frustrating by using the best materials possible.
It will take you several flies before you will tie a decent looking
pattern. This is to be expected. You have two choices for what to do with
these substandard flies. Either fish them - surprisingly, they will catch
fish, or you can cut off the materials and reuse the hook. Just slide a
single edge razor blade along the top shaft of the hook, and you will have
a clean hook. There is no need to remove the hook from the vise, and this
will prevent you from cutting yourself.
On occasion you may see a fly for which you cannot find tying instructions.
Purchase two samples of the fly. Take one of the samples apart by
unraveling the tieing thread. You can reverse engineer the fly by carefully
taking it apart. Write the instructions down. Then use your second fly as
your "museum" copy so that you can compare your flies to the original.
Finally, remember that the list is available to answer your questions
either through the archives or by posting a question.
Copyright 1995 by Henry Kanemoto.
No reproduction, electronic or otherwise, is allowed without permission of
the author.
INTRODUCTION:
This FAQ is divided into several sections discussing the recommendations of
members of @FLYFISH regarding flytying equipment. It cannot substitute for
a a course in flytying. For instruction in flytying, seek out your local
flyfishing club or organization such as Trout Unlimited or the Federation
of Flyfishers. These are organizations are your best source of local
information. If there are no classes, visit your library for books on
flytying and a local video store for rental instructional videos. Try the
flytying videos by Gary Borger, Jack Dennis, and Orvis.
Introductory books which are recommended are "The Art of Fly Tying" by John
van Vliet, "The Fly Tyer's Primer" by Richard W. Talleur, "The Beginning
Fly Tyer by Jim Brainbridge, and "Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple" by Skip
Morris. You can then move onto combined pattern/tying books. Examples are
"Tying Dry Flies" or "Tying Nymphs" by Randall Kaufmann, and " Western
Trout Fly Tying Manual Vols. I and II" by Jack Dennis. Pure pattern books
are "The Best One Thousand" by Randle Scott Stetzer, the The Orvis Fly
Pattern Index" by John R. Harder, and the patterns books by Dick Stewart.
"AK Best's Production Fly Tying" by AK Best is an excellent book of tips
for advanced tyers, but I think beginners can learn from it as well. It is
highly recommended if you are serious about tying,
Some of you may have already purchased a "flytying kit" containing both
tools and materials. Most such prepackaged kit are generally of substandard
quality, and it is recommended that you return it for credit toward
individual purchases of quality materials. These kits usually come in a
cardboard box with a nice picture on the front and sell for about $29.99.
There other kits (such as the Thompson "Regency" kit) which are built
around a Thompson vise and tools. These kits are more expensive and the
tools are of acceptable quality for a novice flytyer.
The purchase of flytying equipment is very different from the purchase of
flyfishing equipment. Flyfishing equipment, particularly rods are
constantly improving, and it is not unusual for a serious flyfisher to buy
a new rod every three to four years. Very few flyfishers are using the same
rod they used 10 years ago. The same is not true of flytyers. Flytying
equipment changes very little, and it would not be unusual for a flytyer to
use the same vise for over 20 years. Therefore I would recommend that you
purchase the best equipment you can afford because it is likely that you
will be using it for years to come.
Having said that, I realize that most beginners cannot purchase the
ultimate in tools. For these beginners, there are two companies, Sunrise
and Thompson, that specialize in basic tools. Thompson tools are generally
of higher quality. Griffin and Matarelli are two manufacturers who make
high quality tools with Materrelli having the best reputation.
I have split the equipment into several categories. The first three
categories are basic equipment, materials, and hooks. Basic equipment
along with materials, and hooks are the absolute minimum needed to tie
flies. I placed hooks into its own separate category because they deserve
some additional discussion. Entire books have been written about flytying
materials alone. Only the common materials are listed here.
You should be able to purchase the basic equipment kit for under $100 from
Sunrise or Thompson. The hooks and materials can run into several hundresds
of dollars if you were to purchase everything at once. There is no need to
go out and purchase all the hooks or materials listed below. Buy only what
you need. You will have to decide what hooks and materials are needed for
the flies you will tie. Just as you chose which flies to purchase, now you
will have to choose which hooks and materials to buy to make those flies.
After each item is a description. Some of the items will have a recommended
manufacturer. These recommendations are the popular favorites of the
flytyers on the @FLYFISH list. At the end of each category is a comment
section to help clarify the choices.
The final catergory, miscellaneous, is self explanatory. These are items
which you may want to consider as you become a more advanced flytyer. They
are listed for your consideration.
You will find no recommendations on where to purchase equipment or what to
pay. The retail market is dynamic and any information would soon be out of
date. This is one area where you might pose a question to the list prior to
purchase.
Another option is to purchase used equipment and materials particularly at
garage or estate sales. It is best to take a flytyer with you to look at
the equipment. There are some bargains available particularly with hooks,
and sometimes, you can find rare materials. Post your questions to the list
if there is no friend to whom you can turn for advice.
One final note before we start - It is impossible to answer or to
anticipate all the questions you may have regarding flytying with this FAQ.
Our motto is that there are no stupid questions. If you you have a question
which is not answered in this or other FAQ's, do not hesitate to post it to
the list. However, you are encouraged to read all the FAQs to help keep
common questions from being reposted.
BASIC EQUIPMENT:
Flytying Vise - At a minimum, a vise should hold the hook securely in a
wide range of sizes from saltwater size hooks 2-0 to tiny midge hooks size
22. If it cannot do that with a standard head, then there should be
interchangeable heads to cover all the hook sizes. The recommended starter
vise is the Thompson model "A". Somewhat more expensive are the Regal vise
and Renzetti "Traveler". The "Traveler" is the least expensive true rotary
vise (see discussion below). The Regal and Renzetti are the two most
popular vises as tyers move up from the Thompson vises. Lefthanders may
find some vises easier to use than others. You should try the vise to see
if the vise is truly ambidextrous. Check to see if the maunufacturer has a
"lefthanded" model.
Bobbin - The bobbin holds the spool of tying thread or floss. There are
"thread" bobbins and "material" bobbins. It is recommended that you
purchase at least one of each. As you accumulate different colors and
diameters of thread, you will be switching the spools every time you need a
different thread. Therefore, it is suggested that you purchase several
thread bobbins if you can. If you are going to tie with Kevlar thread it is
recommended that you purchase at least one "ceramic" bobbin to keep the
bobbin tube from being scored and ruined by the thread.
Hackle Pliers - This tool is used to hold the hackle tip as you wind the
hackle on the fly. The classic "English" designs tends to slip. I can
recommend two brands. The Griffin tear drop design works well, but I think
the E-Z Hackle Plier is the best. The E-Z product holds the hackle
tightly, has a small head for the tiniest flies, and a large ring so it can
rotate on your finger. Best of all, it is cheap. If you already have an
"English" design hackle plier that slips, try dipping the tips in melted
wax and then squeezing out the excess. It will improve the grip of the
pliers.
Scissors - Buy Fiskars Model 4301 Sport Scissors. If they are unavailable,
the 3 1/2" embroidery scissors will work. They have fine tips, are sharp
and inexpensive. Have a second pair of "trash" scissors available to cut
wire and such.
Gem Single Edge Razor Blades - To shape spun deer hair heads and bodies.
Bodkin - Make your own by sticking a sewing needle into a piece of wooden
dowel. Flatten the sides so it doesn't roll off the table. If you want to
purchase a bodkin, both Sunrise and Thompson make inexpensive models.
Whip Finisher and/or Half Hitch Tool - You can either whip finish or half
hitch the head of the fly. Both can be done by hand or you can purchase a
tool. If you need a whip finisher, buy a Matarreli standard length whip
finisher. There is also an extended body model.
Hair Stacker - There are many models and several sizes to choose from. You
can use rifle or pistol cartridge casings as a substitute.
Dubbing Wax - There are many brands with no clear favorite. It is used to
provide a tacky surface on the thread so that the dubbing will stick to it.
Personally, I learned to dub without wax, but most beginners find it
useful. The tackiness of the wax is a personal preference depending on your
needs. You can substitute cross country ski wax.
Head Cement - Buy Sally Hansen's clear "Hard as Nails with nylon"
fingernail polish. You can trim the brush or use the bodkin as an
applicator. It needs to be thinned before use. Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)
from a paint store is used as the thinner.
Dave's Flexament - A flexible cement for stiffening feathers and other
materials. It can also be substituted for head cement if you do not need
the high gloss of head cement.
Thread - Buy prewaxed thread. Danville Flymaster Plus is the most popular
6/0 thread and Monocord is the most popular 3/0 thread. Thompson also makes
a thread - called Monobond in 6/0 and 3/0. These are the standard threads.
There are now superstrong threads made by Unithread, Benecchi, and
Dynacord. Unithread and Benecchi specialize in the thinner sizes 6/0 to
12/0. Dynacord is the recommended 3/0 thread and should be used instead of
Kevlar.
Comments - You can purchase a vise as a C-clamp or Pedestal model. The
C-clamp models are less expensive and require you to clamp your vise to the
edge of a table. The pedestal model has a heavy metal base which holds the
vise down. However, if you are going to tie deer hair flies which require
heavy thread pressure, even the heaviest pedestal will move. The post of
the pedestal vise is shorter than the C-clamp. Therefore you cannot just
buy the pedestal to convert a C-clamp to a pedestal vise. You will need the
shorter post as well.
The Regal and Renzetti vises deserve some additional discussion. The Regal
Vise has a patented springloaded head, which you will automatically hold
the hook as the handle is released. This unique feature accounts for its
popularity. The Renzetti is a true rotary vise. When the head is rotated,
the hook will rotate along its shaft which makes placing and winding
materials on the hook much easier. The Regal can be bought as a "rotary"
meaning that the head turns but the geometry of the head does not allow the
hook to rotate around the axis of its shaft. The Renzetti head is also
smaller making it easier to tie the very small flies. The @FLYFISH list is
split as to whether the Regal or the Renzetti is the "better" vise. There
are also other fine vises including the HMH, A.K. Best, Nor-vise, Waldron,
and Dynaking.
Head cement serves two purposes. One is to seal the head and protect the
thread wraps so that they do not unravel. For this purpose the head cement
needs to be thinned so that it penetrates the thread. The other is to make
a glassy coating on the fly head especially on streamer patterns. Eyes may
be painted on later. For this purpose the Sally Hansen's is ideal but
unthinned, it is a poor penetrator. My solution is to finish off the fly
with a whip finish rather than half hitches. A 5 turn whip finish does not
need head cement, and it will not unravel. I only use head cement when I
need a glassy coating.
Use the thinest thread possible to tie your flies. This is particularly
important for dry flies to reduce the bulk of the fly. Match the color of
the thread to the body of the fly. This will hide the thread and prevent it
from "showing" through the dubbing when the fly is wet with water or
floatant. It will also help hide your dubbing mistakes. A basic thread set
would be the colors black, olive, brown and yellow in 6/0 and 3/0 sizes.
MATERIALS:
Dubbing - This is the material which is "spun" around the tying thread and
then wound on the hook to form the body of the fly. It can be split into
natural and synthetic, fine and coarse. In general, the fine materials are
used to tie dry flies and the coarse materials are used to tie nymphs. You
can choose to buy individual packages as the need arises or to buy a
spectrum of colors at the outset. The various colors you buy can be mixed
to get an intermediate shade.
Hackle - These are the feathers from chickens. It is recommended that you
buy "genetic" hackle meaning feathers from birds raised especially for
flytying. The two major suppliers are Metz and Hoffman with the Hoffman
being of higher quality. The hackle can be from a hen or a cock, but the
term "hackle" generally refers to the feathers of the cock unless specified
as hen hackle. Furthermore, the hackle can be from two areas of the body,
the "neck" or the "saddle". The "neck" has the smaller and finer hackle and
is more expensive than the "saddle". The hackle is further separated into
three grades - grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 in order of descending
quality. The best buy is generally grade 2, and it is recommended that you
start with this grade of hackle if you can afford it. Commercial flies are
generally tied with grade 3 or poorer hackle.
Deer/Elk/Moose hair - For wings, bodies and tailing.
Bucktail - For streamers
Calf (kip) body hair or tail - Used for wings on the Wulff patterns.
Cul de Canard (CDC) - Feathers from around the oil gland of a duck used to
imitate the wings on emergers and dry flies.
Chenille - Used for the bodies on many flies.
Marabou -Soft under feathers from a turkey used in streamers and nymphs.
Goose or Turkey biots - Used to wrap dry flies, and for tailing or winging
of nymphs
Misc feathers - Grouse, partridge, duck, pheasant, turkey, etc. The soft
body feathers are used in soft hackle flies to imitate insects legs or
emerging wings. The flight feathers are used for winging material or wing
cases on nymphs. Tail feathers can be used for tailing on nymphs or for
wing cases.
Peacock herl - An irridescent feather material usually used for nymphs and
some dry flies.
Antron or Zelon - A trilobed synthetic fiber used to add flash to dubbing.
Used also for winging.
Floss - Comes in single strand or multi-strand. Buy the single strand.
Flashabou or Krystal flash - Synthetic mylar like strands used for
streamers. Buy the Krystal Flash.
Microfibbets - A synthetic tailing material which is great for small flies
and will take color from a pantone pen. Highly recommended.
Lead wire and lead eyes - To weight the flies. The diameter of the wire
should match the diameter of the hook.
Metal beads and eyes of brass, copper, etc - Used to weight nymphs and
streamers.
Copper wire - 3For nymphs.
Tinsel or Tubing - Used for ribbing or bodies. Comes in metallic or mylar,
silver or gold.
Comments: Materials need not always be purchased. Many of the bird feathers
and animal furs are readily obtained from hunters. You can sometimes trade
flies for materials. Be sure to treat them for bugs, and keep them in
separate zip lock bags. Use moth crystals if the materials are untreated.
The feathers can be zapped in the microwave to destroy insect eggs. 20 Mule
Team Borax can be used as a preservative for bird and animal skins. You
must first remove as much fat and meat as possible from the skins, coat the
skin with borax and allow it to dry.
You can tell what animal furs are good for dubbing by examining the
traditional fly recipes. For example, the adams will call for grey muskrat
fur. You will then know that muskrat is a good source for grey dry fly
dubbing. Similarly, red fox provides a good pale cream dubbing for the
light cahill. From the hare's ear nymph pattern you learn that a hare's
mask makes good grey nymph dubbing.
The most plentiful furs for dubbing are rabbit and squirrel. Rabbit is good
for fine dry fly dubbing and squirrel for the coarser nymph dubbing. If you
have a source for white rabbit fur, it can by dyed. Natural squirrel comes
in various shades of the grey and fox squirrels. Other sources of materials
are taxidermist shops and furriers, who often have scraps of fur. Oldtime
"Rendevous" are also becoming popular, and they are a source of animal
skins.
Regular knitting yarn is a good source of dubbing. Use a comb to comb out
1" -2" fibers of the yarn. Cut them off, and then when you get a pile of
fibers, work them with the comb until they form a pile of dubbing.
Dazzleaire yarn is a source for "sparkle yarn" and Aunt Lydia's rug yarn is
a source for the coarser yarn that can be used for nymph patterns. Your
local craft and yarn shops are a good source for flytying supplies.
The hackle necks and saddles will be the most expensive materials you will
purchase. Brown and light to medium dun will be the most popular colors
followed by grizzly and then ginger. If you tie adams, you can substitute a
cree hackle for the mixture of grizzly and brown.
If your finances are limited, it is best to only buy the materials for the
flies you currently need to tie. You can gradually add patterns and
materials as your skills improve. Don't hesitate to substitute materials in
a pattern if you feel they will work. This type of substitution works well
if you are working within the same materials group, for example,
substituting a grouse soft hackle for a partridge, deer for elk, zelon for
antron, etc.
HOOKS:
Flies are tied to imitate living creatures. Hooks are the skeleton upon
which you will build that creation. You would not start with the skeleton
of a horse to make a dog. Similarly, you cannot build a proper fly on the
wrong hook.
Perhaps a few definitions are order before we go further. Hooks are defined
in terms of their gap (or gape), their length, and the shape of the hook
bend. The hook size is the width of the gap. This is the distance from the
shank of the hook to the point. The length of the shank of a standard hook
is 1 1/2 times the gap. The shape of the hook is defined by the bend. They
carry names such as sproat, aberdeen, perfect, etc. You have to memorize
the names.
There are two other descriptors - the diameter of the wire and whether the
hook is shorter or longer than the "standard" length. These descriptors are
directly related to the wire diameter, length and size of the mythical
standard hook series. If the diameter of the hook is thinner, it is is
noted by an "X-Fine or X-Light"; if it is thicker, it is noted by a
"X-Heavy or X-Strong". Similarly, the length of the hook is described a
"X-Long" or "X-Short". These designations are related to the other hooks in
the standard series. For example a size 12 2X-Fine 2X-Long hook has the gap
of the standard size 12 hook but is made from the wire of a size 14 hook (2
sizes lighter wire) and has the shank length of a size 10 hook (2 sizes
longer hook). Confused? Don't worry, the patterns will tell you what hooks
to use. In general the X-fine hooks are used for dry flies and the X-heavy
for nymphs. The X-Short are used for small flies and the X-Long for
streamers, grasshoppers, etc.
Having said that, I must warn you that there is no "standard" between
manufacturers for sizing hooks (gap size). The gap measurement in
millimeters of a size 12 hook from one manufacturer will be different than
that from another. It is as if the shoe industry had no standards for
length and width of shoes. The hook industry has no standards for length
and gap. You must do what we would have to do with the shoes - you must try
them on and learn what sizes fit from experience.
At this point, let me digress, so as to avoid confusion over fly size and
it's relation to hook length and gap. Hooks are sized by the gap and not
the length. However, as fly tyers and fly fishers, the insect we imitate is
sized by the length. When we commonly refer to a size 18 BWO, we mean the
fly is tied on a hook length of a standard size 18 hook. It is the length
of the hook that is important in the imitation and not the gap. The length
and shape of the hook will determine if the pattern looks like the natural.
This is what I meant by trying the shoes on to see if they fit.
You will find descriptions of hooks which are "chemically sharpened" and
have "mini barbs". Purchase these hooks if you can. Barbless hooks are also
an option but are not available in all models.
There are three major hook manufacturers. They are Mustad, Tiemco and
Daiichi. Tiemco and Daiichi have the broadest assortment of flyfishing
hooks, with Tiemco being Hertz to Daiichi's Avis. Mustad had fallen behind,
but now they offer a series of chemically sharpened and minibarbed hooks in
their "Accupoint" line. These are designated by the letters "AC" before the
model number. Partridge of England makes the most expensive fly fishing
hooks, and they are known for their salmon hooks. They are excellent hooks,
if you can afford them.
Hooks and hackle will be, on a per fly basis, the most expensive parts of
the fly. You can save money by purchasing only dry fly hooks and using them
for your nymphs as well. Just add lead wire to the nymphs to compensate for
the lighter hook. Similarly, multipurpose hooks such as the Tiemco 200R or
Daiichi 1273 can be used for streamers, grasshoppers and nymphs. It is not
possible to discuss all the individual hook shapes and models available.
There is a hook chart available which cross references the hooks from
various manufacturers. (ADD A LINK TO THE HOOK CHART HERE)
MISCELLANEOUS:
Material Clip - Some vises come with a material clip to temporaily hold
materials. If yours doesn't, you can purchase one separately.
Hackle Guard - Used to keep hackles out of the way and prevent them from
being caught as you the whip finish the fly.
Parachute or "gallows" tool - Keeps tension on the upright parachute wing
during winding of the hackle.
Dubbing Twister - For making and spinning dubbing loops.
Dubbing Teaser - Roughens the dubbing on nymphs. Just buy a nylon 22
caliber cleaning brush to do the job.
Hair Packer - Tool for packing deer hair bodies. It saves your fingernails.
Hackle Guage - For measuring hackle length for dry flies.
Waste-Trol - A waste basket that clamps to your vise or table and catches
the clippings.
Bone or shell comb - A nonstatic comb for getting the underfur out of deer hair.
Bobbin Threader - Buy some Butler dental floss threaders instead.
Super Glue - To secure materials or windings in critical areas.
Tying lamp and magnifier - For those small flies.
FINAL COMMENTS:
One of the best suggestions I can give you is to take a flytying course,
preferably where the equipment and materials are supplied. Ask your
instructor for purchase suggestions in light of the information I have
provided. During the course, you will be taught how to ties both nymphs and
dries. The materials the instuctor uses are those you will want to purchase
so that you can practice these flies. Since the rest of the members of the
course will also need materials, perhaps you can get together and split the
cost of some of the expensive materials such as hackle, eg, buy a neck and
split it in half.
Use only the finest quality materials for your flies. You cannot construct
a good fly out of poor materials. Quality materials have two benefits - not
only will the flies be better, but they will be easier to tie. Whenever you
are faced with the choice of getting more of a poorer quality material or
less of a higher quality, choose the higher quality. The most expensive
part of flytying is the time you put into it. Make it enjoyable and less
frustrating by using the best materials possible.
It will take you several flies before you will tie a decent looking
pattern. This is to be expected. You have two choices for what to do with
these substandard flies. Either fish them - surprisingly, they will catch
fish, or you can cut off the materials and reuse the hook. Just slide a
single edge razor blade along the top shaft of the hook, and you will have
a clean hook. There is no need to remove the hook from the vise, and this
will prevent you from cutting yourself.
On occasion you may see a fly for which you cannot find tying instructions.
Purchase two samples of the fly. Take one of the samples apart by
unraveling the tieing thread. You can reverse engineer the fly by carefully
taking it apart. Write the instructions down. Then use your second fly as
your "museum" copy so that you can compare your flies to the original.
Finally, remember that the list is available to answer your questions
either through the archives or by posting a question.
Copyright 1995 by Henry Kanemoto.
No reproduction, electronic or otherwise, is allowed without permission of
the author.
The hook and hackle store.
The Hook & Hackle Company
Potentially Useful Information for Fly Tyers
Installing Braided Leader Loops
Our braided leader loops are packaged in 3's with a length of clear tubing. Cut the tubing into 3 equal lengths. Slip one piece on the end of the fly line and push it up the line out of the way. Cut the frayed ends of the butt of the connector loop. Open the connector end with a needle, being careful not to fray it more. Push the fly line in just a little and work the braid onto the line a bit more. Repeat many times in small increments. Once 3/4 to 1" of the line is in the loop, slide the tubing over the junction. Heat shrink the tubing by holding it near an incadescent light bulb. Be careful not to touch the bulb as the tubing will melt.
G-U-M THREADERS
Eventually fly fishermen discover everything. Add this to the list thanks to Allen Shanafelt:
G-U-M threaders are available in just about any drug store. Intended as a tool to thread dental floss under bridges etc., these stiff blue threaders can be used for a number of chores at the tying or rod building bench. At under $3 for a container of 20, they are a real bargain. In addition to their obvious use as a bobbin threader, they can be used to clean fly eyes and for pulling the thread thru when finishing rod wraps. I'm sure in time more uses will come to light.
THE CHEAPEST AND BEST GENETIC HACKLE - REVISITED
After reading the Hoffman Hackle study results, we felt that the study had to be qualified by a disinterested party:
1- The study assumes each tyer will very carefully recover each bit of hackle to realize two to four flies per feather. Some tyers have the drive and patience to do so. If tyers do not, as is our tendency, then Hoffman becomes very expensive on a per fly basis. The best buy in latter case is the cape with the cheapest per feather cost - Keough Capes.
2 - The study suggests that Hoffman/Whiting hackle is the easiest to tie with and has the fewest twists while tying. This is usually true. But we find some of the Hoffman/Whiting necks almost too soft. This could be leading to a problem down the road. We will say that the Whiting/Hoffman hackle is generally better to tie with than the other two main brands - Keough and Metz. Keough has come a long way and will continue to improve and should become the best of both worlds - price and quality, if he keeps the prices competitive. Metz has gone far down hill in the past few years and has become expensive and very stiff hackle, difficult to tie with. We recommend it only as a last resort.
3- The quarter saddle concept introduced by Hoffman Hackles sounds like a good deal until one learns that you must buy several quarters to get a full range of hackle sizes. Stick with the half saddles, if possible. If you want a full range of dry fly hackle 10-24, buy a cape or half cape - in any brand.
Overall, if you can buy Keough hackle at a good price, it is probably a better buy over the other two brands. If you can be miserly with hackle, the Hoffman/Whiting becomes a better deal and is a bit easier to tie with.
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THREADING A BOBBIN WITHOUT A BOBBIN THREADER
To thread a bobbin without a bobbin threader start the thread into the bobbin and then place your lips at the exit point of the bobbin. Use the soda straw motion to suck the thread up and out.
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HOFFMAN HACKLE STUDY
Whiting Farms, growers of Whiting Hackle, have release the results of their study of hackle capes from Metz, Spencer, Keough and Whiting Farms. A summary is now on this web site - Hoffman Hackle Study.
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FLY PATTERN RECIPES
Need the recipe for a fly pattern? Try our pattern recipe page. It contains recipes for most of the standard patterns of drys, wets, nymphs, streamers, bass bugs, panfish flies, Atlantic salmon, Pacific Salmon, pike (and musky) and saltwatern flies. The page has a table of contents that whisks you to the type. You can use your browser's finder to locate the particular pattern you are looking for.
go to fly pattern recipes
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Whiting Dry Fly Saddles
Whiting dry fly saddles are very heavy in no. 14 and 16 dry fly hackle and some can tie 12's and 18's. Many necks come up short with hackle in this range and leave the owner with a lot of left over smaller and larger hackle. The selling prices of the Hoffman saddles seem rediculously high until you consider the hackle sizes available and that each long feather will tie 4 or more dry flies. A Whiting #1 saddle will tie at least 750 dry flies and a #2 will tie a minimum of 450 dry flies. The cost per fly is less than necks and you won't have a bunch of unusable feathers sitting around forever in the tying supply drawer. We're impressed.
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Cutting Latex Sheets
From Slim Mitchell (Roadkill Roundtable Flytyers)- Qilters new about this for a long time and now we know. Rolling fabric cutters, usually found under the OLFA brand (from Plattsburgh NY), in any any craft or yarn shop, are outstanding for cutting latex sheets quickly and very straight. Be sure to place the latex on a plexiglas/plastic cutting board before cutting. The boards and cutting guides can also be purchased where you find the cutter, but any straight edge will do for a guide. The cutters are alos good to cut suede/leather, flat foam and others. Caution: these cutters are very sharp and can easily remove a finger tip!!!
[Passed on to us by the Long Island Fly Tyers (LIFT). ]
Latex sheets are very difficult to cut straight. We have a method in our catalog that has been used for years. But we have recently been offered a new procedure that is slick as a whistle: roll up the latex sheet as tight as possible. Then with a sharp single edged razor blade slice the latex to the desired width. the result is neat ready to use latex strips!
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Saddle Patches
Saddle patches are skin patches of feathers cut from a (deceased) chicken's back.
Rooster saddle patches contain 2 kinds of feathers-saddle hackles and the shorter spade hackles. The feathers are usually of good enough quality to hackle dry flies. Most dry fly saddles hackles come from genetically raised chickens for the fly tying trade. Better saddles can be used to tie dries in sizes 10 to 18. On really good ones a tyer can expect 2 to 3 flies being hackled. Most other saddles contain saddle hackles that are too wide or webby to tie dry flies. These larger webby saddle hackles are usually used for wings on streamers, bass and saltwater flies or for palmering woolly buggers and their relatives.. Typical examples in our line are Metz and Keough saddles in grades 1 and 2 which are useful for tying dry flies ranging from size 10 to 12 sometimes 14 or 16. New this year is Hoffman saddle patches which can tie 3 to 4 dry flies per feather down to size 20! Keough No. 3 brown and black saddles are useful for other tasks - wings on streamers, etc. The shorter spade hackles can also be used to tie streamers, dries etc and to tail dry flies. These shorter feathers can also be used as a beard hackle for wets and streamers. Saddle patches also contain a few schlappen feathers at the butt-long, very webby feathers that can also be used for streamers or beards on wets and nymphs. There is always some fine marabou (on the sides of most saddle patches) which has a number of uses. Imported saddle patches are smaller versions of genetic, domestic saddles. However, the feathers on the imported rooster saddles are useful for winging streamer trout flies and for beard hackles on wets and nymphs.
Hen saddles or hen backs have short, webby, oval-shaped feathers. They are used for wings on such flies as a matuka sculpin. These feathers can also be used as beard hackle on wets and nymphs. The solid colors - cream, ginger and dun - can be used as cut wings for dries. Using a little imagination one can easily think of several other uses for these beautiful feathers. Surprisingly, there is little difference in quality between a domestic and an imported hen back.
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A Short Course in Hackle Capes
Hackle Capes
Hackle capes can be divided into several categories. We'll start with two: hen hackle capes and cock or rooster hackle capes. (Capes are also referred to as necks in not-so-polite society.) Rooster or cock capes (necks) are usually used to hackle dry flies; hen capes (necks) are usually used to hackle wet flies and nymphs. Both hen and rooster capes are used for a whole lot more and this will be evident as the details of this section unfold.
Hen capes - wet flies and nymphs and other uses
Hen capes come is only 1 variety - webby and useful for wets and nymphs. However, the smaller feathers can be used for hackle wings on dry flies. Best example is the Adams dry fly. The usual pattern calls for rooster hackle tips for the wings. There is not a good supply of expensive rooster grizzly hackle tips so in more recent years we have learned to use the tiny hackles on a hen cape for upright wings on an Adams dry fly. This is beginning to happen for other patterns (eg., patterns calling for wings of dun hackle tips).
The butt feathers on a hen neck are also useful to tie matukas. One can readily see that hen necks provide many uses for the fly tyer. The one thing they should not be used for is winding hackle on a dry fly.
Rooster capes - Dry flies
Rooster capes (necks) have very stiff, shiny, web-free hackles (for the most part). Rooster capes do, however, come in varying qualities, these qualities being attributed for their use in hackling dry flies. In years gone by one could buy a dry fly cape from India, China or the Philippines for hackling dry flies in a full range from sizes 10 to 20 for less than $5.00. The necks of choice were from China. The quality of Chinese necks was generally good as was the range of sizes. Even the butt feathers were of excellent quality for tailing dries. Various increase pressures* on the Chinese feather sources turned feather traders to other countries to find good dry fly hackle - India and the Philippines.
(*Increased pressures on cape supply included changes in breeding habits, and therefore, feather quality along with an increased demand for the few quality capes that existed.)
The Philippine hackle cape, although web free and having a full range of sizes, had very stiff hackle stems requiring a lot of twisting during tying. The Indian Rooster Cape, on the other hand, had many smaller hackles and softer stems (although not as soft as the Chinese hackle stems) than the Philippine cape. India subsequently became the biggest supplier of rooster hackle capes in the 70's and early 80's. During the 80's the increase pressures on the Indian rooster capes made their quality capes disappear rapidly. This in turn promoted the raising of domestic "genetic hackle capes."
The genetic hackle cape is typified by long narrow hackles in abundance in sizes 10 - 20 and smaller. Even the poorest of domestic genetic capes are of dry fly quality and will tie flies to sizes 18 and 20, something unheard of in today's "Imported Rooster Capes." In terms of useful feather per dollar, they are a much better buy than any imported cape today.
The best we can hope for in today's imported capes are very few of dry fly quality and those will only tie to sizes 10 to 14 at best. When available the Chinese capes are still the best, but their feather size range is not very large. Most only tie down to size 12. Many of these are called streamer capes and are offered primarily in white or dyed colors for collars on salmon, steelhead and bass flies.
To recognize the difference in these capes, one must look at the skins on the back. The skin size is greatest on the domestic cape, similar in shape but smaller on the Chinese cape and smaller and rectangular shaped on the Indian cape. One does not find Philippine capes in today's market.
Shapes of Rooster Cape Skins:
Chinese--------------------------Indian----------------Domestic
Although imported rooster capes are of limited value in tying dry flies, they cannot be overlooked for such tasks as tailing dry flies, beard hackle for wets and nymphs, cut wings for dries, and streamer wings. No feather from a rooster cape is useless if ones uses some imagination. If one desires to purchase a dry fly imported cape, buy one of the highest quality available. If for practice or other use, buy a lesser quality imported neck.
Imported hen necks are also not as useful as they were 10 to 20 years ago. The feathers are short and not very small, making them tough to use on traditional wet and nymph ties. The butt feathers are still good for matuka patterns and the smaller feathers can be used for dry fly up-wings. Accordingly, the value of domestic genetic hen necks has increased in recent years because they do have a full range of hackle and are perfect for tying traditional wets and nymphs. The trouble is that the growers balk at the expense of producing hen capes because of the cost. As a result, there are few domestic genetic hen capes on the market today. They usually become available at the end of the growing season when breeding stock is done away with (months of April through July).
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WANT TO RAISE YOUR OWN HACKLES?
There is no text book or even published articles on genetic hackle raising. It is a big business for the few that do it and you can't expect them to give their secrets away. And the ones who left this good earth have taken their secrets with them to the grave.
Unless one is lucky enough to have received some chicks from an established genetic flock, we are left with the option of raising common barnyard fowl. We have gone the "Murray McMurray" route (chicks by mail-order) in the distant past. It was not a rewarding experience. Range birds eat like pigs and produce few good hackles. (We even tried our hands at genetic chickenry. That attempt went bad after three years because we didn't really know what we were doing. ) Remember that for every 10 chicks purchase about half will be hens and it will not be evident to most of us which is which until they have eaten a ton of food.
If you decide to throw all care to the wind and try it anyway, keep in mind that once your flock is under way, if you can't keep the roosters separate from each other, you'll need to debeak or peeper them so they don't peck the heck out of each other. Then there is illness, a common occurrence in a dense flock. Most can can be treated with relatively inexpensive anti-biotics commonly available at a local farm center.
The birds should mature in 6 to 9 mo. Feed them a higher protein diet two weeks before harvesting to get drier skins.
Harvesting: a 1/4" rubber band wrapped several times around the neck will do them in quickly. Hang the carcass by the beak a few hours before skinning (this will keep blood from running during skinning and ruining the feathers). Range birds generally yield sizes 10 - 12 and sometimes 14 size dry fly hackle. The saddles make nice streamers. You will not get your investment back from one of these birds in the form of feathers. And their flesh is tough, so thoughts of eating the carcass should not be entertained.
Ater one of these experiences, the fly tyer fully appreciates a good genetic hackle cape. We do.
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Spinners
Spinners can be a real pain to tie and fish but the results are rewarding. The rusty spinner is one of the best to use in these parts for most of the summer! I'm sure every location has its favorite "spinner season." The usual patterns call for hackle fibers or poly yarn (poly wing material and several variations) tied at 90 degrees to the hook. Here are a couple interesting variations:
sparkle wings-Substitute pearl krystal flash for the usual wing material. The spinners become much more visible but not unnaturally so.
CDC wings-The fibers are naturally splayed making tying easier. The oil-containing CDC feathers help the spinner to float, a bonus!
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Coolest fly pattern to stick on a fishin' hat - the egg sucking leech. Near the hook eye, before finishing off a leech pattern, tie in a salmon egg (use glow bug yarn or krystal eggs). Your buddies will be impressed with the hat; the fish will like the fly.
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Most fly tying instructors, in person or in books, tell you to do your cementing with your dubbing needle. The dubbing needle slowly develops an uncleanable lacquer tumor that is impossible to remove completely. Keep a few round toothpicks on the tying bench for applying head cement. They can be discarded when the inevitable build-up occurs.
Make sure you run your dubbing needle up through the fly eyes to clean out head cement before you put the flies in your favorite fly box. It's awfully tough to do this on the stream near dusk.
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Our favorite hellgrammite
A number of species including trout and bass enjoy dining on the Dobson fly nymph - the hellgrammite, the bigger the better. We have found the following recipe useful for spring fishing. Take an 8X or 6X hook and bend it in the middle some 15 degrees. Insert the hook into the vise jaws and on each side of the hook lash two pieces of medium or heavy lead wire nearly the length of the hook (leave a little space to tie in and tie off). Next wrap black chenille medium width up to near the eye. Palmer a long brown hackle from bend to eye. Next (to imitate legs) cut most of the barbules of the palmered hackle off, leaving them a little longer near the hook eye (to resemble pincers). Tied in hook sizes 2 to 6 , these disgusting looking ties closely resemble their live counterparts and provide a lot of action, especially in heavy water.
A few years ago one of us lost 3 of these in thirty minutes time as something(s) huge and unknown grabbed them and headed downstream like freight trains, continuing until the end of the backing was reached and the tippets broken off. The fish could not be turned with the reel drag turned on full and palming rim engaged. Large trout, northern pike, eels and bass inhabit these waters.
Be prepared for hard strikes!
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Peacock Herl
There is something about the iridescent blue peacock herl color that attracts trout because many of the most effective trout patterns incorporate some: Prince nymph, Zug Bug nymph, bead-head caddis nymph, Coachman wet fly and Royal Coachman dry fly.
An interesting note about the Prince nymph. No known nymph has white wings/legs. So the pattern doesn't imitate any natural insect. However, the Prince nymph is a more effective pattern with the white wings/legs than without it.
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Great Patterns for Bass
Poppers
Adding rubber legs to poppers is done by threading a needle with the rubber hackle and pushing the needle through the cork using pliers. Cut the rubber loop to release the needle and two pair of "legs" are in place. This does take a little effort. Be careful not to ram the needle into your other hand.
Save the residue from sanding or cutting cork bodies. The cork residue can be further sanded to a fine dust and mixed with epoxy to fill the slot with the hook inserted.
Eyes can readily be painted on poppers using a nail head. The pupil can be added using a pin (point or head, depending on the pupil diameter desired).
Zonkers
Zonkers are effective streamer patterns useful for taking just about any freshwater species (and in modified forms for saltwater species). Basically, the hook is covered with an aluminum or lead tape which is covered with mylar tubing (core removed). Then a rabbit fur (zonker) strip is tied on top. The body may be covered with epoxy for additional strength.
Hints
Interestingly, the first zonker patterns did not have the tape underbody. Its use does maintain the minnow shape better than not.
Be sure to use aluminum or lead tape that has an adhesive backing!
Originally silver mylar tubing was (and still is) used. More recently a switch to Pearlescent Mylar Tubing has produced a variation that appears to be much more effective than the silver tubing.
Woolly Buggers
The woolly bugger is a great modern streamer pattern. These appear in many color variations. The basic pattern calls for a marabou tail, wool or chenille body with a hackle palmered from top of bend to eye. Regardless of colors used this pattern can be improved by adding a few strands (3 or 4) to krystal flash to the marabou tail (this variation is called a krystal bugger).
Zonkers and woolly buggers are also very effective for trout fishing.
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How to Cut Materials Tied to the Hook
During an exercise at the bench today we were reminded that when materials are tied to the hook, one should cut the residue back at an angle - hair, yarn, chenille, feather fibers, etc. It is much easier to wrap over a tapered cut than a straight cut.
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The Henryville Special
There are a number of patterns that do not represent a particular insect but encompass the common features of several. The Orvis Near 'nuff comes to mind for general Mayfly suggestion. Then there is our favorite, the Henryville Special - a caddis pattern that has features of several common caddis patterns in one. If you're fishing on a ho-hum day, when there is not much hatching and the fish do not seem too active tie on a henryville special in a 16 or 18 and get ready to have some fun.
Hook-Standard dry fly 16 - 20 (best)
Thread-Black 6/0 or 8/0
Body - Olive fur or synthetic with a grizzly hackle palmered over it
Underwing - Lemon woodduch flank fibers
Hackle - Dark Ginger
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Lord of the Flies - The Crazy Charlie
The Crazy Charlie was a productive synaptic event of one Bob Nauheim. Originally called the Nasty Charlie-the folks at Orvis renamed it the Crazy Charlie.The pattern was devised for bonefishing. The design was such to keep it at or near the bottom to catch these mainly bottom feeders. The original pattern consisted of a silver flashabou tail, a body of silver tinsel over wrapped with clear mono, a cream hackle wing, silver bead chain eyes on Mustad 34007 hooks tied with white thread. Originally the pattern was intended to immitate glass minnows. It was later discovered that the bonefish were taking it as a shrimp.
Since the original was so successful, a huge number of color variations were tried (many with hair wings instead of feathers) and many found to be quite successful.
Other patterns have evolved from the original Crazy Charlie like the Clouser Deep Minnow., another extremely effective pattern.
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Genetic Hackles - 1998
Since Umpqua Feather Merchants bought Metz Hackles a three years ago, we have been searching for another full line of genetic hackle grown by the originator. There are only three others big enough to supply catalog houses. One of them is Keough Hackles; another is Hoffman Hackles.
We go a long way back with Bill Keough, to the early 80's when we were raising our own genetic grizzly capes and saddles. Bill bought some of that stock and cross bread them with his own capes which were already were very nice. He has taken them a long way since. We haven't carried his capes until now because of an agreement with Metz Hackles. We tried to have them in our 1996 catalog, but Orvis had an exclusive with Keough. Although the bulk of his 1997 production was promised, Bill increased production to include our needs. In addition to beautiful grizzly necks, Bill has a full line of other colors of genetic hackle. These were developed and know earlier as Colorado Quality Hackle. Since Bill bought their already very nice stock, he has cross-bred them into decent genetic hackle producers.
Henry Hoffman developed a strain of genetic grizzly hackle which is the envy of everyone. Tom Whiting bought the Hoffman hackle farm and developed his oun strains of whites and browns. Since he has produced hackle of many important colors and they are all beautiful. They share the good traits of Keough Hackle-soft stems. In the near future Whiting Farms will be reintroducing their natural duns expanded from the current Hebert duns which they have purchased giving them the best natural dun necks in existense.
A general problem with many genetic hackles is that the stems are very stiff and twist during tying. Not so with Keough or Hoffman. It is as easy to tie with Hoffman or Keough hackles as it was in the 70's when great Indian and Chinese cock capes were plentiful. The hackles are long, many can hackle two flies. These is also a nice bunch of butt hackles for streamers or tailing dry flies. This is not so with other genetic hackle because the butt feathers are usually a different shade from the rest of the cape.
With Keough and Hoffman capes colors are truer. Brown is brown (any with the big black center stripe is labeled furnace, as it should be). Ginger is ginger, grizzly is perfect. Even the black necks tie very nice dry flies (Hoffman blacks are dyed and the best we've ever seen). Keough and Hoffman duns are true dun grey colors top to bottom (Hoffman dyed duns are truly spectacular!). A count of useful feathers on a Keough cape always yields a much higher number than other brands; the Hoffman's even higher!
We fly tyers are very lucky to have so many varieties of genetic hackle around these days. Any of them are capable of tying top quality flies when compared to current imported hackle. The prices are high, but the feather count is equivalent to several imported capes that sell for $10 or more each. In that sense they are reasonably priced. A really good buy is a 1/2 of a number two or three genetic hackle priced in the $20 - $25 price range. Even these have more useful hackle than two imported capes!
Metz and Keough grizzly saddles are very, very nice, as expected. The saddle patches are huge. Many of the feathers have 7 to 8 inches of useful dry fly hackle, mainly in size 12, some smaller. In addition there are all the bonus feathers for streamers and even for wet flies and nymphs using beard style hackle. The number 2's tie 10's and 12's and many have a useful length of 6-8". Each of the long saddle hackles will tie 2 to 3 flies!
Hoffman saddles in all grades and colors are like something most people have never seen. Feathers may run as long as 10 inches. The feathers tie sizes 12 to 18 dry flies. Each feather will tie 3 to 4 dry flies making the cost per fly less in most cases than those tied with cape hackle.
So far this year this is how we see genetic hackle from Hoffman, Keough and Metz stack up:
Hoffman is the clear overall winner in hackle abundance, color and size range in dry fly capes and saddles. The hen capes are abundant but not as nice as the Keough or Metz (which are very scarce). Hoffman also provides cream and golden badger capes and dyed Coachman Brown capes which cannot be had elsewhere.
Between Metz and Keough capes, Metz has the edge in color and quality of ginger variant and cream necks over the Keough harvest. Keough is the hands down winner in the colors-grizzly, brown and black. Duns and ginger colored capes are a toss.
Metz quality in general in late 1997 was going downhill rapidly. We are not optimistic about the current crop. If things should change for the better we will report it here and in our NEWS page.
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Fly tying threads
The use of one thread or another and of one size or another for a particular tying job is a topic that can be and often is debated for days. Simply put, use bigger thread for bigger flies. Threads for fly tying are made from several materials. Some are multi-strand, some are single strand. Sizes range from 10/0 to E. - Fly Tying Threads
Let's start with sizes. Our threads are sized from A, the biggest to 00000000 or (8/0), the smallest. Most trout flies in the range of 8 to 20 are tied with 6/0 thread (although 8/0 is sometimes used). Flies smaller than 20 need especially small thread like 8/0. Larger flies, like streamers and bass bugs are usually tied with 3/0 and sometimes with size A threads. Really big flies for pike and saltwater species are tied with A threads. Kevlar thread is especially good for these big flies that are going to get chewed up.
Single vs multi-strand. If single strand thread is used, it is generally because the tyer wants a lot of thread build-up, e.g., for large wrapped heads on salmon flies and streamers. If build up is undesireable, then multi-strand thread is called for. Most of the time it does not matter which type (single or multi-strand) is used.
Materials range from indestructible Kevlar thread to very soft (but strong) polyesters. The material used for threads is not as important as its strength. Kevlar is strong-very strong. If used enough, Kevlar thread can groove most metal bobbins. It is used for large flies that are going to get some rough treatment. Most larger flies and bass bugs can be tied with 3/0 or A nylon or polyester thread, provided that the thread is strong enough. Most are. UNI-threads tend to be stronger per size than other thread brands. Therefore one can use 3/0 UNI-thread instead of A for tying larger flies. The same holds true for trout fly thread. UNI 6/0 and 8/0 are stronger than their counterparts in other brands of fly tying thread. In tying trout flies one usually does not want a lot of thread build-up, so the smaller the thread, the better. Many trout flies are now being tied with UNI-8/0 thread. Also by using 6/0 UNI-thread the tyer can use more pressure than usual for tying trout flies and not worry so much about the thread breaking. - Fly Tying Threads
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Why buy a mallard wing pair?
Having a pair of mallard wings (Misc Feathers 1) on the tying bech has several advantages. You can get cheaper and more carefully matched mallard (or grey ) duck quills for dries and wets. You also get the white tipped blue mallard quills used to tie the McGinty (bee) pattern and there are many, many other smaller feathers (grey and white) that can be used for matukas, cut wings, and beard style wets and nymphs.
Insect leg material
There are a number of things that can be used to represent insect legs. The most obvious is dry and wet fly hackle from rooster or hen capes. There is knotted pheasant tail fibers and knotted quills or quill sections. In fact a hackle cape quill trimmed close (but not stripped) to the feather stem, when knotted and placed of a fly, looks very real and very "hairy". Black legs on terrestials and nymphs can be readily made from our legStuff (Misc Materials 3) or our black Super Hair (Misc Materials 1)
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A Fly Line Loop for Fly Tyers
One of today's fads is the use of a fly line loop to attach leaders to the fly line. They come in several colors, sizes and materials. Attaching them to lines can sometimes be a pain. And they can loosen at the worst possible time. But they do make attaching leaders to lines easier.
Fly tyers will appreciate the following:
Take the end of the fly line and turn it back on itself forming a loop. Take the loop and gently insert it into the fly tying vise jaws. Next take your favorite fly tying thread (I like 6/0) and start wrapping over the loop. (Take a half hitch now and then so if the thing starts to unravel, it won't happen all at once.) Wrap back towards the fly line until the end of the fly line is reached, then continue to wrap for another 1/4" or so. Finish with several half hitches. Lacquer the wrap with three to four coats of flexible head cement. When you are done there shoul be a small loop at the end and a nice tapered wrap which will allow the loop to smoothly pass throught the guides. This small "self-loop" is surprisingly strong and will last most of a season of harsh treatment. You should check it periodically for fraying. We've used these for years and are very happy with them.
The color of tying thread used may be chosen to give the self-loop a dual role: leader attachment and strike indicator (e.g., by using a fluorescent fire-orange tying thread). Additional strength may be added to the loop by first sewing tying thread through the line before wrapping. This takes a fine needle and a little patience.
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Dyes for Fly Tyers
Things that don't work well
Pantone pens do not color feathers well, but do work on some heavier hair-like deer hair.
Kool aid produces mixed results but can provide some decent pastel feather shades.
Hair coloring kits have been mastered by some and have been a complete failure to others.
"Photo-dyeing" that was so popular in the 70's and early 80's to produce dun dry fly hackle is expensive and environmentally unsound as it requires the use (and often misuse) of silver salts. Whereas the results were sometimes spectacular, more often the opposite was true. Besides, we can buy genetically grown dun hackle at a reasonable price these days.
Better dyes
Vegetable dyes, like Rit, are ok to use to dye feathers and some fur/hair but are won't produce brilliant colors or colors that are as colorfast as acid-based or aniline dyes like those available from E. Veniard in Surrey, England. Furs and feathers must be clean and degreased before attempting to dye them. Usually a soak overnight in a good detergent does the job. The articles must be thoroughly rinsed before placing them in the dye bath. The dye bath is prepared by bringing water to a boil, adding the dye and then, once the dye is dissolved, bringing the temperature down slowly to 160 degrees (a cool water bath usually works well here). Vinegar or glacial acetic acid is added to "fix" the color. The clean rinsed articles are added to the bath and kept there until the desired shade is reached. All items will dry lighter than they appear, so it is best to keep the materials in the bath until they are significanly darker than the desired shade. Feathers usually take up dye faster than most fur/hair, although rabbit fur is easily dyed. The amount of dye added to the bath depends on the shade desired, the amount of material added, the color of the dye used and the phase of the moon. Details of the dyeing procedure are gained mostly by trial and error. During dyeing the materials must be kept submerged. Blocks of wood help here. When the atricle is the desired shade, remove it from the bath and rinse it thoroughly. If the article is on skin. Place it skin down on newspapers to dry. At some point during drying, skin curls. If this is not a problem forget it. If it is simply put several magazines on top of the item to keep the skin stretched. Black is the worst color to dye. To effectively dye something black, it is necessary to keep the water bath very hot (e. g., 180 to 190 degrees F). Many times black dyed goods are burned (the material ends curl up) and must be discarded. Yellow, pink, orange, red dyes work easiest. Blue, green, olove and brown shades are harder to do.
Dyeing furs and feathers is messy and dangerous to a degree (scalds are common place). It is advisable to set up dye baths in the basement workroom where splatters won't matter much. Have cooking gloves handy to manipulate the dye baths. A pair of tongs makes life easier as well. The dyer should also wear an apron or old shirt and safety glasses!
To learn how to dye your own materials is mose fun than it first seems. Mixing dye colors can also provide the fly tyer with some shandes not readily available at supply houses. E.g., pink fox fur is very difficult to buy. But a piece of rabbit fur (white) can be easily turned into pink fox substitute by dyeing in a mixture of rit pink and tan (3 to 1 by weight) for just a few seconds. You can generate a lifetime supply very quickly.
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Dry Fly Hackle Color vs Quality
Like there are different grades or qualities of dry fly necks (capes), the quality of dry fly hackle varies with color. Generally, the best of dry fly hackle is available in grizzly, brown (and shades of like ginger and light ginger), and cream. The poorest colors in terms of dry fly quality are dun and black. Other colors like (pure) white, badger, furnace and red ginger (aka., ginger variant and red variant) fall somewhere in between. This is true even for the best of the genetic hackle on the market. A no.1 dun and a number 1 brown cape will vary markedly in dry fly quality, the brown always being a superior quality dry fly neck. In the stripped necks like badger and furnace, the bigger the stripe, the poorer the quality as the center stripe is web. Keep this in mind when examining necks. It will make for a better understanding of what really is in front of you.
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The Best Dubbing for Big Black Stonefly Nymphs
There are two-dyed black squirrel dubbing or the underhair from a patch of black bear hair.
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Hook Conversion Table.
We have converted the styles of Mustad hooks we stock into the corresponding hook styles of various manufacturers. We hope you find it useful. Hook Conversion Chart
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Old Fly Rod Sizes
Did you know that older fly rods with the designation IFI were meant for a DT-3 fly line? This and other older fly line designations can be found in our: Table of Fly Line Sizes
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Forgotten Fly Patterns?
The Bivisible. The bivisible is not an imitative pattern but a suggestive one. Dun, brown (or ginger) and black bivisibles were the rage 20 to 30 years ago. The pattern is simple: Hackle tips of the predominant color for the tails and then the predominant color palmered from tail to two thirds the hook shank. From there a white or cream hackle is palmered to the hook eye. The pattern can be tied sparsely for low water and very densely for higher water. The patterns suggest stone flies or caddis flies and therefore can be tied from sizes 4 to 18, with 12-16 being the most used sizes.
Cream Variant. Cream variant dry fly pattern is not listed in the newer pattern books. The variant features quill bodies and extra large hackle. A cream variant would consist of a cream or white tail, cream stripped hackle quill for the body and a thick hackle 2 to 2 1/2 times the hook gap. This pattern can be fished successfully as an imitation of the coffin fly because it sits so high on the water.
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Sturdier Nymph Cases from Quills
Quills, especially turkey tails, are often used to make nymph cases. Pretreatment of the quill with flexible cement will make the job easier and the resulting nymph case more durable. Simply brush Vinyl Head Cement or Flexament onto the quill or a section of it and let dry. Cut pieces will stay together nicely.
Our friend John Skinner offers this effective means of making sturdier nymph wing cases - Spray both sides of the feather with Crystal Clear Krylon. It really works well!
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Scud Back Material
Need clear scud back material? Cut clear polybags into 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips. Zip-lock type bags are thicker and more durable than other types. Don't throw away those highly colored nuisance, plastic bags. Sections of color can be cut into 1/8 to 1/4" strips to provide an inexpensive supply of colored scud back material. Scud back material can be ribbed with clear 7X tippet or copper wire, depending on the effect desired.
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Mouse Tails
Usually mice patterns are tailed with a piece of chamois. Just as effective and more lively are tails made with rubber bands.
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Blending Furs
A household electric coffee grinder can be a very useful tool to the fly tyer. We used to vend these as mini-fur blenders. And it is ok to blend colors of fur or artificials in these mini-blenders, IF you clean them well afterwards (this is a relatively simple project).
Furs can be blended simply by taking cuttings from two varieties and mixing them together with your fingers.
Then again, wet blending can be more efficient. Cuttings from two or more materials are added to a jar of water and shaken vigorously for a minute or two. The mass is removed and let dry. Very nice blends can be made this way. Write down the recipes of successful blends.
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Remember to keep all materials (necks, saddles, muskrat, etc.) in sealed containers with moth balls added. We often hear tales of woe about forgotten materials becoming bug infested. The two worst culprits are moths and carpet beetles (AKA buffalo bugs). The larvae of both these critters can eradicate a good neck or skin patch in a few days and they can spread quickly from one material to another. Furthermore, they are not stopped by plastic or cardboard. The best remedy is to use moth balls (they last longer than crystals) and sealed glass or metal containers (plastic bags as a last resort).
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Fat bodied nymphs
To make wide bodied nymphs a) lash two pieces of lead wire on opposite sides of the hook instead of wrapping the lead around the hook as usual. When the body is dubbed, the fly will have a wider body than normal or b) wrap lead wire around the hook as normal and then crimp the lead wire fore to aft with needle nose pliers to provide the wide body, then over wrap as normal.
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Extended body flies
There are a number of ways to tie extended bodies on flies. With Fly Craft foam bodies like the inch worm and blue damsel, extension is automatic and easy to accomplish. The simplest way to tie extended body mayflies is to lash a stiff piece of monofilament (eg 40 lb) to the hook body and lacquer over the windings. Tail fibers may be tied onto the piece of mono and dubbing wrapped from their to the head as normal. A problem we have experienced with extended body flies is short strikes. The fish hits the fly from behind and misses the hook up near the front.
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Hour glass eyes
Until a year ago lead eyes were used exclusively to weight flies and to give the artificial the appearance of eyes. Now there are hour glass eyes and all their benefits: non-toxic, varied color, grooved in the middle to aid in tying. Sticking small eyes on the ends of hour glass eyes, especially prismatic stick-on-eyes, makes the artificial even more life-like. When this combo is epoxied, the result is spectacular.
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Better living through chemistry.
Have you ever sprayed newly tied dry flies with Scotchgard? You can use your regular floatant once they dry. Your dry flies will last longer and float better.
Need head cement or thinner?? The local paint/hardware store will be glad to sell you pints, quarts or gallons of (key word) quick drying clear lacquer. The best thinner is MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) in the same store under various brand names at very reasonable prices. Acetone or toluene are also good laquer (solvents) thinners. All of these materials should be used in well ventillated areas and away from flames.
In a pinch clear fingernail polish will suffice as head cement.
We have been reminded that Avon's Skin-So-Soft is an excellent bug repellent. Experience tells us that this product works well for some and not so well for others. If it works for you, it would be an inexpensive way to go. Some swear that it works with chldren in general. If this is true it is a way around the use of DEET on our youngsters.
Some cream-type fly floatants had their start with silicone-containing hand creams. The additive is usually simethicone. Rub a bit of your favorite silicone hand cream on your fingers and apply it to some flies. (It is advisable to do this on some cruddy old flies first.) Then check floatability. You may be happier with this new found floatant than with your old standby.
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Need midge hackle? The type of ostrich herls may be adequate for most applications if you can't find what you need on your hackle cape. Treated with floatant they keep the fly high and dry. Only 1 turn is usually needed.
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The AuSable Wulff developed by Fran Betters of Wilmington NY is a great fly pattern, especially on the AuSable River between AuSable Forks and Lake Placid NY. The body was from ginger colored opossum and the head was of Fire orange tying thread, two aspects most missed by tyers. Our Bug Fur-march brown or cinnamon caddis come closest to the color, where a hand blend of the two would be best.
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The original liquid dry fly floatants were mixtures of paraffin wax in hydrocarbon solution. Solvents were high boiling petroleum ethers. They were not safe to use around smokers!!!
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Over-looked fly tying supply possibilities:
Befriend a hunter. Besides giving you the opportunity to try some flavors of foods that you wouldn't ordinarily eat, a hunter friend can also treat you to endless possibilities in fly tying materials. Deer hair, antelope, bear, elk, fox (red and grey) are by products for most hunters and they are glad to give these to someone who will use them. Then there are grouse, goose, duck and turkey feathers for the asking. Woodchuck provide tails for fly tails and guard hair for such flies as the 'chuck caddis made famous by Eric Leiser. The list goes on and on.
Taxidermy shops are another veritable treasure trove. Trimmings from bird and animal mounts as well as unclaimed specimens can provide the fly tyer with almost unlimited possibilities. Each trip can provide you with something new.
Craft and yarn shops. Do you and your spouse a real favor-go to a craft and to a yarn shop. Look carefully. You'll find things for tying flies that you'd pay 3 or more times for from a supply house and things that are real neat that you can't buy elsewhere. These places are a treasure house for the fly tyer.
A good source of fly tying materials is the sewing basket. Now mind you-if it's yours no problem. If it's your spouse's take heed. Never snip a bit of yarn or what have you if it's connected to a current project. The sewing basket can be a veritable plethora of new found materials.
Corollary-the household pet. Buy a good grooming brush. 'nuff said.
Want some really neat tailing materials for nymphs? Try a variety of paint brushes. There will be different colors and textures on the many varieties in a good paint store.
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Most fly-tyers waxes are made by combining beeswax with toilet sealing wax.
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Latex sheets are what dentists call dental dam. So next time you go and you've been good, don't put your hand in the kiddies's treasure chest of toys, get a few sheets of dental dam. Ask what other colors he/she may have.
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Have some feathers that are matted or crushed? A simple way to bring them (or flies in a similar state) back-to-life is to subject them to steam. A mind boggling project?? No, simply expose the feathers (flies) to the steam from a tea kettle for a few seconds (15-20) and let them stand on a paper towel or whatever overnight. Most often the trash-can-candidates are as or nearly as good as new.
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If you have a fly pattern that calls for monofilament, don't waste your money buying it. You probably already have some. For patterns that call for extra-fine mono use .004 (7X) tippet material; for those that call for fine mono use .006 (5X) tippet material.
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Tired of tying salmon egg patterns from yarn? Try our Krystal eggs. Krystal eggs are preformed from yarn and have small bits of pearl tinsel protruding from the surface. Just stick on a hook, add a dab of glue and let dry. These have been extremely popular in '96.
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We are often asked about how to tie bead-head nymphs. First bend the hook barb down with needle nose pliers. Then apply the bead-head larger opening first. Push the bead-head to the hook eye and fasten by using thread wraps on the hook shank behind it. HINTS: It is easier to put the bead head on perfect bend hooks than it is limerick (sort of squarish in shape) or sproat bend hooks (hook is off-set from the barb). Thin wire hooks are easier to use than thick wire hooks. We now have bead-heads in gold, silver, copper and black and in 4 sizes each.
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Half hitch tools are as near as your nearest ball point pen. Unscrew the ball point pen and use the bottom half of the barrel as a half hitch tool. Cost $.00 in pens about to be discarded.
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Natural vs artificial dubbing???
Rarely is an artificial dubbing superior to an natural dubbing. Exact color of a natural substance can, with patience be achieved. Not so with most artificials. Most artificials start with a few true colors and the balance are made with blends. Some are ok but most miss the boat. Floatability or sinkability has been touted as a means to judge artificial dubbing. Many are claimed to be better than their counterpart. Only in minutes of a degree difference. Best is to get the color desired then worry about how to make the fly sink or swim. We have a goodly number of floatants or sink treatments.
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Dry Fly Hackle Common Colors
White - Pure white as the driven snow. These are very rare.
Cream - Off white to a faint yellowish tinge. Quite common. Used for quite a few patterns.
Dark Cream-Light Ginger - A dark creamy yellow to the color of gold (like in a gold ring). Common. Used for quite a few patterns.
Dark Ginger - A lighter shade of brown. Common. In genetic hackle are usually not separated from other brown shades. Common and used a great deal.
Brown - medium brown. Also called natural red. Common and used a great deal.
Dark Brown (Chocolate brown) - a dark shade of brown like a Hershey bar brown color. Mahogany brown. Most used in Royal coachman dry fly tying. Fairly common in imported necks. Quite rare in domestic genetic hackle. Can be had dyed in Hoffman Hackle.
Badger - Three different shades. All have a black stripe thru the center of the feather. Rare in most domestic genetic hackle offerings (except Hoffman). Limited use.
-----Silver - Outer "white" layer has almost a clear no color look. Extremely rare
-----Cream or white - Cream outer layer. Common in imported necks. Most used in tying the White Wulff. Hoffman Silver Badger hackles are really cream badger colored.
-----Golden - Very common in imported capes. Dark cream to light ginger outer band. Limited use in fly tying.
Furnace - Black center stripe surrounded by brown outer area. Not used much is tying. Fairly common in imported capes, not too rare in domestic genetic hackle.
Cock-y Bondhu - either a brown cape of a furnace cape with the outer upper edges of the hackle being black. Rare. Not used much in tying.
Grizzly - Very common in domestic genetic hackle. White black barred. Used often for fly tying. Lightly barred versions are often referred to as chinchilla colored.
Red Variant (Red or Ginger Grizzly) - Like grizzly above but white natural brown and white stripped or light ginger/white stripped or dark ginger/light ginger stripped. Not called for in many patterns but often substituted for brown or ginger because of the pattern break-up which lends a more natural look to the hackle.
Cree - A mixture of brown (or ginger or light ginger), with black and white stripes. Can be used where a pattern calls for brown (or ginger) mixed with grizzly (Adams). Highly desired, very rare.
Dun (Lt, Medium and Dark) - Grey with a hint of sand or brown. Light and medium are most called for and are common in domestic genetic hackle.
Black - Both on the top and bottom. Little surface sheen like other hackle. Usually more webbed than other colors. Highly desired, not too common even in domestic genetic hackle.
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About Wet Fly and Nymph Hackle
Years ago it was possible to obtain hen necks in a variety of colors and hackle sizes to tie any nymph or wet fly with a traditionally spun hackle. Not so today. Genetic hen capes are available only in a narrow color range; import hen necks usually have short, stubby hackles. So, what to do? The solutions are few. The first being tie beard hackle.
To tie beard hackle all one does is strip a few hackle barbules from a hen neck or other soft hackle source (eg. a grouse or partridge feather or a hen back) and hold them under the hook. Tie a turn or two of thread to secure and then flair the barbules out like a beard on the fly's chin. adjust the length to that desired , clip the unwanted ends and whip finish.
Another possibility is to wrap an ostrich herl of the desired color instead of a hackle. These soft fibers work well.
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Choosing Saddle Hackle
Saddle hackle comes in two sizes these days- 3 1/2 or 4" to 6'" and 6 to 8". What is each useful for? First understand that the useful (trimmed) length is more like 1" to 2 1/2" or 3" to 6". More in each package is in the lower part of each range.
The 3 1/2 to 6" saddle hackle is useful for small streamers and panfish flies and smaller bass bugs whereas the longer saddle hackle is useful for saltwater flies and big bass bugs, pike flies, and tandem streamers. The shorter saddles can also be used for beard hackle on wet flies and nymphs.
INFO & TIPS
Fly Fishing Info and Hints
Fly Tying 101
Info for Fly Tyers
Hook Conversion Chart
Hand-Tied Leader Recipes
Fly Pattern Recipes
Info for Rod Builders
1998 Hackle Study by Whiting Farm
Grog's Animated Knots
How to order
Mail Order Form
Web Order Form
Returns
Contact Us
The Hook & Hackle Co.
607 Ann Street Rear, Homestead PA 15120
Phone: 1-412-476-8620
Fax: 1-412-476-8639
E-mail: ron@hookhack.com
Potentially Useful Information for Fly Tyers
Installing Braided Leader Loops
Our braided leader loops are packaged in 3's with a length of clear tubing. Cut the tubing into 3 equal lengths. Slip one piece on the end of the fly line and push it up the line out of the way. Cut the frayed ends of the butt of the connector loop. Open the connector end with a needle, being careful not to fray it more. Push the fly line in just a little and work the braid onto the line a bit more. Repeat many times in small increments. Once 3/4 to 1" of the line is in the loop, slide the tubing over the junction. Heat shrink the tubing by holding it near an incadescent light bulb. Be careful not to touch the bulb as the tubing will melt.
G-U-M THREADERS
Eventually fly fishermen discover everything. Add this to the list thanks to Allen Shanafelt:
G-U-M threaders are available in just about any drug store. Intended as a tool to thread dental floss under bridges etc., these stiff blue threaders can be used for a number of chores at the tying or rod building bench. At under $3 for a container of 20, they are a real bargain. In addition to their obvious use as a bobbin threader, they can be used to clean fly eyes and for pulling the thread thru when finishing rod wraps. I'm sure in time more uses will come to light.
THE CHEAPEST AND BEST GENETIC HACKLE - REVISITED
After reading the Hoffman Hackle study results, we felt that the study had to be qualified by a disinterested party:
1- The study assumes each tyer will very carefully recover each bit of hackle to realize two to four flies per feather. Some tyers have the drive and patience to do so. If tyers do not, as is our tendency, then Hoffman becomes very expensive on a per fly basis. The best buy in latter case is the cape with the cheapest per feather cost - Keough Capes.
2 - The study suggests that Hoffman/Whiting hackle is the easiest to tie with and has the fewest twists while tying. This is usually true. But we find some of the Hoffman/Whiting necks almost too soft. This could be leading to a problem down the road. We will say that the Whiting/Hoffman hackle is generally better to tie with than the other two main brands - Keough and Metz. Keough has come a long way and will continue to improve and should become the best of both worlds - price and quality, if he keeps the prices competitive. Metz has gone far down hill in the past few years and has become expensive and very stiff hackle, difficult to tie with. We recommend it only as a last resort.
3- The quarter saddle concept introduced by Hoffman Hackles sounds like a good deal until one learns that you must buy several quarters to get a full range of hackle sizes. Stick with the half saddles, if possible. If you want a full range of dry fly hackle 10-24, buy a cape or half cape - in any brand.
Overall, if you can buy Keough hackle at a good price, it is probably a better buy over the other two brands. If you can be miserly with hackle, the Hoffman/Whiting becomes a better deal and is a bit easier to tie with.
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THREADING A BOBBIN WITHOUT A BOBBIN THREADER
To thread a bobbin without a bobbin threader start the thread into the bobbin and then place your lips at the exit point of the bobbin. Use the soda straw motion to suck the thread up and out.
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HOFFMAN HACKLE STUDY
Whiting Farms, growers of Whiting Hackle, have release the results of their study of hackle capes from Metz, Spencer, Keough and Whiting Farms. A summary is now on this web site - Hoffman Hackle Study.
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FLY PATTERN RECIPES
Need the recipe for a fly pattern? Try our pattern recipe page. It contains recipes for most of the standard patterns of drys, wets, nymphs, streamers, bass bugs, panfish flies, Atlantic salmon, Pacific Salmon, pike (and musky) and saltwatern flies. The page has a table of contents that whisks you to the type. You can use your browser's finder to locate the particular pattern you are looking for.
go to fly pattern recipes
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Whiting Dry Fly Saddles
Whiting dry fly saddles are very heavy in no. 14 and 16 dry fly hackle and some can tie 12's and 18's. Many necks come up short with hackle in this range and leave the owner with a lot of left over smaller and larger hackle. The selling prices of the Hoffman saddles seem rediculously high until you consider the hackle sizes available and that each long feather will tie 4 or more dry flies. A Whiting #1 saddle will tie at least 750 dry flies and a #2 will tie a minimum of 450 dry flies. The cost per fly is less than necks and you won't have a bunch of unusable feathers sitting around forever in the tying supply drawer. We're impressed.
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Cutting Latex Sheets
From Slim Mitchell (Roadkill Roundtable Flytyers)- Qilters new about this for a long time and now we know. Rolling fabric cutters, usually found under the OLFA brand (from Plattsburgh NY), in any any craft or yarn shop, are outstanding for cutting latex sheets quickly and very straight. Be sure to place the latex on a plexiglas/plastic cutting board before cutting. The boards and cutting guides can also be purchased where you find the cutter, but any straight edge will do for a guide. The cutters are alos good to cut suede/leather, flat foam and others. Caution: these cutters are very sharp and can easily remove a finger tip!!!
[Passed on to us by the Long Island Fly Tyers (LIFT). ]
Latex sheets are very difficult to cut straight. We have a method in our catalog that has been used for years. But we have recently been offered a new procedure that is slick as a whistle: roll up the latex sheet as tight as possible. Then with a sharp single edged razor blade slice the latex to the desired width. the result is neat ready to use latex strips!
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Saddle Patches
Saddle patches are skin patches of feathers cut from a (deceased) chicken's back.
Rooster saddle patches contain 2 kinds of feathers-saddle hackles and the shorter spade hackles. The feathers are usually of good enough quality to hackle dry flies. Most dry fly saddles hackles come from genetically raised chickens for the fly tying trade. Better saddles can be used to tie dries in sizes 10 to 18. On really good ones a tyer can expect 2 to 3 flies being hackled. Most other saddles contain saddle hackles that are too wide or webby to tie dry flies. These larger webby saddle hackles are usually used for wings on streamers, bass and saltwater flies or for palmering woolly buggers and their relatives.. Typical examples in our line are Metz and Keough saddles in grades 1 and 2 which are useful for tying dry flies ranging from size 10 to 12 sometimes 14 or 16. New this year is Hoffman saddle patches which can tie 3 to 4 dry flies per feather down to size 20! Keough No. 3 brown and black saddles are useful for other tasks - wings on streamers, etc. The shorter spade hackles can also be used to tie streamers, dries etc and to tail dry flies. These shorter feathers can also be used as a beard hackle for wets and streamers. Saddle patches also contain a few schlappen feathers at the butt-long, very webby feathers that can also be used for streamers or beards on wets and nymphs. There is always some fine marabou (on the sides of most saddle patches) which has a number of uses. Imported saddle patches are smaller versions of genetic, domestic saddles. However, the feathers on the imported rooster saddles are useful for winging streamer trout flies and for beard hackles on wets and nymphs.
Hen saddles or hen backs have short, webby, oval-shaped feathers. They are used for wings on such flies as a matuka sculpin. These feathers can also be used as beard hackle on wets and nymphs. The solid colors - cream, ginger and dun - can be used as cut wings for dries. Using a little imagination one can easily think of several other uses for these beautiful feathers. Surprisingly, there is little difference in quality between a domestic and an imported hen back.
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A Short Course in Hackle Capes
Hackle Capes
Hackle capes can be divided into several categories. We'll start with two: hen hackle capes and cock or rooster hackle capes. (Capes are also referred to as necks in not-so-polite society.) Rooster or cock capes (necks) are usually used to hackle dry flies; hen capes (necks) are usually used to hackle wet flies and nymphs. Both hen and rooster capes are used for a whole lot more and this will be evident as the details of this section unfold.
Hen capes - wet flies and nymphs and other uses
Hen capes come is only 1 variety - webby and useful for wets and nymphs. However, the smaller feathers can be used for hackle wings on dry flies. Best example is the Adams dry fly. The usual pattern calls for rooster hackle tips for the wings. There is not a good supply of expensive rooster grizzly hackle tips so in more recent years we have learned to use the tiny hackles on a hen cape for upright wings on an Adams dry fly. This is beginning to happen for other patterns (eg., patterns calling for wings of dun hackle tips).
The butt feathers on a hen neck are also useful to tie matukas. One can readily see that hen necks provide many uses for the fly tyer. The one thing they should not be used for is winding hackle on a dry fly.
Rooster capes - Dry flies
Rooster capes (necks) have very stiff, shiny, web-free hackles (for the most part). Rooster capes do, however, come in varying qualities, these qualities being attributed for their use in hackling dry flies. In years gone by one could buy a dry fly cape from India, China or the Philippines for hackling dry flies in a full range from sizes 10 to 20 for less than $5.00. The necks of choice were from China. The quality of Chinese necks was generally good as was the range of sizes. Even the butt feathers were of excellent quality for tailing dries. Various increase pressures* on the Chinese feather sources turned feather traders to other countries to find good dry fly hackle - India and the Philippines.
(*Increased pressures on cape supply included changes in breeding habits, and therefore, feather quality along with an increased demand for the few quality capes that existed.)
The Philippine hackle cape, although web free and having a full range of sizes, had very stiff hackle stems requiring a lot of twisting during tying. The Indian Rooster Cape, on the other hand, had many smaller hackles and softer stems (although not as soft as the Chinese hackle stems) than the Philippine cape. India subsequently became the biggest supplier of rooster hackle capes in the 70's and early 80's. During the 80's the increase pressures on the Indian rooster capes made their quality capes disappear rapidly. This in turn promoted the raising of domestic "genetic hackle capes."
The genetic hackle cape is typified by long narrow hackles in abundance in sizes 10 - 20 and smaller. Even the poorest of domestic genetic capes are of dry fly quality and will tie flies to sizes 18 and 20, something unheard of in today's "Imported Rooster Capes." In terms of useful feather per dollar, they are a much better buy than any imported cape today.
The best we can hope for in today's imported capes are very few of dry fly quality and those will only tie to sizes 10 to 14 at best. When available the Chinese capes are still the best, but their feather size range is not very large. Most only tie down to size 12. Many of these are called streamer capes and are offered primarily in white or dyed colors for collars on salmon, steelhead and bass flies.
To recognize the difference in these capes, one must look at the skins on the back. The skin size is greatest on the domestic cape, similar in shape but smaller on the Chinese cape and smaller and rectangular shaped on the Indian cape. One does not find Philippine capes in today's market.
Shapes of Rooster Cape Skins:
Chinese--------------------------Indian----------------Domestic
Although imported rooster capes are of limited value in tying dry flies, they cannot be overlooked for such tasks as tailing dry flies, beard hackle for wets and nymphs, cut wings for dries, and streamer wings. No feather from a rooster cape is useless if ones uses some imagination. If one desires to purchase a dry fly imported cape, buy one of the highest quality available. If for practice or other use, buy a lesser quality imported neck.
Imported hen necks are also not as useful as they were 10 to 20 years ago. The feathers are short and not very small, making them tough to use on traditional wet and nymph ties. The butt feathers are still good for matuka patterns and the smaller feathers can be used for dry fly up-wings. Accordingly, the value of domestic genetic hen necks has increased in recent years because they do have a full range of hackle and are perfect for tying traditional wets and nymphs. The trouble is that the growers balk at the expense of producing hen capes because of the cost. As a result, there are few domestic genetic hen capes on the market today. They usually become available at the end of the growing season when breeding stock is done away with (months of April through July).
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WANT TO RAISE YOUR OWN HACKLES?
There is no text book or even published articles on genetic hackle raising. It is a big business for the few that do it and you can't expect them to give their secrets away. And the ones who left this good earth have taken their secrets with them to the grave.
Unless one is lucky enough to have received some chicks from an established genetic flock, we are left with the option of raising common barnyard fowl. We have gone the "Murray McMurray" route (chicks by mail-order) in the distant past. It was not a rewarding experience. Range birds eat like pigs and produce few good hackles. (We even tried our hands at genetic chickenry. That attempt went bad after three years because we didn't really know what we were doing. ) Remember that for every 10 chicks purchase about half will be hens and it will not be evident to most of us which is which until they have eaten a ton of food.
If you decide to throw all care to the wind and try it anyway, keep in mind that once your flock is under way, if you can't keep the roosters separate from each other, you'll need to debeak or peeper them so they don't peck the heck out of each other. Then there is illness, a common occurrence in a dense flock. Most can can be treated with relatively inexpensive anti-biotics commonly available at a local farm center.
The birds should mature in 6 to 9 mo. Feed them a higher protein diet two weeks before harvesting to get drier skins.
Harvesting: a 1/4" rubber band wrapped several times around the neck will do them in quickly. Hang the carcass by the beak a few hours before skinning (this will keep blood from running during skinning and ruining the feathers). Range birds generally yield sizes 10 - 12 and sometimes 14 size dry fly hackle. The saddles make nice streamers. You will not get your investment back from one of these birds in the form of feathers. And their flesh is tough, so thoughts of eating the carcass should not be entertained.
Ater one of these experiences, the fly tyer fully appreciates a good genetic hackle cape. We do.
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Spinners
Spinners can be a real pain to tie and fish but the results are rewarding. The rusty spinner is one of the best to use in these parts for most of the summer! I'm sure every location has its favorite "spinner season." The usual patterns call for hackle fibers or poly yarn (poly wing material and several variations) tied at 90 degrees to the hook. Here are a couple interesting variations:
sparkle wings-Substitute pearl krystal flash for the usual wing material. The spinners become much more visible but not unnaturally so.
CDC wings-The fibers are naturally splayed making tying easier. The oil-containing CDC feathers help the spinner to float, a bonus!
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Coolest fly pattern to stick on a fishin' hat - the egg sucking leech. Near the hook eye, before finishing off a leech pattern, tie in a salmon egg (use glow bug yarn or krystal eggs). Your buddies will be impressed with the hat; the fish will like the fly.
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Most fly tying instructors, in person or in books, tell you to do your cementing with your dubbing needle. The dubbing needle slowly develops an uncleanable lacquer tumor that is impossible to remove completely. Keep a few round toothpicks on the tying bench for applying head cement. They can be discarded when the inevitable build-up occurs.
Make sure you run your dubbing needle up through the fly eyes to clean out head cement before you put the flies in your favorite fly box. It's awfully tough to do this on the stream near dusk.
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Our favorite hellgrammite
A number of species including trout and bass enjoy dining on the Dobson fly nymph - the hellgrammite, the bigger the better. We have found the following recipe useful for spring fishing. Take an 8X or 6X hook and bend it in the middle some 15 degrees. Insert the hook into the vise jaws and on each side of the hook lash two pieces of medium or heavy lead wire nearly the length of the hook (leave a little space to tie in and tie off). Next wrap black chenille medium width up to near the eye. Palmer a long brown hackle from bend to eye. Next (to imitate legs) cut most of the barbules of the palmered hackle off, leaving them a little longer near the hook eye (to resemble pincers). Tied in hook sizes 2 to 6 , these disgusting looking ties closely resemble their live counterparts and provide a lot of action, especially in heavy water.
A few years ago one of us lost 3 of these in thirty minutes time as something(s) huge and unknown grabbed them and headed downstream like freight trains, continuing until the end of the backing was reached and the tippets broken off. The fish could not be turned with the reel drag turned on full and palming rim engaged. Large trout, northern pike, eels and bass inhabit these waters.
Be prepared for hard strikes!
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Peacock Herl
There is something about the iridescent blue peacock herl color that attracts trout because many of the most effective trout patterns incorporate some: Prince nymph, Zug Bug nymph, bead-head caddis nymph, Coachman wet fly and Royal Coachman dry fly.
An interesting note about the Prince nymph. No known nymph has white wings/legs. So the pattern doesn't imitate any natural insect. However, the Prince nymph is a more effective pattern with the white wings/legs than without it.
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Great Patterns for Bass
Poppers
Adding rubber legs to poppers is done by threading a needle with the rubber hackle and pushing the needle through the cork using pliers. Cut the rubber loop to release the needle and two pair of "legs" are in place. This does take a little effort. Be careful not to ram the needle into your other hand.
Save the residue from sanding or cutting cork bodies. The cork residue can be further sanded to a fine dust and mixed with epoxy to fill the slot with the hook inserted.
Eyes can readily be painted on poppers using a nail head. The pupil can be added using a pin (point or head, depending on the pupil diameter desired).
Zonkers
Zonkers are effective streamer patterns useful for taking just about any freshwater species (and in modified forms for saltwater species). Basically, the hook is covered with an aluminum or lead tape which is covered with mylar tubing (core removed). Then a rabbit fur (zonker) strip is tied on top. The body may be covered with epoxy for additional strength.
Hints
Interestingly, the first zonker patterns did not have the tape underbody. Its use does maintain the minnow shape better than not.
Be sure to use aluminum or lead tape that has an adhesive backing!
Originally silver mylar tubing was (and still is) used. More recently a switch to Pearlescent Mylar Tubing has produced a variation that appears to be much more effective than the silver tubing.
Woolly Buggers
The woolly bugger is a great modern streamer pattern. These appear in many color variations. The basic pattern calls for a marabou tail, wool or chenille body with a hackle palmered from top of bend to eye. Regardless of colors used this pattern can be improved by adding a few strands (3 or 4) to krystal flash to the marabou tail (this variation is called a krystal bugger).
Zonkers and woolly buggers are also very effective for trout fishing.
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How to Cut Materials Tied to the Hook
During an exercise at the bench today we were reminded that when materials are tied to the hook, one should cut the residue back at an angle - hair, yarn, chenille, feather fibers, etc. It is much easier to wrap over a tapered cut than a straight cut.
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The Henryville Special
There are a number of patterns that do not represent a particular insect but encompass the common features of several. The Orvis Near 'nuff comes to mind for general Mayfly suggestion. Then there is our favorite, the Henryville Special - a caddis pattern that has features of several common caddis patterns in one. If you're fishing on a ho-hum day, when there is not much hatching and the fish do not seem too active tie on a henryville special in a 16 or 18 and get ready to have some fun.
Hook-Standard dry fly 16 - 20 (best)
Thread-Black 6/0 or 8/0
Body - Olive fur or synthetic with a grizzly hackle palmered over it
Underwing - Lemon woodduch flank fibers
Hackle - Dark Ginger
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Lord of the Flies - The Crazy Charlie
The Crazy Charlie was a productive synaptic event of one Bob Nauheim. Originally called the Nasty Charlie-the folks at Orvis renamed it the Crazy Charlie.The pattern was devised for bonefishing. The design was such to keep it at or near the bottom to catch these mainly bottom feeders. The original pattern consisted of a silver flashabou tail, a body of silver tinsel over wrapped with clear mono, a cream hackle wing, silver bead chain eyes on Mustad 34007 hooks tied with white thread. Originally the pattern was intended to immitate glass minnows. It was later discovered that the bonefish were taking it as a shrimp.
Since the original was so successful, a huge number of color variations were tried (many with hair wings instead of feathers) and many found to be quite successful.
Other patterns have evolved from the original Crazy Charlie like the Clouser Deep Minnow., another extremely effective pattern.
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Genetic Hackles - 1998
Since Umpqua Feather Merchants bought Metz Hackles a three years ago, we have been searching for another full line of genetic hackle grown by the originator. There are only three others big enough to supply catalog houses. One of them is Keough Hackles; another is Hoffman Hackles.
We go a long way back with Bill Keough, to the early 80's when we were raising our own genetic grizzly capes and saddles. Bill bought some of that stock and cross bread them with his own capes which were already were very nice. He has taken them a long way since. We haven't carried his capes until now because of an agreement with Metz Hackles. We tried to have them in our 1996 catalog, but Orvis had an exclusive with Keough. Although the bulk of his 1997 production was promised, Bill increased production to include our needs. In addition to beautiful grizzly necks, Bill has a full line of other colors of genetic hackle. These were developed and know earlier as Colorado Quality Hackle. Since Bill bought their already very nice stock, he has cross-bred them into decent genetic hackle producers.
Henry Hoffman developed a strain of genetic grizzly hackle which is the envy of everyone. Tom Whiting bought the Hoffman hackle farm and developed his oun strains of whites and browns. Since he has produced hackle of many important colors and they are all beautiful. They share the good traits of Keough Hackle-soft stems. In the near future Whiting Farms will be reintroducing their natural duns expanded from the current Hebert duns which they have purchased giving them the best natural dun necks in existense.
A general problem with many genetic hackles is that the stems are very stiff and twist during tying. Not so with Keough or Hoffman. It is as easy to tie with Hoffman or Keough hackles as it was in the 70's when great Indian and Chinese cock capes were plentiful. The hackles are long, many can hackle two flies. These is also a nice bunch of butt hackles for streamers or tailing dry flies. This is not so with other genetic hackle because the butt feathers are usually a different shade from the rest of the cape.
With Keough and Hoffman capes colors are truer. Brown is brown (any with the big black center stripe is labeled furnace, as it should be). Ginger is ginger, grizzly is perfect. Even the black necks tie very nice dry flies (Hoffman blacks are dyed and the best we've ever seen). Keough and Hoffman duns are true dun grey colors top to bottom (Hoffman dyed duns are truly spectacular!). A count of useful feathers on a Keough cape always yields a much higher number than other brands; the Hoffman's even higher!
We fly tyers are very lucky to have so many varieties of genetic hackle around these days. Any of them are capable of tying top quality flies when compared to current imported hackle. The prices are high, but the feather count is equivalent to several imported capes that sell for $10 or more each. In that sense they are reasonably priced. A really good buy is a 1/2 of a number two or three genetic hackle priced in the $20 - $25 price range. Even these have more useful hackle than two imported capes!
Metz and Keough grizzly saddles are very, very nice, as expected. The saddle patches are huge. Many of the feathers have 7 to 8 inches of useful dry fly hackle, mainly in size 12, some smaller. In addition there are all the bonus feathers for streamers and even for wet flies and nymphs using beard style hackle. The number 2's tie 10's and 12's and many have a useful length of 6-8". Each of the long saddle hackles will tie 2 to 3 flies!
Hoffman saddles in all grades and colors are like something most people have never seen. Feathers may run as long as 10 inches. The feathers tie sizes 12 to 18 dry flies. Each feather will tie 3 to 4 dry flies making the cost per fly less in most cases than those tied with cape hackle.
So far this year this is how we see genetic hackle from Hoffman, Keough and Metz stack up:
Hoffman is the clear overall winner in hackle abundance, color and size range in dry fly capes and saddles. The hen capes are abundant but not as nice as the Keough or Metz (which are very scarce). Hoffman also provides cream and golden badger capes and dyed Coachman Brown capes which cannot be had elsewhere.
Between Metz and Keough capes, Metz has the edge in color and quality of ginger variant and cream necks over the Keough harvest. Keough is the hands down winner in the colors-grizzly, brown and black. Duns and ginger colored capes are a toss.
Metz quality in general in late 1997 was going downhill rapidly. We are not optimistic about the current crop. If things should change for the better we will report it here and in our NEWS page.
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Fly tying threads
The use of one thread or another and of one size or another for a particular tying job is a topic that can be and often is debated for days. Simply put, use bigger thread for bigger flies. Threads for fly tying are made from several materials. Some are multi-strand, some are single strand. Sizes range from 10/0 to E. - Fly Tying Threads
Let's start with sizes. Our threads are sized from A, the biggest to 00000000 or (8/0), the smallest. Most trout flies in the range of 8 to 20 are tied with 6/0 thread (although 8/0 is sometimes used). Flies smaller than 20 need especially small thread like 8/0. Larger flies, like streamers and bass bugs are usually tied with 3/0 and sometimes with size A threads. Really big flies for pike and saltwater species are tied with A threads. Kevlar thread is especially good for these big flies that are going to get chewed up.
Single vs multi-strand. If single strand thread is used, it is generally because the tyer wants a lot of thread build-up, e.g., for large wrapped heads on salmon flies and streamers. If build up is undesireable, then multi-strand thread is called for. Most of the time it does not matter which type (single or multi-strand) is used.
Materials range from indestructible Kevlar thread to very soft (but strong) polyesters. The material used for threads is not as important as its strength. Kevlar is strong-very strong. If used enough, Kevlar thread can groove most metal bobbins. It is used for large flies that are going to get some rough treatment. Most larger flies and bass bugs can be tied with 3/0 or A nylon or polyester thread, provided that the thread is strong enough. Most are. UNI-threads tend to be stronger per size than other thread brands. Therefore one can use 3/0 UNI-thread instead of A for tying larger flies. The same holds true for trout fly thread. UNI 6/0 and 8/0 are stronger than their counterparts in other brands of fly tying thread. In tying trout flies one usually does not want a lot of thread build-up, so the smaller the thread, the better. Many trout flies are now being tied with UNI-8/0 thread. Also by using 6/0 UNI-thread the tyer can use more pressure than usual for tying trout flies and not worry so much about the thread breaking. - Fly Tying Threads
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Why buy a mallard wing pair?
Having a pair of mallard wings (Misc Feathers 1) on the tying bech has several advantages. You can get cheaper and more carefully matched mallard (or grey ) duck quills for dries and wets. You also get the white tipped blue mallard quills used to tie the McGinty (bee) pattern and there are many, many other smaller feathers (grey and white) that can be used for matukas, cut wings, and beard style wets and nymphs.
Insect leg material
There are a number of things that can be used to represent insect legs. The most obvious is dry and wet fly hackle from rooster or hen capes. There is knotted pheasant tail fibers and knotted quills or quill sections. In fact a hackle cape quill trimmed close (but not stripped) to the feather stem, when knotted and placed of a fly, looks very real and very "hairy". Black legs on terrestials and nymphs can be readily made from our legStuff (Misc Materials 3) or our black Super Hair (Misc Materials 1)
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A Fly Line Loop for Fly Tyers
One of today's fads is the use of a fly line loop to attach leaders to the fly line. They come in several colors, sizes and materials. Attaching them to lines can sometimes be a pain. And they can loosen at the worst possible time. But they do make attaching leaders to lines easier.
Fly tyers will appreciate the following:
Take the end of the fly line and turn it back on itself forming a loop. Take the loop and gently insert it into the fly tying vise jaws. Next take your favorite fly tying thread (I like 6/0) and start wrapping over the loop. (Take a half hitch now and then so if the thing starts to unravel, it won't happen all at once.) Wrap back towards the fly line until the end of the fly line is reached, then continue to wrap for another 1/4" or so. Finish with several half hitches. Lacquer the wrap with three to four coats of flexible head cement. When you are done there shoul be a small loop at the end and a nice tapered wrap which will allow the loop to smoothly pass throught the guides. This small "self-loop" is surprisingly strong and will last most of a season of harsh treatment. You should check it periodically for fraying. We've used these for years and are very happy with them.
The color of tying thread used may be chosen to give the self-loop a dual role: leader attachment and strike indicator (e.g., by using a fluorescent fire-orange tying thread). Additional strength may be added to the loop by first sewing tying thread through the line before wrapping. This takes a fine needle and a little patience.
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Dyes for Fly Tyers
Things that don't work well
Pantone pens do not color feathers well, but do work on some heavier hair-like deer hair.
Kool aid produces mixed results but can provide some decent pastel feather shades.
Hair coloring kits have been mastered by some and have been a complete failure to others.
"Photo-dyeing" that was so popular in the 70's and early 80's to produce dun dry fly hackle is expensive and environmentally unsound as it requires the use (and often misuse) of silver salts. Whereas the results were sometimes spectacular, more often the opposite was true. Besides, we can buy genetically grown dun hackle at a reasonable price these days.
Better dyes
Vegetable dyes, like Rit, are ok to use to dye feathers and some fur/hair but are won't produce brilliant colors or colors that are as colorfast as acid-based or aniline dyes like those available from E. Veniard in Surrey, England. Furs and feathers must be clean and degreased before attempting to dye them. Usually a soak overnight in a good detergent does the job. The articles must be thoroughly rinsed before placing them in the dye bath. The dye bath is prepared by bringing water to a boil, adding the dye and then, once the dye is dissolved, bringing the temperature down slowly to 160 degrees (a cool water bath usually works well here). Vinegar or glacial acetic acid is added to "fix" the color. The clean rinsed articles are added to the bath and kept there until the desired shade is reached. All items will dry lighter than they appear, so it is best to keep the materials in the bath until they are significanly darker than the desired shade. Feathers usually take up dye faster than most fur/hair, although rabbit fur is easily dyed. The amount of dye added to the bath depends on the shade desired, the amount of material added, the color of the dye used and the phase of the moon. Details of the dyeing procedure are gained mostly by trial and error. During dyeing the materials must be kept submerged. Blocks of wood help here. When the atricle is the desired shade, remove it from the bath and rinse it thoroughly. If the article is on skin. Place it skin down on newspapers to dry. At some point during drying, skin curls. If this is not a problem forget it. If it is simply put several magazines on top of the item to keep the skin stretched. Black is the worst color to dye. To effectively dye something black, it is necessary to keep the water bath very hot (e. g., 180 to 190 degrees F). Many times black dyed goods are burned (the material ends curl up) and must be discarded. Yellow, pink, orange, red dyes work easiest. Blue, green, olove and brown shades are harder to do.
Dyeing furs and feathers is messy and dangerous to a degree (scalds are common place). It is advisable to set up dye baths in the basement workroom where splatters won't matter much. Have cooking gloves handy to manipulate the dye baths. A pair of tongs makes life easier as well. The dyer should also wear an apron or old shirt and safety glasses!
To learn how to dye your own materials is mose fun than it first seems. Mixing dye colors can also provide the fly tyer with some shandes not readily available at supply houses. E.g., pink fox fur is very difficult to buy. But a piece of rabbit fur (white) can be easily turned into pink fox substitute by dyeing in a mixture of rit pink and tan (3 to 1 by weight) for just a few seconds. You can generate a lifetime supply very quickly.
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Dry Fly Hackle Color vs Quality
Like there are different grades or qualities of dry fly necks (capes), the quality of dry fly hackle varies with color. Generally, the best of dry fly hackle is available in grizzly, brown (and shades of like ginger and light ginger), and cream. The poorest colors in terms of dry fly quality are dun and black. Other colors like (pure) white, badger, furnace and red ginger (aka., ginger variant and red variant) fall somewhere in between. This is true even for the best of the genetic hackle on the market. A no.1 dun and a number 1 brown cape will vary markedly in dry fly quality, the brown always being a superior quality dry fly neck. In the stripped necks like badger and furnace, the bigger the stripe, the poorer the quality as the center stripe is web. Keep this in mind when examining necks. It will make for a better understanding of what really is in front of you.
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The Best Dubbing for Big Black Stonefly Nymphs
There are two-dyed black squirrel dubbing or the underhair from a patch of black bear hair.
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Hook Conversion Table.
We have converted the styles of Mustad hooks we stock into the corresponding hook styles of various manufacturers. We hope you find it useful. Hook Conversion Chart
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Old Fly Rod Sizes
Did you know that older fly rods with the designation IFI were meant for a DT-3 fly line? This and other older fly line designations can be found in our: Table of Fly Line Sizes
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Forgotten Fly Patterns?
The Bivisible. The bivisible is not an imitative pattern but a suggestive one. Dun, brown (or ginger) and black bivisibles were the rage 20 to 30 years ago. The pattern is simple: Hackle tips of the predominant color for the tails and then the predominant color palmered from tail to two thirds the hook shank. From there a white or cream hackle is palmered to the hook eye. The pattern can be tied sparsely for low water and very densely for higher water. The patterns suggest stone flies or caddis flies and therefore can be tied from sizes 4 to 18, with 12-16 being the most used sizes.
Cream Variant. Cream variant dry fly pattern is not listed in the newer pattern books. The variant features quill bodies and extra large hackle. A cream variant would consist of a cream or white tail, cream stripped hackle quill for the body and a thick hackle 2 to 2 1/2 times the hook gap. This pattern can be fished successfully as an imitation of the coffin fly because it sits so high on the water.
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Sturdier Nymph Cases from Quills
Quills, especially turkey tails, are often used to make nymph cases. Pretreatment of the quill with flexible cement will make the job easier and the resulting nymph case more durable. Simply brush Vinyl Head Cement or Flexament onto the quill or a section of it and let dry. Cut pieces will stay together nicely.
Our friend John Skinner offers this effective means of making sturdier nymph wing cases - Spray both sides of the feather with Crystal Clear Krylon. It really works well!
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Scud Back Material
Need clear scud back material? Cut clear polybags into 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips. Zip-lock type bags are thicker and more durable than other types. Don't throw away those highly colored nuisance, plastic bags. Sections of color can be cut into 1/8 to 1/4" strips to provide an inexpensive supply of colored scud back material. Scud back material can be ribbed with clear 7X tippet or copper wire, depending on the effect desired.
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Mouse Tails
Usually mice patterns are tailed with a piece of chamois. Just as effective and more lively are tails made with rubber bands.
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Blending Furs
A household electric coffee grinder can be a very useful tool to the fly tyer. We used to vend these as mini-fur blenders. And it is ok to blend colors of fur or artificials in these mini-blenders, IF you clean them well afterwards (this is a relatively simple project).
Furs can be blended simply by taking cuttings from two varieties and mixing them together with your fingers.
Then again, wet blending can be more efficient. Cuttings from two or more materials are added to a jar of water and shaken vigorously for a minute or two. The mass is removed and let dry. Very nice blends can be made this way. Write down the recipes of successful blends.
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Remember to keep all materials (necks, saddles, muskrat, etc.) in sealed containers with moth balls added. We often hear tales of woe about forgotten materials becoming bug infested. The two worst culprits are moths and carpet beetles (AKA buffalo bugs). The larvae of both these critters can eradicate a good neck or skin patch in a few days and they can spread quickly from one material to another. Furthermore, they are not stopped by plastic or cardboard. The best remedy is to use moth balls (they last longer than crystals) and sealed glass or metal containers (plastic bags as a last resort).
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Fat bodied nymphs
To make wide bodied nymphs a) lash two pieces of lead wire on opposite sides of the hook instead of wrapping the lead around the hook as usual. When the body is dubbed, the fly will have a wider body than normal or b) wrap lead wire around the hook as normal and then crimp the lead wire fore to aft with needle nose pliers to provide the wide body, then over wrap as normal.
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Extended body flies
There are a number of ways to tie extended bodies on flies. With Fly Craft foam bodies like the inch worm and blue damsel, extension is automatic and easy to accomplish. The simplest way to tie extended body mayflies is to lash a stiff piece of monofilament (eg 40 lb) to the hook body and lacquer over the windings. Tail fibers may be tied onto the piece of mono and dubbing wrapped from their to the head as normal. A problem we have experienced with extended body flies is short strikes. The fish hits the fly from behind and misses the hook up near the front.
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Hour glass eyes
Until a year ago lead eyes were used exclusively to weight flies and to give the artificial the appearance of eyes. Now there are hour glass eyes and all their benefits: non-toxic, varied color, grooved in the middle to aid in tying. Sticking small eyes on the ends of hour glass eyes, especially prismatic stick-on-eyes, makes the artificial even more life-like. When this combo is epoxied, the result is spectacular.
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Better living through chemistry.
Have you ever sprayed newly tied dry flies with Scotchgard? You can use your regular floatant once they dry. Your dry flies will last longer and float better.
Need head cement or thinner?? The local paint/hardware store will be glad to sell you pints, quarts or gallons of (key word) quick drying clear lacquer. The best thinner is MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) in the same store under various brand names at very reasonable prices. Acetone or toluene are also good laquer (solvents) thinners. All of these materials should be used in well ventillated areas and away from flames.
In a pinch clear fingernail polish will suffice as head cement.
We have been reminded that Avon's Skin-So-Soft is an excellent bug repellent. Experience tells us that this product works well for some and not so well for others. If it works for you, it would be an inexpensive way to go. Some swear that it works with chldren in general. If this is true it is a way around the use of DEET on our youngsters.
Some cream-type fly floatants had their start with silicone-containing hand creams. The additive is usually simethicone. Rub a bit of your favorite silicone hand cream on your fingers and apply it to some flies. (It is advisable to do this on some cruddy old flies first.) Then check floatability. You may be happier with this new found floatant than with your old standby.
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Need midge hackle? The type of ostrich herls may be adequate for most applications if you can't find what you need on your hackle cape. Treated with floatant they keep the fly high and dry. Only 1 turn is usually needed.
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The AuSable Wulff developed by Fran Betters of Wilmington NY is a great fly pattern, especially on the AuSable River between AuSable Forks and Lake Placid NY. The body was from ginger colored opossum and the head was of Fire orange tying thread, two aspects most missed by tyers. Our Bug Fur-march brown or cinnamon caddis come closest to the color, where a hand blend of the two would be best.
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The original liquid dry fly floatants were mixtures of paraffin wax in hydrocarbon solution. Solvents were high boiling petroleum ethers. They were not safe to use around smokers!!!
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Over-looked fly tying supply possibilities:
Befriend a hunter. Besides giving you the opportunity to try some flavors of foods that you wouldn't ordinarily eat, a hunter friend can also treat you to endless possibilities in fly tying materials. Deer hair, antelope, bear, elk, fox (red and grey) are by products for most hunters and they are glad to give these to someone who will use them. Then there are grouse, goose, duck and turkey feathers for the asking. Woodchuck provide tails for fly tails and guard hair for such flies as the 'chuck caddis made famous by Eric Leiser. The list goes on and on.
Taxidermy shops are another veritable treasure trove. Trimmings from bird and animal mounts as well as unclaimed specimens can provide the fly tyer with almost unlimited possibilities. Each trip can provide you with something new.
Craft and yarn shops. Do you and your spouse a real favor-go to a craft and to a yarn shop. Look carefully. You'll find things for tying flies that you'd pay 3 or more times for from a supply house and things that are real neat that you can't buy elsewhere. These places are a treasure house for the fly tyer.
A good source of fly tying materials is the sewing basket. Now mind you-if it's yours no problem. If it's your spouse's take heed. Never snip a bit of yarn or what have you if it's connected to a current project. The sewing basket can be a veritable plethora of new found materials.
Corollary-the household pet. Buy a good grooming brush. 'nuff said.
Want some really neat tailing materials for nymphs? Try a variety of paint brushes. There will be different colors and textures on the many varieties in a good paint store.
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Most fly-tyers waxes are made by combining beeswax with toilet sealing wax.
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Latex sheets are what dentists call dental dam. So next time you go and you've been good, don't put your hand in the kiddies's treasure chest of toys, get a few sheets of dental dam. Ask what other colors he/she may have.
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Have some feathers that are matted or crushed? A simple way to bring them (or flies in a similar state) back-to-life is to subject them to steam. A mind boggling project?? No, simply expose the feathers (flies) to the steam from a tea kettle for a few seconds (15-20) and let them stand on a paper towel or whatever overnight. Most often the trash-can-candidates are as or nearly as good as new.
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If you have a fly pattern that calls for monofilament, don't waste your money buying it. You probably already have some. For patterns that call for extra-fine mono use .004 (7X) tippet material; for those that call for fine mono use .006 (5X) tippet material.
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Tired of tying salmon egg patterns from yarn? Try our Krystal eggs. Krystal eggs are preformed from yarn and have small bits of pearl tinsel protruding from the surface. Just stick on a hook, add a dab of glue and let dry. These have been extremely popular in '96.
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We are often asked about how to tie bead-head nymphs. First bend the hook barb down with needle nose pliers. Then apply the bead-head larger opening first. Push the bead-head to the hook eye and fasten by using thread wraps on the hook shank behind it. HINTS: It is easier to put the bead head on perfect bend hooks than it is limerick (sort of squarish in shape) or sproat bend hooks (hook is off-set from the barb). Thin wire hooks are easier to use than thick wire hooks. We now have bead-heads in gold, silver, copper and black and in 4 sizes each.
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Half hitch tools are as near as your nearest ball point pen. Unscrew the ball point pen and use the bottom half of the barrel as a half hitch tool. Cost $.00 in pens about to be discarded.
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Natural vs artificial dubbing???
Rarely is an artificial dubbing superior to an natural dubbing. Exact color of a natural substance can, with patience be achieved. Not so with most artificials. Most artificials start with a few true colors and the balance are made with blends. Some are ok but most miss the boat. Floatability or sinkability has been touted as a means to judge artificial dubbing. Many are claimed to be better than their counterpart. Only in minutes of a degree difference. Best is to get the color desired then worry about how to make the fly sink or swim. We have a goodly number of floatants or sink treatments.
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Dry Fly Hackle Common Colors
White - Pure white as the driven snow. These are very rare.
Cream - Off white to a faint yellowish tinge. Quite common. Used for quite a few patterns.
Dark Cream-Light Ginger - A dark creamy yellow to the color of gold (like in a gold ring). Common. Used for quite a few patterns.
Dark Ginger - A lighter shade of brown. Common. In genetic hackle are usually not separated from other brown shades. Common and used a great deal.
Brown - medium brown. Also called natural red. Common and used a great deal.
Dark Brown (Chocolate brown) - a dark shade of brown like a Hershey bar brown color. Mahogany brown. Most used in Royal coachman dry fly tying. Fairly common in imported necks. Quite rare in domestic genetic hackle. Can be had dyed in Hoffman Hackle.
Badger - Three different shades. All have a black stripe thru the center of the feather. Rare in most domestic genetic hackle offerings (except Hoffman). Limited use.
-----Silver - Outer "white" layer has almost a clear no color look. Extremely rare
-----Cream or white - Cream outer layer. Common in imported necks. Most used in tying the White Wulff. Hoffman Silver Badger hackles are really cream badger colored.
-----Golden - Very common in imported capes. Dark cream to light ginger outer band. Limited use in fly tying.
Furnace - Black center stripe surrounded by brown outer area. Not used much is tying. Fairly common in imported capes, not too rare in domestic genetic hackle.
Cock-y Bondhu - either a brown cape of a furnace cape with the outer upper edges of the hackle being black. Rare. Not used much in tying.
Grizzly - Very common in domestic genetic hackle. White black barred. Used often for fly tying. Lightly barred versions are often referred to as chinchilla colored.
Red Variant (Red or Ginger Grizzly) - Like grizzly above but white natural brown and white stripped or light ginger/white stripped or dark ginger/light ginger stripped. Not called for in many patterns but often substituted for brown or ginger because of the pattern break-up which lends a more natural look to the hackle.
Cree - A mixture of brown (or ginger or light ginger), with black and white stripes. Can be used where a pattern calls for brown (or ginger) mixed with grizzly (Adams). Highly desired, very rare.
Dun (Lt, Medium and Dark) - Grey with a hint of sand or brown. Light and medium are most called for and are common in domestic genetic hackle.
Black - Both on the top and bottom. Little surface sheen like other hackle. Usually more webbed than other colors. Highly desired, not too common even in domestic genetic hackle.
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About Wet Fly and Nymph Hackle
Years ago it was possible to obtain hen necks in a variety of colors and hackle sizes to tie any nymph or wet fly with a traditionally spun hackle. Not so today. Genetic hen capes are available only in a narrow color range; import hen necks usually have short, stubby hackles. So, what to do? The solutions are few. The first being tie beard hackle.
To tie beard hackle all one does is strip a few hackle barbules from a hen neck or other soft hackle source (eg. a grouse or partridge feather or a hen back) and hold them under the hook. Tie a turn or two of thread to secure and then flair the barbules out like a beard on the fly's chin. adjust the length to that desired , clip the unwanted ends and whip finish.
Another possibility is to wrap an ostrich herl of the desired color instead of a hackle. These soft fibers work well.
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Choosing Saddle Hackle
Saddle hackle comes in two sizes these days- 3 1/2 or 4" to 6'" and 6 to 8". What is each useful for? First understand that the useful (trimmed) length is more like 1" to 2 1/2" or 3" to 6". More in each package is in the lower part of each range.
The 3 1/2 to 6" saddle hackle is useful for small streamers and panfish flies and smaller bass bugs whereas the longer saddle hackle is useful for saltwater flies and big bass bugs, pike flies, and tandem streamers. The shorter saddles can also be used for beard hackle on wet flies and nymphs.
INFO & TIPS
Fly Fishing Info and Hints
Fly Tying 101
Info for Fly Tyers
Hook Conversion Chart
Hand-Tied Leader Recipes
Fly Pattern Recipes
Info for Rod Builders
1998 Hackle Study by Whiting Farm
Grog's Animated Knots
How to order
Mail Order Form
Web Order Form
Returns
Contact Us
The Hook & Hackle Co.
607 Ann Street Rear, Homestead PA 15120
Phone: 1-412-476-8620
Fax: 1-412-476-8639
E-mail: ron@hookhack.com
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