| 1/ First
off wrap a nice even base of thread starting from
near the front of the hook and extending to the
point where you are going to tie in your first part
of the fly, the tail. This point should be roughly
level with the barb on the hook. Once this is completed
go to the next step. |
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| 2/ Take
a small clump of deer hair. You can either use a/
Texas Whitetail (if you are inexperienced with using
deer hair this is recommended as it is less prone
to flaring) or b/ ordinary deer body hair for those
who can confidently tie it in without spinning it.
The latter is preferable as it has better floating
qualities. The length of the tail should be roughly
equal to the hook gape. |
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| 3/ Next
take a piece of copper wire and secure it to the
hook at the rear of the fly. This wire should be
tied in so that it protrudes out from the rear of
the fly and is out of the way of your working space
for constructing the rest of the fly. Once this
is done trim the excess wire and cover with a few
well placed turns of thread. |
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| 4/ Now
find a nice thick piece of peacock herl. This will
be used to construct much of the abdomen and the
better the quality of the herl the better the quality
of the finished fly. Tie this in the same way you
did the copper in the previous step. With peacock
herl always try and tie it in so that the thick
part of the herl will be on the outside when wrapping
it on later. |
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| 5/ This
is the first fiddly bit. There are two ways in which
to tie this body. I am showing you the more time
consuming one because it better illustrates what
is going on. Wind the herl forward to a distance
equal roughly to the hook gape. Now tie it off and
trim the excess. You have completed the first section
of the body. |
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| 6/ Take
some Red Floss, 4 strand is always good for this
fly to add bulk quickly but single strand gives
you more control. Wrap a nice band of red that is
say equal to 1/2 to 2/3 the width of the previous
body section. Bulk it up to whatever requirements
you may have. You can see in the photo that the
red floss and peacock herl are a very attractive
combination. |
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| 7/ Once
the floss has been trimmed it's time to add the
second body section. Select another good piece of
herl or alternatively use the left over from the
previous section. Tie it in as we discussed earlier,
fat side of the herl outwards, and wrap the second
body section making it equal in size to the first.
Tie in and trim off the excess peacock herl. |
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| 8/ Take
a brown cock hackle. The size of this hackle is
not so important as this is a bushy fly and fish
taking it usually don't inspect it for too long.
This means you can use the lesser quality feather
from the edge of your cape or even the slightly
oversized one. The hackle should be in reasonable
proportions but don't worry too much as the fish
don't seem to mind. |
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| 9/
Here comes the fun part. Take the hackle
and very gently and evenly start winding it back
towards the rear of the fly. When you start
to get near the back of the fly, carefully locate
the wire with you other hand and catch the hackle
with turn of it. From here carefully wind the copper
towards the front of the fly, being careful not
to crush the hackle fibres. Tie off and trim. |
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| 10/
With most of the fly completed, we now
take a nice clump of deer hair and measure it off
against the fly. You can see from the accompanying
photo that the wing should come back to a point
roughly level with the rear of the fly. This swept
back style of wing is very common amongst the caddis
family of insects. Make sure the deer hair tips
are even, use a stacker if need be. |
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| 11/
Next tie in the wing. Firstly pinch the
measured clump of deer hair in between your thumb
and first two fingers of your left hand (for right
hand tier). Now make several loops of thread around
the hair and not the hook (see photo). Then pinching
very tightly to stop it from spinning, attach the
hair to the hook, starting with looser turns to
the rear and getting progressively tighter
as you move forward. Don't flare it. |
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| 12/
If done correctly your wing should look
like this. You can see in the previous photo the
nice wing and the flared excess stubs to the front
of the wing. This is caused by the tight turns in
the last step. Trim these as close to the hook as
possible without cutting the thread. This wing will
float the fly in the worst of water. |
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| 13/
Now find a nice grizzle hackle. I use Hoffman
saddle feathers as I can tie about 10 of these flies
from the one feather. Tie the the feather in so
that it extends towards the rear of the fly and
the shiny side of the feather is facing you, the
tier. This helps as when you start to wind forward
it can't help but turn in the best possible making
the perfect hackle. Trim the excess. |
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| 14/
Find some dubbing. I like hot oranges for
this particular fly. Although the original pattern
is more often than not tied with a hot orange thread,
I prefer to actually dub it as I like the effects
this bright dubbing can have when wet. Any bright
oranges will do but I have a preference for the
super bright dubbing. Add the dubbing to the thread
to form a dubbing rope. |
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| 15/
Now that you have the dubbed thread in
place wind a nice thorax, starting with a thick
end nearer the wing and tapering slightly as you
reach the hook eye. Orange is definitely an attractor
colour and the combination of peacock herl and red
floss, two of the all time great attractor materials,
make this a very appealing fly. When completed tie
off. |
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| 16/
The last step is to simply wind the hackle
forward through the thorax to the hook eye. You
can see I use between 4-5 turns of hackle to really
make it float well and give it the required bulk
to finish off such a pattern. Once you have the
required look to the pattern, tie off the hackle
and trim the excess. Add a couple of half hitches
and there you have it. |
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