Online Fly Tying Course Part #3
Online Fly Tying Course Part #3 Using Beads, Tying In A Tail & Dubbing Using Natural Fur
When fishing nymphs, there are times when having even more weight can mean the difference between catching, and not catching. In my experience i’ve found that if the nymph is not touching the bottom from time to time, its not drifting deep enough. Yes, I know there are
some exceptions to that rule, but follow it and your nymphs WILL be seen by the fish. (and that can be half of the battle!) With the exception of extreme circumstances where split shot MUST be used to get the fly down fast, the simple addition of a bead to the head of your fly is often all you need to do. There is another benefit to using beads as well~FLASH! Getting a trout (or any game fish) to notice your fly is critical. Unlike other methods of fishing where vibrating lures, scented artificials and live bait are used to appeal to all of the senses, flies most often rely on their appearance alone. Beads, available in lots of plated finishes (copper, gold, nickel) and painted
colors can give your fly that little edge….
TIP: Like everything in life, you get what you pay for. There are good quality beads, and poor. Look for beads with tapered holes, and bright finishes/consistent paint jobs. In case they are not labeled as "tapered", look at individual beads in the pack. The hole should be small on one side, larger on the other. I use what are labelled as "gold" beads the most.
Unlike the old natural brass beads that tarnished quickly, these plated gold beads (and I don’t know if they are REAL gold or not) stay beautiful for a long time. Take your time, look them over. Good beads are worth the extra few dollars. Tying a tail~this job is simple, if done right. The technique I used for tying soft, long-fibered materials on the hook and is a slight variation of Skip Morris’ "pinch" method. It is an effective way to tie in/on long-fibered, soft material, a skill used in countless fly patterns. In the fly below, it isused to tie on a Z-Lon tail.
Natural Fur~There is no mystery to using fur straight from the pelt. In fact, it can be an excellent way to get the right amount of "bugginess" into your pattern. Whether you use it as it is or blend it with other colors, it is another step towards understanding the level of control you have in tailoring your flies to suit your needs. This simple attractor nymph uses grey squirrel dubbing that you make quickly by stroking the fur against it’s grain to get it standing a little more upright. Then, with your sharp scissors flat on their sides and touching the skin, clip several "clumps" of fur off. From here, it needs to be blended. If you plan to tie dozens of flies using natural fur this way, buy a small electric spice grinder. Drop the clumps of fur in, hit the button for about 3-4 seconds, unplug the thing and get your dubbing out. (Tip: Buy a dedicated grinder for this~You don’t want your nymphs to smell like cumin OR to have a little squirrel come out with the pepper onto your mashed potatoes!) I have (and use) a grinder for this purpose, but if i’m only tying a few flies I do it by hand. Here is how; Pinch the clump, not too tight, with your left thumb and forefinger. (at this point, the fur will all sort of be facing one direction) Using your RIGHT thumb and forefinger, remove about half of the fur from the pinched clump, turn it about 90 degrees and push it back into the original clump. (now, the fur will be facing two directions) Repeat, making sure that your right thumb and forefinger is grabbing fur that is now pointing in all directions.
Once you’ve done this 4-5 times, you’re ready to go. TIP: Buying fur~Having learned the hard way, I always give fur (anything that has part of the animal still attached~skins, tails, feet etc) what I like to call a "whiff test." If you smell something bad, don’t buy it! Its not as necessary as it once was, most materials from reputable shops will be just fine. If in doubt, give it the test!
So, here goes~LESSON #3
This one will address;
1.Adding weight~bead
2.Adding a tail~Pinch method
3.Creating dubbing from fur, cut from a skin.
Hook:Standard nymph hook, size #16-#10
Thread:Brown 8/0
Bead:1/8" gold
Weight:Medium lead wire
Tail:Z-Lon~dirty yellow color
Ribbing:Gold/silver mylar, size small
Body:Blended grey squirrel fur dubbing,
Adding the bead~While tapered holes make adding beads a little easier, the barbs on some hooks are just too large. Using pliers, ideally non-serrated ones like these, makes this job easy.
Insert the point of the hook through the small hole on the bead.
Slide the bead all the way up to the eye of the hook, place the hook in your vise.
Make approx. 8 wraps of med. lead wire. This AMOUNT is optional, but adding some lead is a quick and effective way of keeping the bead in place. I never use beads any other way. Soft materials like furs compress a bit when wet, or chewed by fish. Without this support, your bead can move~not good.
Create a taper using your thread, securing the lead.
Preparing for the big pinch! Prepare about 1/3 of a strand of dirty yellow Z-Lon, wind your thread back to the bend. Using your thumb and forefinger, hold the Z-Lon as shown.
Pinching the material, lift your thread up keeping it a bit tight.
Move the tip of your bobbin to the left so that the thread slides between your thumb and forefinger in front of the Z-Lon.
Release the tension from the thread, bring your bobbin around to the back of the fly and pull tight so that the thread is still being pinched by your fingers. Repeat the last 3 steps, pulling down tight to finish. Release your fingers.
Make several tight wraps of thread forward. The tail should look like this, Z-Lon on the top of the hook’s shank.
Clip off the unwanted portion of the Z-Lon. Cut about a 4"-5" pc. of the small mylar. Holding it against the hook shank where shown, make several loose wraps of thread~once secure, each wrap should be a little tighter than the last. TIP: This material is two sided~gold/silver.
If you want your finished rib to be gold, tie it in with the SILVER facing out.
Cut several small clumps of fur from your squirrel skin and blend it as described in the introduction. Check out the great colors~very buggy!
Begin to dub a tapered body, as shown. The fur dubs easily, little or no wax should be used. Dub to the bead, but don’t crowd it.
Lift up the mylar so that the gold is facing out.
Begin wrapping the mylar rib forward as shown.
When you’ve reached the eye of the hook, hold the mylar tight and make several tight thread wraps over it. (almost touching the bead)
Clip the unwanted portion (or "tag" end) of the mylar off.
Add a bit of dubbing to your thread an make a few wraps to cover the tie-off point of the mylar. Make 5-6 VERY tight wraps of thread against the bead, and complete the fly with 2-3 half hitches. Using your head cement SPARINGLY, apply a few drops to the thread wraps and half hitches.
Using the tips of your scissors, clip some of the Z-Lon fibers so that they are not all the same length. If they stay all one length, the fly will look just too long, the tail will look like part of the body.
The finished fly.
There you have it! As before, practice these techniques until they become second nature. Feel free to substitute various bead colors dubbing materials or furs….even the tail materials. This fly is a generic, attractor type of fly you can use anytime….and it works!!!
Good luck!!!
