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Traditional Soft Hackle

Materials

Tying Instructions

2) Tie in the ribbing.

3) Dub the thread forming a tapered noodle. Note: When viewing from the top the dubbing should be twisted in a clockwise direction to prevent unwinding as it is wrapped around the hook shank. (reverse for Left Handed)

4) Wrap the dubbing forward forming a tapered body. Leave enough room for the hackle and head.

5) Wrap the Ribbing forward through the body in the opposite direction. Tie off.

6) Prepare the feather by clamping the tip in hackle pliers. Then (with the small finger of the right hand in the hackle pliers loop and the left hand holding the feather taught) with the shiny side up using the thumb and fore finger of the right hand stroke the fibres down and back. Repeat the process until the fibres on both side of the quill are against each other.

7) Remove hackle pliers from the feather and tie the prepared feather in by the tip with fibres facing back and the quill vertical.

8) Now wrap the feather in 3 or 4 close wound wraps forward toward the hook eye and tie off.

9) Form a neat thread head, whip finish and varnish.

Elk Hair Caddis Variant

This is a dry fly favoured by trout fisherman in small streams

Materials

Tying Instructions

Take the hackle and stroke from tip to base to get the barbs ar right angles to stem.

Tie in the hackle base end above the barb with the tip facing back.

Spin a slender dubbing noodle using the rabbit then wrap forward to form the body.

Tie off behind the eye leaving room for the head of the fly.

Wrap the hackle forward in even turns to the same point and tie off.

Take a bunch of elk hair (size to match the hook). Pull out the fluff at the base.

Stack in a stacker to get the tips even.

Tie in the wing behind the hook eye. The wing should be slightly longer than the hook.

Cuta way all the elk hair that extends beyond the hook eye and the form a thread head over the deer hair.

The Scrambled Egg

A hybrid between a standard Crystal Dubbing Egg and Jim Pettis’s Unreal Egg

Materials

Tying Instructions

Take note, rather use the least amount of Egg Yarn as you are using it to create a translucent ‘cocoon’.

Cut a 8cm section of Egg Yarn – this is then split in the length as you will only be using half of the original diameter of egg yarn to tie this fly.

This section is then split lengthwise once more, keep the other section as this will be used in the next step. (You should be left with two ¼ pieces of Egg Yarn)

Tie this section in on top of the shank and secure with two turns of thread; the section you will be using must be facing toward the eye of the hook as you will eventually tie off at the back of the hook (closer to the bend)

Now split this tied in Section and then using your thumb and index finger, turn this split section on the shank so that it is now located at the bottom of the shank.

Viewed from the top is should look like a Y.

Step Two:

Tie in the Section of egg yarn that was kept aside in step one on top and middle of the shank.

Now take a couple of turns toward the eye of the hook to secure both sections of Egg Yarn ( the newly tied in section and that piece located on the bottom of the shank)

The finished fly must be located in the middle of the shank so be sure to leave enough space behind the eye.

At this point you should have three ‘pieces’ of egg yarn sticking out towards the front of the hook over the eye.

Step Three:

Spin the dubbing onto the thread and form a round underbody the size of the actual egg.

Start in the middle of the shank, cover those wraps that secure the egg yarn and end off towards the back of the hook.

Your thread should be located behind the egg body at this point as this is where you will tie in the Egg Yarn.

Optional : Cut away any strands of dubbing that protrude past the actual body of the fly.

Step Four:

You now take each piece of each yarn individually and for the ‘cocoon’ around the dubbed body. Start with the section you tied in first and that is located on the top of the shank.

Pull it over the top and to the back of the dubbed body covering the top half of the body and while trapping it with two loose turns of thread, leave some slack in the yarn as to form a bubble in the material. You can also use a needle to ‘lift’ the Egg Yarn off of the dubbed body as to achieve the desired effect.

Now repeat this step for the other two pieces of yarn covering the bottom half of the body.

Making sure that the egg yarn covers 90% of the body in a translucent ‘cocoon’, whip finnish and cover thread wraps with head cement.