The fly we shall tie in this lesson was perfected by Ralph Wahl of Bellingham, for use on the Skagit River, Washington, in fishing for winter steelhead. The method of tying, which gives the fly unusual sinking ability, is the reason for the choice of the fly for this lesson.

Over the years many fly fishermen have lamented that unless they use flat lead of wire along the hook they are unable to make a fly that sinks readily. Making a fly that will sink quickly is simple, however, if one remembers that the sinkability of a fly depends upon the type of materials used in tying it. The materials must be solid, they must not retain air pockets or bubbles either in the materials themselves or along the shank of the hook. Materials which develop surface tension, and thus keep the fly on top of the water, must be avoided. Upon casting the fly a desired distance you want it to sink as quickly as possible, but still not to lose its shape or size. The method of tying described in this lesson is better than most. The fly does not become distorted and it casts just about the same as those tied along conventional lines. For sea-run cutthroat, steelhead or early lake fishing, which call for a fly that will go below the surface of the water readily, this method of tying produces a fly that is above the average. The tying method, of course, may be used on any fly having a body of floss or wool, not only on the pattern we shall tie in this lesson. You may wish to try this method of tying on some of the nymph patterns that you use in the spring of the year. You want the nymphs that you tie to sink readily because the fish are below the surface from two to possibly eight or ten feet, feeding on the live nymphs which are found at these levels. This method of tying helps a lot in sinking your tied nymph to the right level without the use of weight on the hook.

 For this lesson I suggest that you use a No. 4 hook. This will be an experimental fly for you and the No. 4 hook is large enough for you to be able to see the results well when you have completed the fly.

After wrapping the tying silk to the bend of the hook and attaching it there with a half-hitch, select a red primary feather and cut off a strip of fibres about 1/8th of an inch wide. The length of the tail should be equal to 2/3rds of the length of the shank of the hook. The strip should be tied on edge, that is vertically, with the fibres one above the other. The curve at the tip of the fibres should be pointed up. Tie the strip of fibres on at the bend of the hook, on the top of the shank of the hook. These fibres make a solid tail which offers little resistance in the water and creates very little chance of air bubbles clinging to it.

Cut off 4 pieces of double strand yellow floss; the length of each piece should be 10 to 12 inches. Then, cut off about 6 inches of embossed silver tinsel, medium width. Tie these pieces of material on, together, at the bend of the hook with 3 or 4 wraps of the tying silk and a half-hitch. For the time being leave the floss and tinsel hanging where you have tied it on and wrap the tying silk up to the center of the shank of the hook and attach it there with a half-hitch. This may seem odd, but the reason for it will appear shortly.

Cut off 2 strands of white wool, each strand about 8 to 10 inches in length. Tie the two strands of wool on the hook at the point where the tying silk is now attached, attaching the wool there with 2 or 3 turns of the tying silk and a half-hitch. Then spiral the tying silk to the point 1/4 inch from the eye of the hook and attach it there with a half-hitch. Grasp the white wool in the fingers of your right hand and wrap it over the top of the shank of the hook and down on the far side of the hook; as it comes toward you on the underside of the hook grasp it in the fingers of your left hand. Wrap the wool in spirals, clockwise, toward the eye of the hook, making 3 or 4 turns, and then spiral it back toward the bend of the hook, wrapping it to the point 1/4 inch from the bend; then, again spiral the wool toward the eye of the hook, wrapping it to the spot where the tying silk is attached to the hook, about 1/4 inch from the eye of the hook. Wrap each turn fairly tightly. Tie off the wool with the tying silk and cut off the unused portion of the wool. This underbody of wool should be about 2/3rds the size of the completed body of the fly. Keep in mind that each end of the body of this fly must be small and the center of the body of larger diameter. To state it another way, the underbody, as you have wrapped it on, should appear similar to a zeppelin or cigar, with the ends quite small and the center portion larger. When you are satisfied as to the size of the underbody open your bottle of Tester's Clear Dope, dip one end of a round toothpick in the dope and put the drop which adheres to the toothpick on the wool body. Cover the wool body with a good coat of this dope. It will take 4 or 5 drops to completely cover it. Let the dope dry until it feels tacky. Check it after a couple of minutes by placing your thumb and forefinger on the wool. When it feels slightly tacky or sticky you are ready to wrap on the outside body of yellow floss.

Through many years of fly tying I have found that Testor's Clear Dope is the most satisfactory dressing for this type of sinking fly. When the dope is completely dry the materials are not discolored. Of all materials floss is the one most susceptible to change in color, but after applying this liquid the color of the floss remains bright and very shiny.

When the wool is tacky wrap the four strands of yellow floss on the shank of the hook. Make the first wrap just in front of the tail, completely covering the black tying silk and any materials underneath that may show. Make the next turn in front of the first wrap and continue wrapping in this manner to the point where the tying silk is attached to the hook. Examine the body of the fly to see that the floss is laid evenly over the wool and completely covers it. When satisfied that the floss is properly wrapped, cross over the floss with the tying silk and make 2 or 3 turns and a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of the floss.

Now, cover the yellow floss thoroughly with Testor's Dope and let it stand until the floss body is tacky.

When the yellow floss is tacky grasp the tinsel and make one complete turn just in front of the tail of the fly. Then spiral the tinsel over the yellow floss body, making 4 evenly separated turns up to the point where the tying silk is attached, at the front of the body. Cross over the tinsel with the tying silk, make 3 or 4 turns and a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of the tinsel. Once again, put on several drops of Testor's Dope, completely covering the body and the tinsel. This makes 3 coats of dope on the body of the fly. After the third coating has thoroughly dried you may, if you wish, apply another coating of the dope, to give added insurance against a tendency of the fly to float in the water.

Now that the body is completed, cut 25 or 30 strands of hair from your white bucktail. Hold the bunch of hair in your left hand and, with your scissors, cut along the base of the hairs. Hold the tips of the hairs between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, and with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, pull the base of all the hairs away with your left hand. Upon doing this you should have, in the fingers of your left hand, between 15 and 20 hairs, out of the 25 or 30 in the bunch that you cut off, which are long enough to use in making the wing of the fly. If the number of hairs which remain in your left hand is less than this number, lay the tips of the hair you are holding in your right hand over the tips of the hairs in your left hand and grasp all of the tips between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand. Again pull your right hand away from your left hand. After this operation you should have more than enough hairs in your left hand to make up the number required for the wing of the fly. When you have enough long hairs for the wing discard the short hairs in your right hand. You may throw these away because they are too short to use on any of the flies that you are likely to tie in the near future.

From the hair fibres in your left hand select the proper number of long bucktail hairs, grasp them in your right hand and place them on top of the body of the fly; check them for length. The overall length of the wing is the length of the body plus ½ the length of the tail. After checking the hairs for length, take hold of the hairs between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand and rub these fingers together slightly to form the hairs in a thin line between your fingers. Then place the bucktail hairs in the proper position on the top of the hook, and hold the fibres there between your fingers. With the right hand pull the tying silk up between the thumb of your left hand and the shank of the hook, carry the tying silk over the top and then directly down on the other side of the hook, between the ball of your forefinger and the far side of the shank of the hook.

Make 5 or 6 turns of the tying silk in this manner, to secure the wing fibres to the hook. Make sure that you have wrapped the silk around enough times to hold the wing fibres firmly; then make a half-hitch. If upon examining the wing it seems that the fibres are not as firmly attached as they should be, take a few more turns around the base of the wing and another half-hitch. Cut off the base of the hairs that stick out over the eye of the fly. Cut far enough away from the eye of the fly so that you may make a good tapered head.

Next, take the piece of dyed red bucktail and cut about 25 or 30 of the red hairs from it. These hairs are for the top half, or overwing, of this fly. Follow the same procedure that you did with the white bucktail, pull out the long fibres, roll the fibres between your fingers to thin out the wing, place it on top of the white bucktail, tie the red hairs on over the white ones in the same way. After tying on the red hairs cut off the unused portion of red hairs, far enough away from the eye of fly to permit you to make a good tapered head.

Taper the head of the fly with the black tying silk and end the wrap with a half-hitch. The head of this fly will be somewhat more bulky than the heads of the flies you have previously tied, due to size of the hair and the number of hairs you have put into the wing. Put on a whip finish. Lacquer the head. Use plenty of lacquer as you want the wing, also, to be tightly sealed. A good coat of head lacquer also helps to eliminate air pockets from the head of the fly.

You may dress up this fly a bit more, if you have white lacquer and black lacquer on hand, by placing an eye on the head of the fly. The following directions show you how to put on the fly what is commonly known as an optic eye. Wait until clear lacquer which you have put on the head of the fly is completely dry. If you put white lacquer on before the clear lacquer is completely dry, the white lacquer will run into the clear lacquer and be muddy appearing. First, put a round spot of white lacquer on each side of the head of the fly. Wait for the white lacquer to dry. Then, place a spot of black lacquer in the center of the white eyes on each side of the head. When this dries the fly is completed.

A friend of mine dreamed up a trick way of placing the colored lacquer on the head of the fly when making optic eyes. Using this method each spot of the lacquer is properly sized and almost perfectly round. Perhaps this method has been used by other fly tyers, but in my years of tying it was the first time I had ever seen it done. As the procedure was also unknown to all of the other fly tyers of my acquaintance, I assume that my friend may be given credit for originating this very good method, which works for both the eye and the smaller iris in the center of the eye.

Take a No. 8 finishing nail, dip the head of the nail in the white lacquer. Dip only the head of the nail, as you want only a small globule of the lacquer. Place the head of the nail against the side of the head of the fly, at the place where you want the eye. Repeat this process on the other side of the head of the fly. Allow the white lacquer in these spots to dry. Take a No. 4 finishing nail and dip the head of the nail in the black lacquer. Touch the head of the nail in the center of the white spots on each side of the head of the fly, to make the iris of each eye. The process is a very simple one to perform, and I doubt that there is any other method which produces a better optic eye.

LORD HAMILTON (Wet)

Hook:               No. 1/0 - No. 6
Tail:                  Dyed Red duck primary strip, tied on edge
Body:               Yellow floss, dressed with Testor's Clear Dope
Ribbing:            Embossed silver tinsel, medium, dressed
                        with Testor's Clear Dope
Underbody:      White wool, dressed with Testor's Clear Dope
Underwing:       White bucktail, 15 to 20 strands
Overwing:         Red bucktail, 15 to 20 strands
Hackle:             None
Eye:                  White, with black iris

Note: The materials are applied on the fly as listed. For instructions, see lesson.

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