Lesson - 19

How To Apply

In this lesson we shall alter the plan of instruction somewhat. Instead of tying one fly which illustrates a new tying process or the use of materials not previously discussed, with a detailed description of each step in the tying of the one fly, we shall take up several different parts of flies, describe the materials used and explain only how the particular parts are tied, without attempting to go through all of the steps in tying the complete fly. With the pattern which is given you may tie each fly, using the knowledge which you have acquired in previous lessons for the parts which are not explained in this lesson.

Feelers And Divided Tails

Feelers and divided tails are called for on a number of well-known fly patterns. Without knowing exactly how to tie them you would, no doubt, stay away from such patterns. In looking over the pattern of a fly upon which there are feelers or a divided tail the first question likely to arise is: When are they put on? Should they be put on before the body is wrapped? Or, as the final step? On most flies the material for the feelers, or the divided tail, is the material first tied on the hook; but other steps, such as trimming to length and shaping the part, are usually delayed until after the other parts of the fly have been tied.

A great many different kinds of materials are used in making divided tails and feelers. The materials most commonly used are hackle quills, peacock fibres, moose mane hair, deer body hair, deer tail hairs, skunk tail hairs, bear hair, nylon, rubber and chamois. Hackle quill and peacock fibres, in that order, are the materials most commonly used. With hackle quill you can do a great deal more than you can with most of the other materials mentioned.

Feelers, of course, are tied on at the head of the fly. A divided tail is tied on at the back of the fly. Except for the location of these parts, the tying method is the same. If feelers are to be put on, the tying silk is attached at the head and wrapped around the shank near the eye of the hook to provide the base for tying. If a divided tail is to be put on, the tying silk is wrapped to the bend of the hook to provide that base.

The steps in preparation of the material for feelers, or for a divided tail, depends, of course, upon the material which the pattern calls for. If the material called for is hackle quill, you must first strip the hackle fibres from the quill, removing all traces of fibres. Other types of materials call for varying procedures in preparing the material.

The material for the feelers, or for a divided tail, is then tied on at the appropriate place on the hook, the material for feelers near the eye of the hook and the material for divided tail at the bend of the hook. Two or more pieces of the material, as indicated in the pattern, are tied on and then, usually, left until the other parts of the fly have been tied.

The fly in the following pattern has a divided tail, the two segments of which curve outward from the axis of the insect's body. It is typical of the curve found in feelers, as well as divided tails, of a large number of insects. As an experiment you should tie the complete fly although I shall describe in detail only the steps which relate to the tying of the divided tail.

"GINGER QUILL" (Dry)

Hook:               No. 8 - No. 18
Tail:                  Hackle quill, 2; divided, with outward
                        curve; length, 1/2 inch
Body:               Quill of Ginger hackle, tip of quill at
                        bend of hook, spiral quill
Wings:              Natural Grey Duck primaries, upright
                        and divided
Hackle:             Ginger, tied dry

Wax the tying silk carefully before attaching it to the hook. When tying a fly which has either feelers or a divided tail the silk should be thoroughly waxed, to provide a very good base for the materials that you will tie on for these parts.

Select 2 Ginger hackle feathers. Strip all of the fibres from the quills of each feather. Tie the two quills on at the bend of the hook, with the tips of the quills extending about l½ to 2 inches beyond the bend. Make 3 or 4 turns of the tying silk and a half-hitch.

Next, tie on the other materials, taper the head and put on the whip finish.

Now you are ready to complete the divided tail. Place the ball of the forefinger of your left hand behind the tail fibre on the side of the hook nearest to you. Place it as near to the bend of the hook as possible. Place the nail of the thumb of your left hand, held vertically, against the quill and press it into the ball of your forefinger. Now, draw your fingers out from the base of the quill, following along the quill, to its tip, maintaining the pressure of your thumb nail against the ball of your forefinger as the quill slips between your fingers. This will cause the quill to turn out, away from the axis of the body of the fly, and give the desired outward curve to the tail segment.

To place the outward curve in the tail segment on the far side of the hook repeat the same process after either reversing the position of the vise or holding the fly upside down. In this way the two tail segments can be shaped to curve outward, as desired.

With your scissors snip off the tip ends of each tail segment, so that each extends out 1/2 to 3/4ths of an inch from the bend of the hook.

The same process is used to shape feelers tied on at the head of the fly.

This process works very well with hackle quill, and it also works well with peacock herl fibres and any solid, or hard, hair fibres. On other types of materials, however, the arc in the materials is not likely to stay. Such materials, if used, must be dressed with lacquer, or other such dressing, to provide the stiffness required to hold them in the desired shape.

Jungle Cock Cheeks

On a number of flies, many of which you may eventually wish to tie, the pattern calls for a cheek made of eyed jungle cock feathers. The cheek of a fly is an added part, tied on the outside of each wing, near its base. The cheeks may be easily applied in the manner I shall describe, although difficulty is usually encountered when the tyer attempts to tie on both feathers at the same time. The usual difficulties are that the two feathers tend to stick close together at the head of the fly, not separating as they should, and, if they do separate, getting into different positions on the two sides of the fly. The following method is much easier, not only for the beginner but also for the experienced tyer.

The fly in the following pattern has an eyed jungle cock cheek and is one which you may frequently wish to tie.

FISH HAWK (Wet)

Hook:               No. 8 - No. 12
Tail:                  Brown mottled turkey tail, small section
Body:               Gold tinsel, flat
Ribbing:            Brown tying silk
Hackle:             Natural dark brown, tied wet
Wings:              Brown mottled turkey tail sections, tied
                        on edge and over body Cheek: Jungle cock eye

After you have tied the wings select 2 eyed jungle cock feathers of the same size. As jungle cock feathers are expensive many fly tyers use artificial, or simulated, jungle cock eyes, which may be purchased much more reasonably, though I do not recommend their use.

Place one of the eyed feathers on the side of the hook nearest to you, with the base of the feather at the base of the wing and the tip slanting upon and back at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Tie this on with 4 or 5 turns of the tying silk and a half-hitch. Place the other eyed feather, in the same position, on the far side of the hook and tie it on in the same way.

Taper the head of the fly and put on a whip finish; apply fly head lacquer to complete the fly.

Wet Spider Flies

Another type of fly, which derives its designation from the manner in which the hackle is tied, is known as a wet spider fly. In the patterns for flies of this type the hackle is said to be "tied spider." The hackle consists of fibres of a breast feather or a back (rump) feather of various birds. The feathers of mallard duck, guinea, pheasant, chukar partridge, Hungarian partridge, grouse and a few other birds are commonly used.

The fly of this type which is the best known is also named the Wet Spider, but it is only one of a number of patterns which are of this type. The Wet Spider fly has been a very productive one in lakes and streams during the early months of the fishing season. Like the other flies of this type it is not a very beautiful fly, but it is very effective when used at the proper time.

WET SPIDER (Wet)

Hook:               No. 6 - No. 8
Tail:                  Mallard breast fibres, 6-8
Body:               Silver tinsel, medium*
Hackle:             Mallard breast. Wrap on the same as regular hackle,
                        separating fibres as wrapped on.

*Alternate bodies: Green, red or yellow floss; light green, red, yellow or orange wool; light green, red, yellow or orange chenille, medium.

After tying on the body select a mallard breast feather the fibres of which are about l1/2 times the length of the shank of the hook. Rip off all of the fuzz and fuzzy fibres at the base of the feather. Hold the tips of the feather in the fingers of your left hand, and with the feather beween the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, draw the fingers of your right hand from the tip to the base of the feather, making the fibres stand out straight from the quill. Tie the butt of the quill of this feather on the shank of the hook with the shiny, or convex, side of the feather out, facing you. The feather should be tied on at least 3/l6ths of an inch from the eye of the hook; and tying it on 1/4 inch from the eye is probably better because this method of tying takes a little more space than the customary method of tying on hackle.

Take hold of the tip of the feather with the hackle pliers. Wrap the feather around the shank of the hook one complete turn, making this turn immediately in front of the body. Upon completing this turn draw the fibres, which you have just wrapped on, straight out from the shank of the hook, separating the fibres from one another. Now, wrap the feather around the shank of the hook one more turn, placing this wrap just in front of the first one. Never wrap this type of hackle over itself as you do when wrapping on neck or saddle hackle. Again draw out and rough up the fibres that have been wrapped on the hook, separating them from one another. Make 1 or 2 more wraps, each one just in front of the last one, making a total of 3 or 4 turns of the breast feather around the hook. Rough up the fibres after each wrap. Cross over the tip of the feather with the tying silk, and tie it down with 4 or 5 turns of the tying silk and a half-hitch. Cut off the unused portion of the feather, and finish the fly.

This type of fly is one that sinks under the surface of the water quite readily because the fibres of the breast and back feathers are soft, webby and porous. It is a fly to use, consequently, when the fish are feeding on nymphs, or other bugs, below the surface of the water.

Bivisible Flies

The bivisible fly is another, distinct type of fly. Bivisibles have three distinguishing features: First, there is no body material other than hackle fibres; second, the hackle is tied "palmer style;" third, a white hackle is wrapped on at the front of the fly, to increase its visibility to the fisherman.

The following pattern is my choice of the bivisible flies. It is to be used on dry and partially dry days, when there is no wind. For use on lakes and streams I class this fly as excellent. The Barred Bivisible, the Badger Bivisible, and the Black Bivisible are other effective patterns of this type, but I rate the Brown Bivisible as the most effective of the four patterns.

BROWN BIVISIBLE (Dry)

Hook:               No. 8 - No. 18
Tail:                  Brown hackle fibres, 6-8; make tail quite
                        long, with fibres free of web
Body:               Brown hackles, 3, tied palmer; tied dry
Face:                White hackle; wrap 2 turns only, tied dry

For bivisible flies use a dry fly hook of fine or extra fine wire. The flies generally used are tied on hooks from size No. 8 to size No. 14, although they may also be tied on the smaller sizes of hooks indicated in the pattern.

For the tail select stiff, dry hackle fibres. The tail should extend beyond the bend of the hook a distance equal to the length of the shank of the hook. Some patterns of bivisible flies call for the use of hackle tips in the tail of the fly.

For the body of the fly select 3 brown hackle feathers, preferably from the neck. The fibres should be free of web, very dry and appropriate in length for the size of the hook. Tie the tips of the hackle feather on at the bend of the hook and spiral the hackle around the shank of the hook to the spot where the tying silk is attached, about ¼ inch from the eye of the hook. For a review of the method of tying hackle palmer style you may refer back to Lesson No. 6, where this type of hackle was used in tying the Wooley Worm fly.

Select a white hackle feather with hackle of proper length for the size of the hook. Remember that the fly is tied dry, so the hackle fibres should be stiff and free of web. Tie the white hackle feather on the hook at the spot where the tying silk is now attached to the shank of the hook, with the dry, or concave, side of the feather out, facing you. Tie the base of this white hackle feather to the hook, as you ordinarily do in tying on the feathers for the hackle of a fly; do not tie it on at the tip, as you did when attaching the brown hackle feathers wrapped, palmer style, as the body of this fly. Wrap the white hackle, with the dry side to the front, 1 or 2 turns around the shank of the hook, immediately in front of the brown hackle. After tying off the white hackle, complete the fly by tapering the head, whip finishing and lacquering the head.

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