The Haymaker, an Articulated Furled Leech
Rather than clutter the thread asking about articulation ideas the Haymaker deserves its own. This was designed by Mark Hieronymus and he has not been real open about how he does this so this is just an assumption. It has proven, tied this way, to fish, and fish well for a long time. The colors were chosen only to show up better in the photos and the pink bunny head did not do so well in that regard... There are a total of 18 assembly photos and that is excessive, but every step is being shown.
Please feel free to critique the directions harshly if needed and let me know if you are able to tie this fly based on them. I need to do a more formal write-up for the new book by the Alaska Fly Fishers and input is appreciated.
Here is the finished product
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...haymaker19.jpg
Start with a good octopus or other up-eye, short shank. For big trout we use size 6 or 8 Gamakatsu by choice (6 in the photos)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../Haymaker1.jpg
Three schlappen feathers are tied to the hook shank with 16" of Spectra articulation thread.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../haymaker2.jpg
One end of the Spectra is tied in a simple overhand knot around the schlappen and the hook shank, then threaded through the hook eye.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../haymaker3.jpg
The other end is then tied in the same fashion and also threaded through the hook eye
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../haymaker4.jpg
Very interesting approach ...
... and I'm still thinking about how to do the extended body without so much tying material to the hook.
In the meantime, you open your third post with the following: "Now take a few turns of thread to secure the schlappen to the hook shank. The hook point should ride down (opposite the eyes which will be on the down side when fishing) to help reduce snagging. Almost every fish I have caught on the Haymaker has been hooked in the upper lip, usually near the corner of the mouth."
I'm wondering if you meant up which would fit the context of the sentence, or do you mean that hook should be oriented in the down position while being tied in ?? Maybe it's a matter of semantics - just trying to be clear. :confused:
Just off the cuff, having done a few FEBs with stinger hooks incorporated, it strikes me that if the schlappen, or any other material substituted, were over twice as long as the intended finished extended body, you could put the ends of the schlappen, or other material, and the ends of the spectra in clips ( or whatever you use to hold the ends of the material while twisting / furling it ) to twist / furl them after just sliding the hook onto the spectra and positioning it at the midpoint of the material / spectra so it would be at the end of the extended body when you furled the material / spectra.
IF you have schlappen or other material that is long enough to try this, I would suggest putting the butt ends of half the feathers used and the tip ends of half the feathers used in each clip ( or whatever you use to hold the ends of the material while twisting / furling it ) to keep the body relatively uniform. If you put all the butts in one clip and all the tips in the other, you would get some taper, but maybe that is what you want ??
John