Jeff Hamm Strikes Again

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Jeff,

Another beautifiul fly with an excellent step by step. Like you I appreciate the bits and bobs, and they look excellent on that fly. Well done, my friend.

I use squirrel tail a bit on steelhead flies and they do explode when hammered by a large, aggressive fish. One way to keep the wing from blowing up immediately is; after the initial tie in and after trimming the butt ends, add a drop of head cement or SHHAN, then cover the butt ends with thread. This method glues the ends of the hair together, and to the tying thread. The wings hold up quite well for squirrel hair.

Again, well done.

REE

[JeffHamm]

Thanks REE!

I agree that the glue on the wing tips is important. I've had the wing on some explode from "bull whipping" it on the cast. The crack one hears is the wing exploding.

I remember once fishing down in the South Island in the lake at Queenstown. I was at a conference, and staying at the hotel right on the lake so I could go down and fish there when I had some free time. The waters are so clear that I could cast out and watch the fly on the retrieve. The bright sunny day helped. And, from a distance, I watched this brown target the fly and slowly catch up and follow it. I was running out of line when I struck too soon. 20 minutes later though, more or less a video replay, and this time I was able to wait for the fish to take first. It was a nice 2.5 lbs fish. Not huge for the area, but an awful lot of fun.

- Jeff