Hairwing Proportion Question

[RexW]

Question about tying a hairwing style Salmon fly. What is the preferred length of the top wing? Matching the wing to the hook bend seems too short. How far past the bend should the wing go?

[ScottP]

Rex,

Might depend on the hook. I tied up a few Cossebooms on Dai Riki 899's and just extended the hair to the bend. Definitely not my strong suit but they turned out okay.



Silver







Gold







Orange





Regards,
Scott

[RexW]

Thanks Scott. Here's what I came up with for my first attempt.

My next question is how to deal with the hook eyes? I stopped the floss where eye bend ended and it left too much space for the head. Did you take the floss up over the double wire portion of the eye?

[RexW]

Hey, thanks for posting the pictures. Scrolling back forth comparing my fly to yours I can see some things I need to change.

Thank you.

[ScottP]

Rex,

I stopped the body at the double wire. I did my hackling a little different from you - I hate tying fibers in for a throat because I never get it right, so I just wrap a folded hackle and stroke the fibers down/back while wrapping with thread. Here's the sequence from a Kaufmann Coal Car:


tie in (folded) hackle, sweep fibers back while wrapping forward; tie off, then stroke hackle back and down while wrapping thread back for wing tie-in










tie in 2 strands of Krystal Flash and fold back to create underwing







clean, stack and measure (back to hook bend) a clump of squirrel tail; trim to length and tie in







smooth wing tie-in (a bit of SHHAN or Super Glue first helps to tame the slippery squirrel), whip finish, a few coats of SHHAN; trim KF and you're done





The head's a bit thick on this one but I'm happy with the length.

Regards,
Scott

[RexW]

Thanks Scott, that helps.