1. Start the thread behind the eye and run it to just
past the start of the bend.
2. Tie in a furled wool or venille body section at the
start of the bend.
3. Cut away the surplus wool and make several tight
securing wraps of thread. Aim to leave a smooth profile.
4. Now tie in two sets of three legs either side of the
body so that they trail backwards. Stagger the legs in
each set of three so the leg joints don't all line up
the same.
5. Prepare two hackle point wings and tie in flat and
trailing like the legs to the back of the pattern.
6. Tie in a brown cock hackle and build a light but even
thread base to wind the hackle on to. Before winding the
hackle I like to add a small drop of varnish to the thread
base so it is tacky when I wind the hackle. This is just
for a little extra durability.
7. Make several turns of hackle, tie off and cut away the
surplus feather.
8. Now build up a gently tapered thread base onto which
you can spin and stack the deer hair. The heavy tying
thread and combination of materials make it difficult to
avoid a hump of thread after the hackle. Note: If you start
tying in deer hair on this hump you will find it difficult
to get an even spread of hair and also to avoid slippage
off the thread shoulder.
9. Tie in the first bunch of deer hair with the fine tips
facing the rear of the fly. I prefer not to use a stacker
but I do like to comb out the under-fur from the deer hair.
10. Spin the deer hair and tie in another bunch immediately
after the first. Continue tying in and spinning hair until
the hook is loaded right up to the eye. You may prefer to
stop short of the eye. As I spin the deer hair head I like
to add a little varnish to the thread base, as with the
hackle, for extra durability.
11. Whip finish and reach for a sharp blade ready to trim
the deer hair head down to size.
12. Trim the head to your preference. I like to leave the
head large and flared. Otherwise, I cut to a ball shaped
profile - sometimes the fish seem to prefer that. The most
important thing is to trim the head close to the hook shank
underneath so that the hair doesn't obstruct the hook point
(see the main photograph). I also trim out the hackle underneath.
13. From above the fly should end up looking something like this.
14. Finished fly.
When I'm not out there fishing, or hiking, I work as a web
production manager. In the slots of time left beween my
freelance work and fishing trips, I work on my website
www.flyfishersrepublic.com ~ Raif Killips, UK.
