Over the years I have experimated with lots of styles of extended body flies. I’ve used …
dubbing and super glue over a sewing needle mandrel
dubbing and adhesive tape, rolled into a tube
feathers with coated with glue, stroked into a body shape
deer hair wrapped with thread
twisted yarn, furled into a body shape
hollow feather quills
polypro fiber fused with a lighter
Most of them look great in the vise, but fall apart on the first fish. To my way of thinking a perfect pattern must be efficiant to tie and be durable enough for several fish (even better if they can survive a lot of fish!)
I really like the proportions of an extended body may fly pattern with tails. Does anyone know of a method that will produce a fly body that could last all day?
Pull the tailing material through the tubing, securing it with a drop of CA glue…I usually use either light mono or another synthetic so I can properly set the tails with a bit of heat.
I use a set of forceps to get the ‘segmentation’ look…heat the forcepts then crimp the tubing lengthwse in the jaws…I imagine that any tool with serated jaws would work…I use markers to add colors to both the body and the tails…pretty realistic looking, and they last all day…plus the air trapped in the tubing helps with floatation…
See post #10 in RCream’s “Help with extended bodies” thread for a link to an extended body with tails done with furled antron. The furled antron bodies hold up quite well.
Ken Hanley does some furling. I think he has a book on it. There may be something useful to you in there. He does tie for durability as well as other facets of tying.
…lee s.
A granny weave extended body is as nearly bulletproof as anything you can do. It’s easy to add tails if you weave the body on a sewing needle before tying the fly.
I’ve only got a few patterns I tie as extended bodies, but of those I do use, I’ve had pretty good luck using 1mm foam. I like to cut a very narrow hour glass shape and tie up this foam abdomen on a hat pin and then lash it to the hook. It makes both an attractive and durable fly.
My version of a Brown Drake Parachute pattern. I fish it as both a Dun and a Spinner. Not my original idea, I’d have to check my book to see who I copied this from.
They will outfish the shiney and new…
