Terms S
~S ~
Sail Wing:
A fly wing, upright and usually made of a single white hackle tip.
Salmon Blue:
Color - Watered out light blue. May have greenish tinge. Represents
the back color of a fresh caught salmon.
Salmon Fly:
Any of the brilliantly dressed flies used in salmon fishing. Also, one of
the many names given to large insect hatch species such as the Giant
May or the Giant Stone.
Scalet Ibis:
Bright red feathers from wings and body of this South American
bird are used for winging materials, tails, shoulders and some
soft hackles. Feathers are soft, fine for wet flies. Ibis is nearly
impossible to obtain now that the bird is highly protected and is
becoming rare. Substitute dyed red hen hackles or dyed red
goose wings.
Scaup:
This duck provides excellent body and wing feathers for fly tying.
Colors range from grays to dark browns. Slate gray of the primary
wing feathers make excellent dry fly wings.
Scotch Brilliant Tinsel:
Finely embossed tinsel.
S.D. Blue:
Silver Doctor Blue. Very light blue.
Seal:
Seal fur is of translucent consistancy and is usually of a brown color
with varying shades. Ideal for dubbing.
Seal-Lite:
Commericial man-made fiber resembling seal fur used in body
dubbing. Trade name.
Sealtex Rubber:
Trade name of a rubber like that found in surgical gloves.
Sea Trout:
The Char, Salvelinus fontinalis, or Brook Trout with sea
going tendencies.
Seclin:
Plastic leader material, as Nylon. Early trade name. Seclin bodies
of flies are made by wrapping closely together, this Seclin or other
plastic transparent material over a colored base. The color shows
through the clear plastic.
Sedge Green:
Color- This one is in the eyes of the beholder. Usually means an
irridescent dark green.
S.F.:
Side feathers, or flank feathers.
Sh.:
Abbreviation for shoulder.
Shellback:
Term given to the back covering over the entire body of some
nymphs and larva and reproductions of shrimp, scuds and
sowbugs. Formed by tying fibers of feather or hair or flosses
at the tail and laying over entire body, tying again at the head.
Normally ribbing is applied over the material.
Shoulder:
The area just behind the head of a fly. Also, two short matched
feathers applied in this area are referred to as shoulders.
Shoveller:
See - Spoonbill.
Side Feathers:
Another name for flank feathers. See - Flank Feathers.
Sides:
Usually found on salmon fly patterns. Found on the mid portion of wings,
usually of Jungle Cock, Wood Duck side feathers, or other brightly marked
feather, placed to split the side profile of wing materials. May be short or
as long as the wing. Sometimes called Splits, Strips or Stripes.
Silhouette:
The outline or general appearance of a dry fly perched on the surface film
as it appears to the fish. Should present a likeness of the insect being
represented.
Silver Fox:
Provides light gray body fur. Tails range from white to gray with white
tipped hairs.
Simple Wings:
Formed usually of paired feathers or paired feather sections. May be
upright, slanted, down or spent, or a combination of these.
Single Wing:
Term refers to two wings, one per side. See - Double Wing.
Skater:
Large, heavily hackled fly. An attractor type fly, which may be blown across
the water surface by wind as Variants and Spider flies.
Shuck:
Discarded nymphal case left behind by emerging aquatic insects.
Skunk:
Coarse black and white hair similar to black bear in texture. Used for
tails, wings, legs or antennnae.
Slip:
Section of wing feather. A matched pair of slips form the wings for
most dry flies or other winged flies.
Snell:
A section of leader material affixed to a fly hook which provided an
early method of attaching the fly to a leader. Early snells were made
of silkworm gut, later of Nylon.
Snipe Rump:
A bluish tinged feather with dark blue, ending with a brown-tan tip.
Used in hackling some British flies such and Snipe and Purple.
Snippet:
British term. A small portion of hair or fur cut from an animal pelt.
A snippet of hair.
Soft Hackle Flies:
Wingless, subaquaeous insect replicas having hackles of very soft,
pliant feathers of Partridge, Woodcock, Grouse, Snipe and Starling.
Flies are normally two part. Just a simple body of floss or fur and
the hackling. Some have three parts - an added thorax of fur.
sp:
Abbreviation of specie or species as in Baetis sp.
S.P.:
Silver Pheasant.
Spade Hackle:
The shoulder hackle of game cocks, between neck and saddles,
of a rounded shape.
Sparkle Yarn:
A Nylon-acrylic yarn used in pupa wing cases and bodies. Provides
the translucency required for a good match to the natural. Also called -
Dazzle and Souffle yarn.
Specie Flies:
Imitate individual species of insects.
Speck:
Abbreviation for speckled.
Spent Wing:
Wings usually make of hackle tips, sometimes of feather sections
or hair. Simulate the wide spread wings of dead spinners and drakes.
Usually applied with one or two wings out each side of thorax.
Spey:
Method of tying certain salmon flies, the most distinguishing feature of
which is the palmered hackle tied in at the tail by the butt end of the hackle,
then spiralled forward ending up at the head with the smaller or tip end of
the hackle, making the fibers longer at the rear end and shorter near the
fly front.
Spey Hackle:
Another name for saddle hackle of a soft nature. Originally Spey hackles
came from the side tail feathers of a rooster. Substitute most any long
fibered soft hen hackle. Colors vary with dyes used. Heron hackles
often used in “Spey” flies.
Spey Wing:
Type of wing applied to “Spey” salmon flies. Matched short pair of feather
sections placed in a near flat, tent type, close over fore-body, extending
to hook bend, but not beyond. Usually of Bronze or Brown Mallard with
slight graying at the butt ends.
Spider:
Specific tie of a fly pattern wherein the hackles are over-sized, even two or
three times larger than normal. Flies tied in this manner can be skittered
across the surface, or the wind will blow them.
Spike:
A type of throat, beard or chin hackle usually made of hair and tied perpendicular
to the hook shank. Clipped off square on the end. Used rarely in some salmon
and streamer flies.
Spin:
To attach hair such as deer body hair to a fly.
See - Spun Hair.
Splayed Hackles:
Hackles tied in with concaves outward.
Split:
Small sections of wing or tail feather, usually used to form part of a shoulder
or represent a mid-line on a wing.
See - Strips.
Split Feathers:
Process used primarily when tying Matuka style flies. Grouse or Partridge
tail feather is split down the rib and the two halves tied in to the fly back to
back.
Split Hackle:
Process of cutting a hackle feather into two halves, cutting lengthwise down
the center rib. Used when palmering small flies.
Split Wing Dry Flies:
Originated about 1850.
Spoonbill:
Duck, also called - Shoveller. The reddish brown breast feathers of the drake
are used as winging material for some streamer and wet flies.
Spoonwing:
Made of two matched feathers such as duck breast placed concave to concave.
These are whole feathers. Often made from Goose Rounds. Tied abut 45 degrees
angle downwing.
Sprig:
British term. A feather or hackle fiber or fibrils.
Spring:
A Dee type tie with wings slightly divided. Normally refers to salmon flies.
Spring Salmon:
A Dee type of tie, wings are slightly divided.
Spun Fur:
Furs in various shades and colors can be purchased from suppliers. It
appears like yarn or wool. Eliminates time consuming blending and
dubbing.
Spun Wool:
A commercially made wool yarn especially for fly tyig. A better grade
of wool with longer fibers than ordinary yarn.
Squirrel:
Red, Fox, Black and Gray squirrels provide tails which are a standard
in the fly tier’s kit. Comes in grays, browns, and blacks. Some have
white tips on the hairs. Used mainly as winging material, especially in
streamers.
Stacked Fur Dub:
Formation of a ball or succession of balls of fur and piling them one on
top another to form a high or built-up thorax. Balls are formed by alternate
horizontal and vertical spinning of fur on dubbing thread.
Starling:
Super gray feathers with lighter markings come from this bird. Used in
wings for small wets and drys.
Steelhead Fly:
Any fly dressed on larger, stronger hooks used in the angling for
Steelhead trout. Many specific and unique dressings exist for this
type of fly. See - STEELHEAD pattern listing. (publisher note,
refers to the book.)
Stiletto:
See - Bodkin.
Stillborn Flies:
Insects only partially out of the nymphal case during a hatch.
Appear to be stuck at some stage of emergence. Two basic
forms are found:
- Free wing - both wings are clear of shuck, but abdomen is
still encased. - Trapped wing - one or both wings are still encased in the
shuck.
Usually these are noticed dead or nearly dead from their struggle to
emerge. Trout appear to recognize the plight of these would-be
emergers and feed freely on them.
Stoat:
Term given to the summer coat of the Ermine or Weasel, which in
summer is creamy to brownish-white. The winter coat is vey white.
The tail tip is black all year.
Storage:
Keeping of fly tying materials, especially furs, hair and feathers
safely is a problem of all fly tyers. Recommended use of air
tight or plastic bags or tins. Use moth flakes, napthelene, borax
or some insect repellent to keep out moths and their
destructive larva.
Straddle Bug Style:
A fly tied in reverse. Head and hackle at the bend of the hook
and tail fibers at the eye of the hook. British usage.
Straw:
Grass and grain straw is used sometimes for fly bodies. Not
very durable, it should be ribbed with wire or tinsel or thread for
strength. Comes in many colors and has a special sheen not
found in other materials. Flax straw is one of the strongest
and most pliant.
Streamer Fly:
A fly with hackle wings, representing a baitfish.
See also -
Bucktail Streamer and Bucktail Fly.
Streamer Jig:
Lightly weighted at the head only, streamers which may be
fished in a dip and rise fashion simulating feeding minnows.
Developed by Joseph D. Bates Jr. and Loring A. Dodge.
Strip:
Small section of wing feather inserted in middle of fly wing to
simulate the mid-line or median-line of bait fish. A contrasting
color dividing a wind.
See - Split. Used mainly in salmon and steelhead flies.
Stripe:
See Strip and Split.
Stripped Herl:
Ostrich or Peacock herl which has had the flue removed.
Stripped herl is used to make quill bodies on flies like the
Mosquito. Also used to simulate feelers and antennae.
Strip Wings:
Two matched sections of wing or tail feathers mounted as a
pair on a fly. Example: Matching sections from a Turkey
feather from each wing of the bird, so that lengths and
curvatures are as near opposites as possible. These
sections may be mounted back to back to form a closed
wing, or may be mounted from front to front to form
splayed or divided wings.
Strung Hackle:
Commercially prepared hackles selected and bound together
with a string binding - strung. Care must be taken by the
purchaser to examine the hackles to see that a fairly equal
amount of right and left feathers are included, as some strings
come with all of either rights or lefts, and do not lend themselves
to happy tying.
Style, Fly:
Describes generally the outstanding feature of a fly, as, hairwing,
downwing, feather wing, parachute, all hair, silver body, or no
hackle, etc.
Sub Imago:
Stage of a Mayfly when just emerged from the nymphal case. A
burdensome, dull colored stage. Flight is sluggish and usually
toward streamside wooded area. Also call - Dun.
Substitutes:
Any like or similar materials may be substituted in fly patterns.
Some examples are:- Silk floss - Nylon floss.
-
Natural colors - Dyed colors.
-
Barred or speckled feathers - A similarly marked feather.
-
Special pattern feather - Pantone marked plain feather.
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Natural furs - Synthetic furs.
-
Woodchuck hairs - Chipmunk tail.
-
Jungle Cock eyes - Lacquered and painted hackles.
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Furs - Man-made fibers such as Sealex.
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Hackle - Man-made fibers or hair hackles.
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Hairs - Man-made fibers, Nylons, etc.
-
Wools - Man-made fibers, Mohlon or Orlon.
There is no limit to imagination or improvisation in the art of fly tying.Substitute for Badger, Furnace, Coch-Y-Bondhu or Greenwell Hackle:
Use a similar color feather and interwind black ostrich herl to obtain
the black center list effect when applying hackling. To substitute for
wings, use a solid color feather and dye-mark the black center stripe,
carefully, with dye marker pen.Summer Duck:
Another name for Wood Duck from which comes the lemon-
yellow side speckled feathers.Swan:
Swan plumage is next to impossible to obtain. A suitable
substitute can be found in both wild and tame goose feathers.
The side and shoulder feathers, with the rib in the center,
provide matched sides for winging smaller flies, or for
wing materials for salmon patterns. Often found in most any
color, they take dyes easily.Swanundaze:
One of the many man-made plastics. Similar to leather
craft lacing. Made in round, oval, flattened forms and
comes in many shades of brown, olive, yellows, etc. Used
mainly as body material for nymphs and gives a good
representation of segmentation.
Originally published c. 2003 on Fly Anglers Online.