Terms T
~ T ~
Tag:
Narrow winding under and behind tail, of tinsel, floss, fur, or
other material. Sometimes refers to a short tail as a tag-tail.
Tag-Tail:
A short tail section usually of wool or floss or feather, either
used in place of a tail but sometimes used above the tail. In
that case it is called a tail “top.”
Tail Materials:
A listing, partial, of the many materials that can be used for tailing
flies: Pheasant tail and tippets, crests, Turkey, Grouse, Partridge,
Macaw, Animal hairs, Herls, Hackle ribs, Bristles and many others.
See - Materials.
Tango:
Color: Reddish Orange.
Tapered Body:
Fly bodies are tapered usually small at the tail and larger at the
head end. Some are tapered in cigar shape, small on each end with
larger area in the center. Tapering is an effect to match the body
shape of the insect being represented.
Tawny:
Color - Tan, brown, reddish yellow.
T.D.E. or TDE:
Turned Down Eye of a hook.
Teal:
When term is used alone, usually refers to the white and black barred side
or flank feathers. The bird, a duck, provides many different feathers for
fly tying.
Teeter:
Term given in England to the process of picking out the guard hairs
or fur bodies or wool bodies to create a semblence of legs or a larger
thorax on some flies such as nymphs. Also - Tease.
T.F.:
Tail feather.
Thorax:
That portion of the body of a fly between the head and the abdomen.
Usually larger in thickness than the abdomen. From this area, wings,
legs and most fore hackle emanate.
Thorax Fly:
Dry fly tied in coventional manner, but the hackle is clipped off at
the bottom side to gie un-obscured view of under body. Wings are
usually one clump type but may be two hackle sections. Tails are
spread in a “V” for better floatation. Similar in design to the
Swisher/Richards “para” series. The wings and hackles of Thorax
flies are tied in near the upper middle of the body. *Publishers
note: Thorax Fly is the original name given by Vince Marinaro to
to particular method of tying a dry fly where the hackle is wrapped
in an “X” manner over the thorax at the middle of the hook, and is
not clipped. This produces a footprint pattern on the surface of
the water, very similiar to the footprints of natural insects.
Throat:
The area just behind the head and under side of a fly. This is the
area where beard or chin is affixed.
Tier:
One who makes fishing flies. Sometimes improperly spelled tyer.
See also - Dresser.
Tinsel
A metallic shiny ribbon or thread wrapped with the metallic ribbon
used in ribbing of flies. May be plastic, such as Mylar or Lurex.
Usually comes in silver, gold, green blue and red. Forms are
various widths of flat, round and oval. May also be several
stranded. Available also in twist, embossed, rope and lace.
Tip:
Narrow winding of floss, tinsel, or other material immediately
behind the body. Tip winding usually partially encircles the
tail. See also - Tag.
Tippet:
Term applied to breast feathers and neck feathers of the Golden
Pheasant. Colors range from yellow-gold to deep reddish-gold with
two black bars. Used as a whole feather it is called a tippet.
When a few fibers are used they are called tippets. Found in fly
tails, wings and shoulders. One or two fly patterns call for
hackling of tippet. Whole feathers are used in wings of many
salmon flies.
Top:
Refers to top portion of tail dressing. Example: Gray Wing
feather sections with red wing feather section over, or on the
top.
Topping:
A long feather or feathers placed on the very top of a
wing section on flies. Golden Pheasant crest is used
predominently on salmon flies. Also referred to as the
‘crest’ of a fly.
Topping Wings:
Found on salmon flies. Entire wing is formed by using Golden
Pheasant crest feathers. Rare.
Toucan:
This rare Cebtral American bird provides feathers of orange,
yellow and red. Used in salmon and some trout wet flies.
Substitute with dyed small hen neck feathers.
Tourocou:
N/A A feather.
Tragopan Pheasant:
Feathers from this rare Asian bird are from deep red to light
orange and have a dot. Used for wings and shoulders. Nice
effect if you are fortunate eough to find some.
Trailers:
Short feather or other material tied in just behind center or
other joint, one on top and one on the bottom. Usually found
on salmon patterns. Some salmon flies have two sets or more of
trailers behind each joint. See also - Veiling.
Trapped Wing:
See - Stillborn.
Treatyse Flies:
- Dun Fly.
- Dun Fly (Donne).
- Red Spinner.
- Yellow Fly.
- Dun Cut.
- Stone Fly.
- Maure Fly.
- Tandy Fly.
- Wasp Fly.
- Drake Fly.
- Shell Fly.
- Black Louper.
Tricorythodes:
Sometimes referred to as “Caenis”, Midge flies in the 20 to 28 sizes,
in Duns, Spiners and Nymphs. See Midge listing.
Trimmed Hackle:
Hackle which has been spread, then the fibers trimmed or cut off to
a shorter length. A large hackle can be trimmed to fit a much smaller
fly. Trimmed hackles may alter the esthetic appearance of the fly,
but seem not to effect its fishing qualities.
Trude:
Trude flies are customarily tied with hair wings.
Tube Flies:
Basic fly pattern of most any kind tied on a tube or hollow straw.
This is slid onto the leader before attaching a bare hook.
Tube dressing will slide over hook shank while being fish. Used
on both fresh and salt water flies. Works better when using
double hooks.
T.U.E.:
Turned Up Eye hook.
Twist:
Refers to tinsel thread, either gold or silver.
Twist Tinsel:
Two strands of tinseled thread, twisted together. If three
strands are twisted together, it may be called Lace Tinsel.
Twist Wrap:
Procedure of forming fly bodies with use of feathers, fibers
or other material by twisting it and the winding thread together
to produce body material. One very good purpose is to strengthen
certain body materials such as Peacock herl.
Twitch:
Small, short floss, wool or other substace placed just over tail
dressing on some old style salmon flies. See - Top.
Tying Thread:
Threads of silk, Nylon, Nylo or wire used to bind the various parts
of a fly onto a hook. Commercially, threads can be purchased in
sizes from very fine to heavy and used according to the size of hook
or fly being tied. Size identifications vary with manufacturer,
but usually follow a number pattern with the 6/0, 4/0, 2/0 smaller
in diameter than the whole numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., with 6/0 being
very fine, and #4 quite thick. Letter designations also are used with
000 being very, very fine, then 00, then 0, then A, then B, C, and
D progressively coarser and stronger. Size E is usually considered
strong enough to wrap guides onto Ocean rods. Threads are usually
waxed before used for tying and now most threads can be purchased
pre-waxed if desired. Other commercial threads such as Nylo (Trade
Name) are now being produced, these are synthetics such as Nylon
thread.
Tynex:
Commercial man-made hair used for winging, tails and hackle materisl.
Similar to FisHair. Both names being trade names.
Type, Fly:
Gives further information about the general appearance or use of a
fly, as: Wet, Dry, Nymph, Weighted, Terrestrial, Fore and Aft, Reverse,
Reverse Hackle, Bivisible, etc.
Originally published c. 2003 on Fly Anglers Online.