Hairwing Grizzly King SBS

All about flies Fly Tying
1

hook - Orvis 1645-00 #8
thread - Danville 6/0 black
tag- oval tinsel gold
tail - hackle fibers red
body - floss green
rib - oval tinsel gold
shoulder - peacock herl
wing - grey squirrel tail
hackle - grizzly

Just messing around after watching some Davey McPhail vids; the wing tie-in shown here (swiped that idea from an article by John Shewey for a low buildup wing) turned out to be unnecessary here but something I’ll file away for a later date

Part 1

mash down barb, open up hook eye a bit; start thread

clean, stack a clump of squirrel tail; measure for length

insert in gap at hook eye, tie in with tips facing forward; trim butts and smooth with thread wraps

tie in tinsel; wrap back a bit beyond hook point, then back up to point

2

Part 2

wrap tinsel forward; tie off at hook point

wrap down tinsel forward to wing butts, then back to point above point (building up that underbody, keeping it smooth)

strip some hackle fibers and tie in (hook gap length)

tie in floss; wrap thread forward to wing butts

wrap floss forward and tie off

spiral rib forward and tie off

tie in peacock for shoulder (the wing was laying too low when I tried folding it back); trim butts, wrap a few turns and tie off

3

Part 3

fold the wing back and tie down (next time I’ll just tie some in and trim)

fold hackle, tie in; sweep back fibers as you wind it forward

tie off hackle, trim, whip finish, SHHAN; have a Happy Thanksgiving

Regards,
Scott

4

Very, very nice. Is that a salmon or steelhead fly? Nice tutorial.

5

Bruce,

Either or, maybe? (kinda out of my element here). I had been reading an article about Professor and Grizzly King wet flies, then saw a picture of the streamer version and took it from there.

Regards,
Scott

6

Gorgeous fly and one of the most clearly photographed sets of tying instructions I have seen. Nicely done!

7

Very nice! Grizzly Kings, in about size 10, are very popular in Nova Scotia for trout (rainbows, browns, and brookies all take them). People fish both the feather and squirrel tail versions. I’ve used them here in New Zealand as well, and they take fish. There’s a Matuka Fly, called a “Green Dorothy”, which is pretty much a Matuka version of the Grizzly King, so here in NZ most people would recognize this under that name.

Great step by step.

  • Jeff
8

Scott you get better and better every time I see an SBS… Keep up the good work! :smiley: