Or is it a Rat-faced McDougal? Whatever, it’s a pain, especially trying to execute a reverse pinch-wrap on a clump of pre-trimmed calftail in a very tiny space and I was working with a pretty big piece of iron. Having to tie a bunch of these on #16’s would be a level of Hell even Dante never imagined. After we get back from our hike, I’m gonna try it tying tail and wing in first before spinning the body.
hook - Dai Riki 320 #12
thread - UTC 140 tan
tail - moose body hair
body - caribou
wing - calftail white
hackle - brown/grizzly
Part 1
mash barb, attach thread at 60% mark and wrap back to point above barb
clean and stack a clump of moose body hair
measure for length (hook shank) and tie in
trim butts and cover with thread
clean a clump of caribou (no need to stack since you’re throwing away the tip section) and trim fairly short so it clears the hook point when it spins around the shank
pack it back and repeat with a second clump
cover tail with tape to protect it during body trimming
trim body; this took a while to get the proper shape and looking back, it’s a bit fat
clean and stack a clump of calftail; trim to length (hook shank + a bit for tie-in)
execute a reverse pinch wrap (hold the hair with right hand and wrap with left; opposite if you’re a southpaw); a little bit of gel Super Glue (thin stuff wicks up the hair like crazy and leaves you with an unintended “post” - trust me, this is the 3rd wing I’ve attempted on this fly) and a couple more wraps will anchor it
divide and post the wings
prep the hackle and tie in
wrap hackle, half hitch x 2, SHHAN and walk away being thankful you don’t have to tie these for a living
Very neat and nice. It sounds like this is not one of your favorite types of patterns to tye but maybe I’ve misinterpreted something. Anyway, allow me to suggest a few things that might make tying this fly easier (at least it does for me):
In general use less tailing and winging hairs. The reindeer I have is very soft and spins easily. A couple of clumps are better then one big one. 6/0 thread can be used with less build up. Never tried tying in the wings before the body so maybe that’s a good idea. Something I’ve used often is tying in the wings with butts directed toward the eye. I’m not wed to this method but use it depending on how I feel, lol. I think it does help though. I like to trim it so that the body is much narrower.
Lastly, I don’t know what the length of that hook is but in that size I like the Mustad 94831 or the Daicchi 1290. Smaller, then the Mustad 9671.
The whining was mostly (although not all ) tongue-in-cheek; it was a fun fly to tie. Thank you very much for your input ( the tail was tied intentionally thick since I was planning on using this on some heavy water), I’ll incorporate your suggestions and see what happens.
) tongue-in-cheek; it was a fun fly to tie. Thank you very much for your input ( the tail was tied intentionally thick since I was planning on using this on some heavy water), I’ll incorporate your suggestions and see what happens.
