Attaching Fly Tying Thread and Materials

How to properly attach the thread and materials.

To ensure that materials will not slip and come apart, it’s important to tie them in neatly and tightly to the hook shank. Hold materials between your thumb and forefinger and place the material on top of the hook. Then, pinch the thread and material and make numerous neat, firm wraps over the material to secure it. Loose wraps will cause the material to slip and pull out. Too many wraps will bulk up the shank making it difficult to attach other materials. 

Bulky materials such as large tinsels, lead wire, stems of feather quills and raffia will usually require a heavier thread like D thread, 2/0 Monocord, Kelvar and Nymo. Also, the ends of the heavier materials may have to be tapered so they can be smoothly attached.  For most materials, lighter threads are easily attached and tapering is not needed. 

Illustrations of attaching thread and materials.

 

How to Tie the Zug Bug.

Zug Bug

This buggy looking pattern was developed by Chris Zug in Pennsylvania in the 1930’s. It can imitate mayflies, dragon flies and caddis pupae or larva. Dead drifting and/or twitching the fly close to the bottom produces the best results. In deeper or faster water, you may have to weight the body with lead wire or use split shot. It’s a good all-purpose searching pattern as well. 

Materials for tying the Zug Bug: 

Hook:  94840 Mustad, sizes 10-16
Thread:  2/0 black Monocord
Tail:  Peacock sword tails
Body:  3-4 Peacock herls
Rib:  Small to medium silver oval tinsel
Hackle:  Soft Coachman brown

Step 1. Tie in the peacock sword tail and tinsel and then 

wrap the peacock herls forward to within 1/8 inch of the eye. 

Step 2. Wrap the tinsel forward 4 or 5 times and tie off.  

Step 3. Tie in the duck flank feather so that it 
lies flat over the back and tie in the hackle. 

Step 4. Wrap the hackle forward 2 to 3 times and tie it off so that it flows back 

over the body at a 45 degree angle. Cement the head and the fly is competed.  

Fly Fishing and Tying Pale Morning and Pale Evening Duns

PMD and PED tied by Doug Stewart 

Pale Morning Dun 

The Pale Morning Dun is a dry fly in the order Ephemerella. It is found only in North America from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. It has three tails and is available during daylight hours, which makes it much easier to see. It is slightly larger than its counterpart the Pale Evening Dun and is more commonly used. Its hatch cycle is from June to August. 

Pale Evening Dun 

The Pale Evening Dun is a dry fly in the order Heptagenia and inhabits the same region as the Pale Morning Dun. It has only two tails. It usually emerges in the late afternoon to evening, and mating and laying eggs on the water (ovipositing) occurs sometime later. It hatches out from April to October. 

How to Fish the PMDs and PEDs

When it is too dark to follow the Dun, let it become awash as it glides across the surface. This will allow it to simulate a wet fly being fished down and across the current. This method is commonly called the wet fly swing and can create strong and aggressive takes, especially late in the evening. When fish are not surface feeding, you can also use a watery dun flymph pattern to interest trout. 

Bowing to the Fish

One caution is offered to ensure solid hookups. You must keep your rod pointed at a low angle to the water as the fly swings and when a fish strikes lean slightly forward as you set the hook. This is called "bowing to the fish."

How to Tie Dry Flies that Float Higher and Drier

"Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock Fly

Fishing the rugged waters of many western rivers and streams can play havoc with many of the more delicate feather wing flies. Constantly using fly floatants and refurbishing the hackles to help your pattern float can take away time from your fishing, so here’s is a solution. Use a heavily-hackled pattern. This will create a fly that has higher buoyancy and stronger endurance to withstand the wear and tear on delicate dry flies. Here is the method to tie a Grey Hackle Peacock.  

Step 1. Begin by tying in red tail fibers and a peacock herl body 2/3 up the shank and tie it off. Then tie in a long Grizzly saddle hackle and wrap it forward to the hook eye and tie off.  

Step 1. Tying the Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock

Step 2. Wrap the hackle back to the body and bring it forward again to the hook eye and tie it off. The result should show a large, bushy hackle.

Step 2. Tying the Heavily-Hackled" Grey Hackle Peacock

Step 3. Trim off the excess hackle and finish the head.

Scouting the John Day River for Smallmouth Bass

Gary fly fishing the John Day River for smallmouth bass.

The John Day River in Oregon has prolific numbers of smallmouth bass, so my friend Gary and I decided to check it out. It was late summer and when we arrived the water was low and the temperature was hovering in the 90’s. Our chances for success were not favorable, but nonetheless we rigged up our rods and headed out.

The river was low and warm with a shore line that, in many places, was covered with tall grass, bulrushes, wild teasel and rocks of all sizes. The water looked and smelled fishy which bolstered our hopes of success. As we began to cast, we had to wade waist deep in places to cover the water effectively, but our efforts immediately paid off. We started hooking fish! However, most of them were 5 to 8 inches and very small by bass standards, but they hit hard for their size and fought aggressively. The most successful pattern was a #8 Black Girdle Bug.

Our fly fishing method was not difficult. We used 7 and 1/2 foot leaders with small split shots placed about 18 inches above the fly. A roll cast worked well to cover the water. Then, if they didn’t take the fly on the dead drift, we would hook them on a short, quick six-inch strip retrieve. A swift lift of the rod would quickly set the hook. We had the best luck casting in slower moving water that was broken up with a variety of surface and submerged rocks and vegetation. Gary caught the largest bass which was nearly 12 inches.

It was a good exploratory trip. The low water gave us a good idea of where and how to fish when the river rose in the late fall and when the bass would be spawning in the spring. When that time arrives, wading wet will not be an option.

Tying and Fishing Crawdad Patterns

Mud Bugger

Crawdads, also called Crayfish or Mud Puppies, are a main staple for fish in many lakes and rivers. Crawdad fly patterns are very effective for a variety of fish including trout and bass. Some tiers like to tie close imitations of crawdads, but from my experience, patterns that are suggestive of the real thing are more effective. Shown below is a very simple and effective imitation that was tied by a friend of mine which he called the Mud Bugger.

How to fish with crawdad patterns:
Because crawdads like to eat small fish, decomposed materials and a variety of insects, the flies should be twitched along the bottom or dead drifted in moving water.

Materials to tie the Mud Bugger:
Hook:  9672 Mustad 4-8
Thread:  3/0 Monocord
Tails:  Fox squirrel hair split apart
Wing case:  Oak turkey feather
Body:  Olive chenille
Hackle:  Olive brown

How to tie the Mud Bugger.

Step 1. Tying the Mud Bugger

Tie in the tails and split them apart. Cut out a wing 

case that is 1/8 to 3/16 inches wide and attach it vertically.

Step 2. Tying the Mud Bugger

Attach the body and hackle material.

Step 3. Tying the Mud Bugger

Wrap the body forward to 1/16 inch of the hook eye and follow 

with the hackle. Trim the hackle on top of the hook to 1/8 inch.

Step 4. Tying the Mud Bugger

Pull the wing case forward over the body and hackle and tie it off. 

Coat the wing case with head cement or other lacquer and finish tying the head off.