Tying the Whip Finish Knot

There are special tools and methods that can help one tie this knot, but they all take more time. The triangle whip finish is quicker once it’s mastered. To help you tie it correctly, start by making a triangle with your fingers (A, B and C) as shown in the starting position (1). Place (A) tightly on the hook shank to prevent it from slipping. Make sure your index finger (B) is going over the top of the hook and point (C) is going under it. Keeping tension on all points, move the triangle slightly over the hook. Then, using a 360 degree motion, twist your hand to the right (2), bring it down and towards your body (3), and return to the same starting position (4). Continue this procedure wrapping forward to the hook eye.  

To tie off the head, place a dubbing needle inside the triangle and pull the thread taut (5). Then, draw it tightly to the head until it stops and slip the needle out. You should now have made a neatly tapered fly head. 

Note: The number of wraps it takes to finish the head will depend on hook size. Smaller hooks may take six to nine wraps and larger sizes may take ten or more.  

Summer Steelhead on a Goofus Bug?

Doug landing a Steelhead 

Today not many fly fishers can believe the type of success that was experienced by Steelhead anglers five or six decades ago. It was a remarkable era when hugh runs of native Summer Steelhead would return to the Kalama and Wind Rivers in Southwest Washington, the Sandy and Clackamas Rivers in the Portland area, as well as the Coastal streams. However, my favorite water was the Deschutes River in Eastern Oregon. My Dad introduced me to this rich, high desert fishery in those early years when there were lots of fish and very few anglers. Back then if you saw four other anglers, it was too many. This would prompt Dad to caution me, “Now don’t tell anybody about these fish, the river is crowded enough!”

I witnessed my first Summer Steelhead caught on a fly on the Deschutes near Warm Springs. My friend, Bob Wiley and I had hiked down into the canyon to fish for Redside trout. But when we arrived at the river, another fly fisher was playing a big fish. It was a 6 to 7 pound Steelhead. After five more arduous minutes he landed it using a 5-weight rod, a dry line and a high floating fly called the Goofus Bug. This started the wheels turning in my head, and I thought, “Aha! So this is how you do it.”

I then began fly fishing for Summer Steelhead by dead drifting the Goofus Bug and other dry flies to no avail. If I had known of the greased line method of fishing surface patterns, I may have had more luck. Eventually, I discovered the technique for the wet fly swing and began my lifelong pursuit of catching Steelhead.

How to Tie Glo Bugs

Steelhead landed by Doug Stewart on Glo Bug

Glo Bugs are very productive for trout and steelhead and they are quick to tie. The best material is Glo Bug yarn because it has a soft texture that is easier to shape. Also, a smaller hook is best to use because it allows fish to mouth it for a longer duration and ensures a positive hook-up.

They are fished with a nymph technique which requires constant focus on an indicator and the direction of the line. High Sticking is a method that’s used to dead drift the fly as it flows downstream. With the rod held high the line must be cast upstream and constantly mended as it flows down. Then to prevent snagging and to lure fish into striking, twitches, slack line draws and line lifts can be used effectively. 

1. Depending on the hook size, fold together two or four sections of yarn and place on top of a #9523 hook, 3/16 to 1/4 inch from the eye. Next, use your fingers or bobbin to secure it with seven tight wraps of “A” nylon thread.

2. Pull the material upright and make three snug thread wraps in back of the yarn and seven or eight in front of the yarn. Depending on the size of glo bug you want, pinch the yarn and move your fingers up and away from the shank approximately 3/16 to 1/4 inch.

3. With strong, sharp scissors make one lateral cut cleanly through the yarn. Don’t make short snips. Tied and cut properly, the yarn will turn into a semi-rounded shape.

4. To complete the glo bug, firmly pull the yarn down on both sides and with your fingers compress the ball three to four times. Trim off any uneven ends below the hook, and finish the head with several half hitches or a whip finish knot. A completed head is unnecessary.