flytying

Flytying and flyfishing go hand in hand. It seems as if most of us that flyfish probably spend more time designing and tying flies than we do actually fishing with them. I created this page to share some of my favorite patterns and to complement the material I will be placing on my fishing page.

A different hook choice for deerhair bugs.

For a long time I've tied most of my deerhair bugs on Mustad Accu-Point worm hooks
But have always had two or three problems with them. Primary amongst them is the presence of two baitholding barbs on the shank that have to be either removed of tightly mashed down to prevent the tying thread from catching during the tying process. I have also encountered problems of crowding the hook eye making it more difficult to tie in the weedguard and the sproat bend that is common to this style hook leaves a much narrower hook gap than I like particularly on deerhair poppers.

I'm not a particular fan of the traditional wide gap bassbug hooks because I think the hook gap is too wide to be affectively weedless even with a fairly stiff weedguard and because they don't make attaching the weedguard at the eye of the hook any better than the sproat bend worm hooks.

My solution came in the form of another very common form of worm hook. The worm hooks that I found that solved my problems are typically known as round bend, offset shank hooks. The basic features of this hook include a round hook bend , fairly long smooth shank, and an eye that is offset or stepped down from the shank. The round bend of the hook gives this hook a nice sized gap while the length of the shank provides plenty of room to tie the body. The best feature of this hook style is the offset hook eye. It provides the tyer with two primary advantages : 1) The amount of offset shank behind the hookeye provides plenty of room for securing the weedguard in place and makes it easier to use a double weedguard. 2) Acts as a built in guide and reference point for trimming the body, particularly along the bottom.

These hooks are made by many of the best hook maker like Mustad, Owners, etc. and come in most of the standard worm hook sizes 1/0-6/0. They are also being offered in the
new “bleeding bait”(red) finish as well.

Example bassbug tied on an offset shank wormhook

Drill two 1/8 inch diameter holes in one of the 1x2 pieces. The holes should be spaced 1 inch from the end for the first one and the second should be spaced 3 to 4 inches from the first hole. Using the holes you just drilled as a guide drill holes in the second 1x2. Attach the two 1x2's to the ends of the 2x2 to form the upright pieces of the frame. Thread the beadchain through the upper holes, from one upright to the other, and secure one end with a clip made from the strapping. Pull the chain taught and secure on the other end with another clip. Repeat the process for the other set of holes.

The clips I used to secure the beadchain in place are made from strapping used to secure boxes and appears to have a diamond pattern embossed into it. To make the clips cut a section of the strapping about an inch long and drill a small hole near the center of the piece. Then cut a V notch (figure 2) on one side of the strapping that will allow the clip to snap into place between two beads of the chain (figure 3). The finished project is shown in figure 4.

Detail of the chain clipped into place:	The finished product.

Figure 3.	Figure 4.

Fly patterns:

Buggy Spider

1) Tie in hourglass eyes about one to two hookeye widths behind eye with figure eight wraps.

4) Attach two strand of round rubber hackle behind the eyes. one strand should be on top and the other directly below the hook.

5) continue wrapping the chenille forward around the legs and under the chennille finishing behind the hookeye.

2) Form a loop in a piece of 12 lb. mono and attach it to the hook leaving the loop extended about 1/4 inch behind the hook bend and ending near the eye.securely wrap the mono to the hook shank and add a drop or two of CA glue to hold it in place.

3) Cut a piece of the laminated foam about an inch long and slightly wider than the hook gap. using a double edge razor blade Carefully cut out a willowleaf shape from the foam blank by slightly bending the blade and working it down into the foam.

4) position the thread over the point of the hook and tie in the foam body with two or three firm wraps. About a third of the body should extend out over the hook bend (see photo).

5) lift up front of body and wrap the thread forward to about an eye length behind the hook eye.

6) Secure the front of the body with two firm wraps. (note: add a drop of CA gue to top of hook before tying down front to keep body from rolling).

8) Double a short length of indicator around thread an tie in place to top of hook.

9) Advance thread under head of fly and secure with a couple of half hitches or a whip finish.

NOTES: This fly got its name from the shape of the body that resembles a driftboat. the Mono loop is optional and is meant as a quick tie in point for a dropper. The amount,type, and color of yarn is dependant apon personal choice and taste.

Hook: Mustad 3366 size 4-1/0, Eagle Claw 202 size 4-1, any wide gap bassbug hook

3) Prepare three strips of the craft foam. Two strips should be slightly smaller then the hook gap (these form the body). the third strip should be about an eigth of an inch wide. All three strips should be about 4 or 5 inches long.

4) Tie in the thin strip in front of the butt end of the tail and wrap it toward the hook eye (leaving about an eigth of an inch of exposed hook shank behind the eye) and then back to tie-in point and secure with thread.

5) With a bodkin poke a hole centered in one of the body strips. Push the strip over the eye of the hook.

6) Tie in one end of the foam strip on the near side of the hook Then tie the foam strip in on the far side of the hook forming an even oval shaped body when viewed from the top. Place a drop of CA glue at front of body where it touches the thin strip that was wrapped on the hook shank earlier.

7) Poke a hole in the other strip of foam similar to the first strip except the hole should be closer to one end so the foam strip can be tied in under the body and clear the bend of the hook.

8) Place the strip from step 7 over the hook eye and bring the short end up underneath the body and secure in place with 2 or three thread wraps.

9) Place a drop of CA glue at the point where the horizontal and vertical foam strips touch then pull the remaining foam over the top of the body and secure in place with a couple of firm wraps of thread and then finish the fly off with an whip finish or a few half-hitches.

10) Trim the excess foam as shown in the photo and add eyes or other embellishments with a sharpie.

This pattern can be tied in many different color and material combinations and can be used as a slider style bassbug or it can be tied as a baitfish imitation. On some bugs I also include a mono weedguard for fishing in heavier vegetation.

Hook:     Size 8-10 straight eye wetfly, dry fly, or light aberdeen (for panfish)
Thread: 3/0 red uni-thread
Body:      red dubbing or yarn
Wing:      white marabou (other colors chartreuse, green, yellow, etc.)
Eyes:       bead chain

Mini MIKro Jig

A MIKro jig variation tied with pheasant or brown marabou for the tail and a body of peacock herl.

Hook:     Eagle Claw 3214 aberdeen size 6
Thread: 3/0 red uni-thread
Body:      tan ultra chenille
Wing:      pheasant marabou
Eyes:      beadchain painted black

Tying instructions:

Hook:     Eagle Claw 3214 aberdeen size 4
Thread: 3/0 chartreuse uni-thread
Body:      6 inch strip of 1/8 inch chartreuse Rainy's flyfoam
Legs:      black round rubber hackle
Eyes:      permanent felt tipped pen

TYING INSTRUCTIONS.

1) Cut a strip of flyfoam about 6 inches long and as wide as the gape of the hook.

2) To form the extended portion of the body: Secure a large straight pin or needle in vise and attach the thread near the point. Secure the foam strip to the needle about 2 inches from the end of the foam strip and form segments in the foam. Tie off thread and remove and then slide the foam strip off of the needle.

3) Place hook in vice. Punch a small hole in the center of the foam strip about an 1/8 of an inch in front of the first segment in the body then poke the eye of the hook through the hole and slide body back to the bend of the hook.

4) Attach thread near the bend of the hook and tie down the foam strip forming a segment. The foam strip should be alongside the bottom of the hook shank.

5) With the foam along the bottom of the hook shank wrap thread forward forming another body segment.

6) Pull back the remaining foam and tie in four strands of black round rubber hackle with a figure 8 and then advance the thread forward to a point abut an eigth of an inch behind the hook eye.

7) Pull remaining foam strip along the bottom of the hook and using a bodkin punch a hole in the center of the strip and just behind the eye. Push the eye of the hook through the hole in the foam strip.

8) Fold the foam strip back along top of hook and bind it down to form the head. Add a half-hitch to secure the head.

9) Pull the thread across top of hook shank and secure it to the area where the foam was initially tied in with a couple of thread wraps.

10) Secure the remainder of the foam strip to the back of the shank in the same place. Trim the remaining foam to a length equal to the extended segmented portion of the body and cut a V notch in it. Trim the tail about the same length and cut a V notch in it to form the split tails. Use a permanent marker to make eyes on the side of the head.

The Alien Bug can also be tied with 2mm foam similar to the Dragonbug below

Hook:     Eagle Claw 3214 aberdeen size 8
Thread: 3/0 green uni-thread
Body:      2mm closed cell foam
Legs:      black round rubber hackle
Eyes:      permanent felt tipped pen

1) cut a strip of foam 4 to5 inches long and about the width of the hook gape and tie it in on the underside of the hook inline with the hookpoint.

2) Advance the thread forward and form a segment on the underside of the hook with the foam about half way down the shank from the tie in point.

3) Tie in three strands of rubber hackle using figure 8 wraps and advance thread to within an eight of an inch behind the eye.

4) Pull remaining foam strip along the bottom of the hook and using a bodkin punch a hole in the center of the strip and just behind the eye. Push the eye of the hook through the hole in the foam strip.

5) Fold the foam strip back along top of hook and bind it down to form the head. Add a half-hitch to secure the head.

6) Pull the thread across top of hook shank and secure it to the area where the foam was initially tied in with a couple of thread wraps.

7) Secure the remainder of the foam strip to the back of the shank in the same place. Trim the foam to a length equal to the body and cut a V notch in it to form the split tails. Use a permanent marker to make eyes on the side of the head.

A different hook choice for deerhair bugs.

Fly patterns:

Buggy Spider

Mini MIKro Jig

Links: