The Denver Show open on Friday the 6th at 10 am with a real boom. The line ran out the door as people waited to get in. And quickly the aisles filled with fly fishers. My first program was a casting demo at 1:5, and the areas around the pond was packed with anglers eager to watch. We had a fun filled 45 minutes. Then there was time at the author’s booth, a presentation on Long Flies, and a fly tying demo in which I tied a number of collared imitations. Day tow started at 8:30 an with a class on casting. 10 people worked their way through wrist casting, the three point grip, arm casting, elliptical stroke, a variety of mends,  the “C” pickup, shooting line, the triple shoot, curve casting, and other exotic casting and mending tactics. In the afternoon there was a stint in the author’s booth, a casting demo at the pond with nearly 200 people in attendance, and a program on Fishing the Film. Many, many people were in attendance today. Great show. If you’re in the area, drop in and say Hi.

The line for the opening day went out the door.

The day 1 crowd quickly filled the aisles.

The crowd on day 2 stuffed the aisles.

I like to use wire to rib the GRHE because it adds just a bit of weight to the fly, helping it dive through the surface film, and, more importantly, it reinforces the body, making the fly nearly indestructible. Look very carefully at the end of the wire where it’s been wrapped on the hook. You will notice that there’s a bit of wrinkle right at the end. This prevents the wire from pulling back and out from under the thread wraps. This is especially important when using mid-weight to heavy-weight wires. Jason came up with the way to get this little nub on the end of the wire. He folds the wire over one of the scissors blades, right at the very back of the blade (next to the hinge joint) and then snips. Bending the wire over the blade produces a tiny burr at the end of the wire when it’s cut. When tied in, the burr prevents the wire from slipping free.

As noted in the last post, the rib is tied in by wrapping rearward, which also brings the dubbing up to the rear of the abdomen, ready to go. Winding dubbing is not a one-shot deal, take what you get and whine if it’s not perfect. Rather, as the dubbing is wound forward, the tyer constantly evaluates the shape and thickness of the body. If the dubbing is too thin, the tyer backs off a turn or two and add a touch more. If the dubbing is too thick, the tyer backs off and removes a tiny bit. Remember, production tying doesn’t just make flies as efficiently as possible, it also makes them of the best quality possible.

Once the dubbing is in place and looking good, the rib is wound. I counterwind the rib so that the turns of the wire “Xs” across the turns of the dubbing, in order to strengthen and re-enforce the dubbing. This can be done by winding the dubbing counterclockwise and then winding the rib clockwise, or visa versa. I use the visa versa; that is, I wind the dubbing clockwise and the wire counterclockwise. I do it this way because I may have to unwind the dubbing to get it just right, and I find this easier to do when winding clockwise. When I get to the thorax, I continue to wrap the wire several more turns to add a bit more weight, before clipping off the waste end (always use the very back of the scissor blades when cutting wire).

Notice the burr on the end of the wire where it's tied in.

Counterwind the wire rib to re-enforce the body. Make a few wraps on the thorax region to add a bit more weight to the fly.

I have been asked many times to demonstrate the tying of Hair Leg Nymphs. It’s the dressing of the legs that causes most people the most problems. But there are a number of production tactics that can also be demonstrated by this imitation. So, in the next several blogs we will use the dressing of the Hair Leg Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear to demonstrate both the hair leg process and some other production tying tactics.

Here are four  production tactics that are used to start the fly. We’ve mentioned two of them before, but let’s look at them as we race forward. (1) Attach the thread at the front of the thorax and wrap to the rear. This is a production tactic that saves time and thread (notice no thread on the head of the hook). (2) Tie in a tail of pheasant-tail fibers. The butt ends are pre-trimmed to extend to the head so that they can simply be tied in making an underbody  of uniform diameter. Wrap forward over the tailing materials. (3) Wrap back, but halt at the center of the shank and apply the dubbing for the abdomen. (4) Leave a couple of inches of bare thread between the dubbing and the hook shank. This serves two purposes: first it’s much faster and far easier to apply the dubbing a couple of inches from the shank, rather that trying to twist it on the thread so close to the hook that you stab yourself on the point. Second, we’re going to use that bare thread to tie in the rib as we wrap rearward. Next time: applying the dubbing and wrapping the rib.

Apply the thread, tie in the pre-trimmed tail, and twist on the dubbing.

Tie in the ribbing wire as the thread is wrapped rearward to the end of the abdomen; this brings the dubbing up the hook ready to wrap forward to form the abdomen.

I love the Poly Caddis because it is fast to tie, rides high, can be pulled under to suggest a diving caddis, and catches fish. Gary LaFontaine used the Poly Caddis on a regular basis for just those reasons. In it’s original design, I just tied the wing in at the head and allowed it to extend back over the top of the hook. In the past season, I wanted to give the fly a little more realistic caddis appearance, so I began fussing with the way the wing is applied. What I came up with is just about as simple as the original fly, but is stronger and gives has a better look, at least to my eye. Here’s the way it’s been re-designed.

Step One. Apply dubbing thinly over the rear half of thee hook to form the abdomen.

Step Two. Tie in the poly yarn for the wing facing forward over the eye. Wrap the thread tightly, right to the eye, then back to the abdomen.

Step Three. Tie in an appropriate sized hackle.

Step Four. Wind the thread forward, wrap thee hackle “X” Style and tie off at the head. Spiral the thread rearward through the hackle to re-enforce it.

Step Five. Stroke the hackle on the top of the fly out to the sides, fold the wing back tight over the thorax and tie it securely at the back of the thorax. Tie off at the rear of the thorax. (1/3 of the way back on the shank) Trim the hackle off the bottom of the thorax. Place a good-sized drop of thin flexible head cement on the top of the thorax and allow it to sink in, re-enforcing the hackle and wing.

Updated (see below).

Jason is slaving away over not only hot pixels, but hot photos as well. There’s a great deal that goes into making a page look as nice as the ones below. This is the first page of flies in Chapter 10 in our soon-to-be-released book, Long Flies. I think it’s absolutely top shelf.

The updated page after some layout/text tweaks and color correction work by JB:

Jason has been involved in fly fishing since he was a little over a year and a half old. He caught his first trout by himself at age 2 1/2. And his thoughts on where he would fish if he had only one day, one river? See his answer at http://eat-sleep-fish.co.uk/content/2011/10/river-runs-through-him

Jason with a nice brown from Lake Botsford in Tasmania. Would this be his one day to fish choice?

Production tying is about speed, but it is also about well-built flies. We’ve discussed the concept of pre-trimming, and that’s the secret of building great looking heads on hair-wing flies. Rather than tying in a clump of hair, and then trying to trim the butt end to give the head a nice taper, taper the hair first. The taper is actually a rather steep one. The distance from the front of the taper to the rear of the taper is actually just a bit shorter than the full length of the head (Figure 1).

Begin wrapping at the rear of the head and wrap carefully and tightly forward to the eye. Then, still wrapping very tightly, carefully build the head into a nice taper (Figure 2.). This is a very fast way to attach the hair wing and get the tapered head that is so artistic.

Figure 1. Pre-trim the taper into the butt ends of the hair wing. Notice how short the taper has to be.

Figure 2. The finished fly with a nicely tapered, quickly built head.

When I started tying flies in 1955, I immediately realized that I was going to have a serious problem with tinsel bodies. First, there was no way that I could find to wrap the tinsel without getting a small gap here and there that showed the black thread underneath. If I ribbed the flat tinsel body with oval tinsel, then I could manage to hide most of those little gaps. Still, there was that need to dress flies with a flat tinsel body, and those little gaps just wouldn’t go away, no matter how carefully I wrapped. Then, somewhere along the line, not too many years later, I learned the trick for getting perfect flat tinsel bodies. First, use white thread so that black thread won’t show through any tiny gaps. Second, tie the tinsel in at the head (Figure 1). Wind back to the tail (Figure 2), and then wind forward over this first layer. The two windings will “X” over one another, and the forward wraps will hide any tiny gaps created when the tinsel was wrapped rearward. Any gaps created in the forward wraps will only show the underlying rearward-wound layer of tinsel (Figure 3).

Figure 1. For perfect tinsel bodies tie the tinsel in at the head of the fly.

Figure 2. Wrap the tinsel rearward carefully, Small gaps will still appear (note red showing through wraps).

Figure 3. Wrap the tinsel carefully forward, forming a perfect tinsel body.

One of the hallmarks of good production tying is neatly dressed imitations. If the body is to be made from thin materials (such as tinsel) then the tailing materials are extended under the full length of the body (Figure 1). When the body material is wound over the tailing material, it will form a body that is uniform in diameter from one end to the other, very neat, indeed.

Figure 1. To achieve a uniform underbody, tie in the tailing material fully forward to the head of the fly.

Production tying is not about sloppy or inferior work. No, not at all. Production tying is about efficiency in tying; that is, being able to dress very nice flies with minimal confusion, error, and material waste, and doing so very readily. Preparing and winding hackle is one of those places where every tyer can gain a bit of efficiency, especially in hackle preparation to make winding as perfect as possible.

The hackle should be cut at the point where the softer “webbing” extends 1/3 or less us the individual hackle fibers (the barbs). Then the shaft should be prepared for tying in. Some tyers trim the fibers on either side of the shaft, leaving tiny, blunt butt ends of the fibers. These supposedly catch the thread better and prevent the hackle from slipping out when it is wound. Well that was the case with silk thread, which does not stretch, but it is not the case with nylon, poly, and gel-spun threads. So, I just strip a few barbs off each side of the shaft by pinching them between thumb and forefinger and pulling. Yes, it’s more efficient, but that’s not where we’re headed.

It’s the number of fibers that should be pulled off that’s the point of this discussion. Most tyers just pull off enough to give them a bit of bare shaft, which can be tied in. And typically they tie in right up tight to the fibers of the hackle (Figure 1). This is not a good move, because when the hackle is wound, the first few fibers will cock out at an odd angle, usually sticking backward over the body, and give the fly a most unkempt appearance (Figure 2).

So, strip off enough fibers so that there’s a bit of extra bare shaft between the tie-in point and where thee fibers begin on the feather (Figure 3). Now, when you start the wrap with the hackling feather, there’s a bit of bare shaft that will turn against the hook before the fibers begin to spring out. This is enough room to get the feather up on edge without stray fibers cocking out at an odd angle, giving the finished fly a very neat look—and with no more effort than doing it the other way (Figure 4).

Figure 1. Many tyers attach the hackle feather with the fibers tight against the tying thread.

Figure 2. When the hackle feather is attached with the thread up tight to the fibers, one or several fibers will stick out at odd angles when the hackle is wound.

Figure 3. Strip off enough fibers so that there's bare shaft between the point of attachment and the beginning of the hackle fibers.

Figure 4. A perfectly wound hackle is only a matter of perfect hackle preparation.

I had a nice note from my friend, Tom Sutcliffe, the other day. He lives in South Africa and has written several delightful books about his fly fishing adventures. I then had the opportunity to visit his web site, and had the opportunity to examine all the many topics he covers. I greatly enjoy reading about the development and practice of fly fishing in other countries; they often have a different spin on tackle and tactics that we can adapt to our waters. I’ve fished with Tom and a number of others in the trout waters of South Africa, and his site brought back a flood of memories. It’s a great site where one can sample the waters and marvelous lands of the Cape. Have a look: www.tomsutcliffe.co.za.

The Witte, a wonderful trout stream in South Africa.

I like my friend Theo Bakelaar’s tie-off knot so much that I have been using it on everything. As I was doing so, I realized that I could tie it faster by bringing the bobbin toward me through the loop, rather than putting it through the loop away from me. This may have been the way Theo showed me, I don’t remember, but if so, I apologize for getting it wrong. It’s extremely fast to tie this way , and highly useful in many situations.

Theo's Knot is faster when tied by bringing the bobbin through the loop toward you.

In classical fly tying, materials are lashed to the hook, and any excess waste end is trimmed away before the materials are wound or otherwise manipulated to form a specific part of the fly. In production tying, such management of the waste materials is in itself a waste, a waste of time. Production tyers pre-trim the waste end of the material before tying it in. This not only saves time, it makes the fly much cleaner and neater.

For example, when tying a Down & Dirty Hex dun (this tactic works for the duns of any of the larger mayfly species, too), the thread is attached at the rear of the hook (Figure 1) and several pheasant tail fibers attached for the tail of the fly. These are pre-trimmed to the correct length so that they can be swiftly and easily secured in the tail position (Figure 2). The thread is wrapped to the eye (Figure 3). A clump of yellowish deer hair is pre-trimmed to the correct length by cutting the butt end of the clump neatly and squarely across. The clump is laid on top of the hook with the trimmed butt end right at the eye (Figure 4). The thread is looped gently over the butt end twice, very near the end. The thread is then pulled tight, while simultaneously pushing the clump down and around the hook shank. Look at that neat little head (Figure 5). It would be impossible to trim it that neatly with scissors, or even a razor blade, and would certainly be a huge waste of time trying to do so. But by pre-trimming, the head can be made very quickly and with great precision. The thread is wrapped several times at the head and then spiraled back over the deer hair toward the tail. At the rear of the hook, the thread is spiraled unto the deer hair, forming an extended body (Figure 6). At the rear of the body, the thread is wound around several times to lock all the hair very securely, and then the thread is spiraled forward to the thorax. At the thorax, the thread is wrapped very tightly over a short section of the body to created a base upon which the wing will be seated (Figure 7).The wing is a clump of deer body hair, natural color. The hair can be stacked, but typically I don’t, since the fly performs just as well without stacking the hair. I pull out any extra long hairs, and then secure the clump on top of the hook. Hold the clump very tightly by the butt ends as the clump is secured with 8-10 tight wraps of thread (Figure 8). Still holding the butt ends of the hairs, cut the butt ends off about 1/8 inch behind the tie-in point (Figure 9). Now, wrap the thread through the cut butt ends, about 6-8 turns. This further secures the wing. Pull the wing fibers up and wrap up tight against the front of them another 6-8 turns to prop them up just a bit. The Hair wing should cover the top 180 degrees of the hook, with most of the fibers sticking “up.” A few should stick out to the sides to make the legs (Figure 10). Finish the “head” by tying off just in front of the wing. Trim the hair away from the pheasant tail fiber tail. Coat the body with thin, flexible head cement, and place several drops of head cement into the base of the wing and the trimmed butt end of the wing (Figure 11). Now, go back and re-read these direction, looking specifically for the point of thread attachment, the way the hook shank is covered with thread and with how many layers, and for any and all bi-directional tying.

Figure 1. Attach the thread at the rear of the hook and prepare a thread base for the tail.

Figure 2. Pre-trim a half dozen or fo pheasant tail fibers and tie them in for tail.

Figure 3. Wind forward to cover the hook shank with thread.

Figure 4. Select a clump of yellow deer hair and pretrim the butt end square. Tie in just behind the eye.

Figure 5. Push the hair down aroind the hook sdhank as the thread is pulled tight. Wrap a half dozen turn of thread very tightly to secure the head.

Figure 6. Spirat the threaed rearward and form an extended body. The pheasant tail fibers should be in the center of the extended body.

Figure 7. Secure the rear of the extended body with a half dozen tight wraps of thread, then warp forward and form a thread base at the thorax.

Figure 8. Tie in a clump of deer body hair for the wing. Hold the butt end of the clump securely and do not allow it to spin.

Figure 9. Cut the butt end of the wing about 1/8 inch long and wrap a half dozen times through the butt ends of thee wing hair.

Figure 10. The wing hairs should mostly stick up with a few to the sides to act as legs.

Figure 11. The finished D & D Hex Dun is a highly effective imitation.

The basic premise in fly tying is to attach materials to the hook with thread wraps. The materials need to be attached between layers of thread. If one ties material against the bare metal of the hook shank, the material will spin around the hook between the metal and the thread, causing all sorts of strange happenings as the tyer continues to construct the fly. So, somewhere along the line, the hook shank has to be covered with thread. Classically, the thread is attached to the hook at the eye of the fly and wrapped rearward to the bend before materials are tied in.

Hey, this sounds just like the last blog on production tying. Well, in fact, it is. In the last blog on this topic, I addressed bi-directional tying, but in a back-handed fashion. So let’s look at it face on. Typically, once the shank has been wrapped from front to back, the tyer lashes in the tail by wrapping forward, then wraps the thread back to the rear of the hook and ties in the next material. In the example fly this would be the tinsel. Then, the thread is wrapped back to the rear of the shank and the next material (chenille) is tied in. The thread is then wrapped back to the head before the body materials are wound on. Just look at the excess wrapping that waste time and thread:

1. The hook shank is covered with thread twice, when it only needs to be covered with thread once.

2. The rear of the hook sports 6 layers of thread instead of only 4.

So, learn to tie in materials in both directions. As long as one is going to wrap thread over thread, why not tie in materials? Why not, indeed. Look at the same photos from the last blog with bi-directional tying glasses on this time.

In our example fly from the last blog on production tying, the thread is attached directly above the hook point and wrapped rearward to lock it in (Figure 1). The thread is then wrapped forward as the tail is tied in (Figure 2). As the thread is wrapped back, a piece of tinsel is tied in (Figure 3). Then the thread is wrapped forward again, securing a piece of chenille. The thread is continued forward to cover the hook shank (Figure 4). The chenille is then wrapped forward over the thread-covered shank, followed by the tinsel, and the fly finished (Figure 5).

Figure 1. Rather than covering the entire shank with thread, cover only the portion that is involved in the immediate tying step.

Figure 2. Classically the tail is tied in by wrapping forward over the thread base. The thtread base can be extended forward if needed for the next step,

Figure 3. The next material, in this case tinsel, is tied in as the thread is wrapped rearward.

Figure 4. The chenille is tied in as the thread is wrapped forward. The thread is then wrapped forward to cover the shank.

Figure 5. The finished fly, accomplished faster and with fewer wraps of thread, is just as hearty and effective as one dressed with conventional tying tactics.