How to tie a fly

How to tie a fly like a professional angler

NATHAN VAN ARSDALE

Getting into fly-fishing can be both exciting and daunting. But there is something almost mystical about fly-fishing; the rhythmic whipping of the rod and line can be meditative, and the notion that we can mimic insects with a bit of thread and feather is downright fascinating!

Since the price of artificial flies can add up as you fill your tackle box, learning the simple process of tying your own fly, which actually is another meditative aspect of the sport, can save a lot of money in the long-run. There are two types of artificial flies: dry-flies stay on the water’s surface; and wet-flies are weighted below the surface. Since artificial flies mimic water-insects and larvae at different stages of development, there are thousands of different dry and wet flies.

Which is the best fly? Unlike the Highlander, there can be more than one. So consult a local angler to learn about the different appetites of the fish in different locations during different times of day and year. The professionals in town are happy to share helpful advice. I stopped into Duranglers to have Lee Pillaro demonstrate step-by-step how to tie a wet-fly. Specifically, a carp-hybrid fly.

Tying an artificial wet-fly is relatively simple, and requires just a few tools. You will need a hook, a spool of sewing thread, a bobbin, a pedestal vise, snips or scissors, hackle pliers and hackle (bird feathers) and a whip finisher. For his carp-hybrid fly, Pillaro also used a ball chain segment for eyes, pearl core braid for the body, and peacock curl feather for the body.

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2. Clamp the hook to the vise so the eye of the hook is on top.

3. Run the thread through the eye of the hook. Pull the thread with your free hand so that a few inches pull past the hook, and loop the bobbin around the hook and thread a few times to secure the thread to the hook. Then snip the remaining loose thread.

4. Place the eyes (segment of bead chain) on top of the threaded section of hook near the eye of the hook, and securely lash the bead chain using an X-wrap (or figure 8) lashing pattern with the bobbin.

“You gotta really wrap the eyes in good, or they’re gonna move around,” Pillaro says. Once the eyes are secured, wrap the thread down the body of the hook until it’s about even with the point of the hook.

5. Measure and cut a length of pearl core braid to match the length of the hook, and position the end of the braid on top of the last couple of loops of threaded hook. “You want something more than just the bare hook for that to really adhere to,” he says. Wrap the thread around the braid and hook up and down the body of the hook about 2-3 times. 6. Take about eight to 10 peacock curl feathers, and snip the ends so that they are the same length. Place the even ends of the peacock curl feathers at the midpoint of the body, and wrap the thread up to just behind the eye. Lee suggests twisting [the feathers] a bit so they kind of form a rope, then wrapping them around the body of the fly to just behind the eye. Secure the curl feathers by wrapping the thread around them to just below the eyes.

7. Grab the hackle pliers and a feather quill from your supplies, and remove about an inch and a half of the feather material from the bottom of the quill. Snip about ¾ inch of the quill, so that the remaining quill is a short point.

8. Place the hackle along the hook so the quill points out over the eye of the hook.

“What I like to do is twist the end of the feathers a bit to give the pliers something to hold onto,” Pillaro says. “Same like we did with that peacock… we’re just gonna capture it with a couple wraps [of thread].”

Wrap the feather around the body a few times, and clip the excess that’s still in the pliers. “Wrap the thread around the length of the feather, and all the way up to the eye of the hook,” he says.

9. “Then we take what we call a whip finisher… and that’s how we’re gonna finish that fly… how we tie our knot in the end…”

Pilaro says. “I always do two, because two knots is always better than one.” Just wrap the thread around, and do a couple of figure eights to tie it off. Using the bottom of the whip finisher, snip the thread.