Fly Tying: Deer Hair Sedge hog

FLY TYING:

Deer Hair Sedge hog

The original Sedge Hog pattern came from the tying bench of Orkney angler, Sandy Nicholson, and was designed as a semi-buoyant wet fly for stillwater trout. In this adaptation, I have excluded the seal’s fur body and the front hackle, as per the original, and use only deer hair to represent the larger members of the caddis family, not only on my home brown trout waters, here in Norway, but it has also proven to be a deadly attractor pattern when fished as a surface lure, when night fishing for sea trout.

By BARRY ORD CLARKE - https://thefeatherbender.com

The large wing and tightly packed and trimmed deer hair body render this pattern almost un-sinkable, but when tying this style of deer hair wing, attention should be given to attaching each bunch correctly. Preparing each bunch of deer hair, before you tie them in.

Start by cutting a bunch that is a little larger than the one you need, this will reduce significantly when cleaned. Hold the bunch in one hand by the tips, using a comb remove all the under fur and the shorter hairs. This is very important when spinning deer hair, as the underfur will act as an anchor and restrict the spinning process.

The shorter hairs will create a somewhat, un-even wing when stacking in a hair stacker, so if you want optimal results, you must be very precise in removing as much as possible of both. If necessary stack the hair after the first cleaning and repeat, with each bunch. The rear, or first bunch for the tail, needs not to be stacked, and should be tied in as a flared spinning bunch, so the tips are evenly distributed around the rear of the hook shank. The next two or three bunches, depending on what size hook you are using, have to be tied in a little differently.

View from below. It makes a huge difference when fished, if the body is formed as a keel on a boat. This will make the fly fish high in the surface and gurgle when pulled.

These should be stacked on top of the previous bunch, keeping the tips on top of the hook shank, but still spinning the butt ends of the hair, on the underside of the hook shank. This is done by firstly spinning your bobbin, anti-clockwise, to give the tying thread a flat profile. This will reduce the possibility of cutting the deer hair when pressure is applied through the bobbin.

Then, make two loose wraps of tying thread around the hair bunch before tightening by pulling downwards on your bobbin. This will flare the hair 90 degrees from the hook shank.

Before you release pressure on the bobbin after tightening, make a few, zigzag wraps forward through the butt ends and finish with five or six tight turns of thread in front of the bunch to lock it off, ready for the next bunch. This will stop the wing from slipping, around the hook shank. If you wish to obtain optimal buoyancy with this pattern its also important that you use deer hair from a good dense winter coat, this is normally marketed as all round spinning hair.

Techniques involved: Stacking deer hair / Trimming and burning deer hair / Mixing deer hair

Material List//

Hook: Mustad R30 # 8-14 Tying thread: Dyneema or GSP Body: Natural Deer hair - winter coat Wing: Natural Deer hair - winter coat

Secure your dry fly hook in the vice, as shown, with the hook shank horizontal. Run a fine foundation of tying thread along the hook shank.

If you intend to tie a few of these I find it more efficient to cut 1 cm strips of deer hair hide. A 1 cm X 10 cm strip is enough hair for three size 8 and 10 flies.

Once you have cut your strip, grasp a large bunch of hair at the bottom of the strip.

Keeping hold of the bunch, cut it away from the hide.

Tie in this first bunch at the rear of the hook as shown and described earlier.

Carefully trim away the flared butt ends in front of the wing, on top of the hook shank.

Now cut a second bunch of hair and tie this in as the first but a little longer. Keep hold of the hair tips only, on top of the hook shank, so they don’t spin around the hook, when flared.

Trim off the butt ends, as in step 6.

The remaining bunch should be cleaned and stacked in a hair stacker, before tying in.

Tie this in keeping hold of the hair tips only, on top of the hook shank, so they don’t spin around the hook, when flared. Right behind the hook eye.

Whip-finish and remove your tying thread.

Using a dubbing brush or an old tooth brush, give the whole fly a good brushing to free any hairs that may be trapped or tied down. This will make for a much better finish when clipped.

Turn your vice, or fly, if you don’t have a true rotary vice, up-side down and with one straight cut, trim away the the deer hair, on the underside of the hook.

Now carefully cut away any remaining butt ends of hair on the side of the fly as shown. This is best done with serrated scissors.

You can now form the muddler style head by trimming around the hook eye.

Using a lighter set at a low flame, carefully singe, not burn, away the trimmed ends of the deer hair.

Once done, you can use the edge of your scissors to scrape away the soot.

The finished sedge hog variant with a sculpted body and head.