salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2021 This is crude I know. It needs work. It's a proof of concept. It's not really dry fly season yet. This is a two material dry fly. Mule deer tail. Badger guard hairs hackle. It doesn't have to be badger. Most guard hairs seem to work just fine. Tie the badger on facing forward. Push it back with the barrel of an empty ball point pen. Hold it. Build up a head in front. Whip finish. Add CA or UV glue at the head. Or fabric cement (fabric cement can be thinned with water). I need to figure out how to add some Royal Wulff like white wings up front, so I can see it on the water. I'll be working on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WWKimba 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2021 Very nice start! Maybe a Trude calf/bucktail wing? Kim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rocco 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2021 Neat concept. Has a lot of prospects in Atlantic salmon. steelhead dry fly situations. Did you tie the wing in first and leave it leaning to the front. Then tie in your tail, body material, and trude-style wing before sweeping the guard hair hackles back and propping them up? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SilverCreek 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2021 Here's a similar pattern - Caps Hair- Wing Adams https://wiflyfisher.com/patterns/Caps-Hairwing-fly-pattern.asp The Wolf River is the longest undammed river in Wisconsin. It used to be a fine trout river before it warmed up. https://www.troutprostore.com/streams/wolf_river_wisconsin https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Lands/FisheriesAreas/2740upperwolfriver.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2021 Cool flies. Blue Winged Olives are hatching on the Jellystone. I need to get organized. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 Here's a better one. A one material dry fly, albeit two separate clumps of mule deer hair. From a mature late season buck. Tie the hackle hair on facing forward. Push it back with the barrel of an empty ball point pen. Wrap in front. Whip finish. Add CA or UV glue up front. Or fabric cement, to hold the deer hair facing straight up. Without the final glue step the deer hair eventually starts to point forward again. I like fabric cement best, because it is soft and flexible compared to CA or UV. Aleene's Flexible Stretchable fabric cement is the softest. I'll post another in a day or two, incorporating a prominent white wing, so old guys can see it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 ...and here is a white-winged version. The hackles are a bit long so I'll call it a variant--thereby pretending I intended it that way? At $100 a neck or more I increasingly like any and all dry flies that don't use rooster feathers. I do have a larege collection of necks. But I'm not excited about buying more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 Good vid. Hadn't heard about Michael Jensen before. I'll add him to my watch list. "without spending a lot of dollars on top quality hackle" ..........like that quote too. His technique is a bit different than mine. I learned something. I'll incorporate a bit of what he does into mine. Relying more on the barrel-of-a-ball-point-pen technique, rather than thread flaring--does I think make it easier to add some white wing material into the top portion of the hackle flare, which is helpful to old farts who can't see much anymore. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chugbug27 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 I like it, the Light-Load Two-Mule-Fly Tie. Sparse, good coloring. The second version you posted floats my boat anyways. Here's a book I saw last time I was in a fly shop that looked pretty interesting, published in 2002 so nothing "new", but still... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 :=)) I like bass flies, even though I don't live near bass. 2 hour drive anyway. Been thinking about the videos above, posted by fly tire. Both of those vids rely on pinching deer hair with thread to make it stand up. If you use a tube instead (a straw or empty ball point pen) to push the fibers back, so you can pinch them with one hand while winding thread with the other hand, then you don't need pinchable deer hair. You can use guard hairs, squirrel tail or synthetics like Zelon. With my technique some kind of glue is a requirement. A thread head won't hold the fibers upright forever. But glue of some kind does. I like fabric cement. A fat thread head is like a C-clamp on a wood joint. It only needs to hold things in place long enough for the glue to cure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chugbug27 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 1 hour ago, salmobytes said: With my technique some kind of glue is a requirement. A thread head won't hold the fibers upright forever. But glue of some kind does. I like fabric cement. Glass bead? Maybe too heavy. I do really like the Aileen's flexible stretchable you recommended, lots of uses. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salmobytes 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2021 Here's another photo showing the white wing a bit more prominently. Yes I'm a big fabric cement fan now. This one has a bit more hackle than previous examples. You can make them as bushy as you want. This one (The Mule Skinner?) is made with mule deer hair plus a white synthetic wing. But it could be anything. Could be squrrel tail or guard hairs of some kind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites