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Fly Tying

DHC

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About DHC

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    Brown Trout
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    2009

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    http://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/
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    Dillon, Montana USA

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  1. That article was mine and you can see several other ideas on my blog at https://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/, What you want is 2:1 polyolefin heat shrink in sizes from 3/64 to 3/16. Polyolefin heat shrink is preferred because of its specific gravity of .86 to .89 which does help with buoyancy. Other types of heat shrink can have a specific gravity of 2 or more. Cost is fairly low at less than $10 for 50 feet. I use allot of clear and die it with alcohol ink to avoid purchasing numerous colors. This is one location where you can purchase https://www.cabletiesandmore.com/heat-shrink-tubing-2-1?pid=961&gclid=CjwKCAiAy9jyBRA6EiwAeclQhMjKn0H26ZvdeE5jgW28rSGevLmk6izfuxy7dkAHQxrQAPyo-FYbqRoC5KYQAvD_BwE
  2. Here is a different twist on an old favorite the Soft Hackle Dry Fly. This fly uses clear 1/8 inch polyolefin heat shrink to add an air bubble to the fly shank thus improving the buoyancy to some degree.
  3. Sliver You are correct about floatation being due to surface tension which is true of any dry fly. However the wing type material for this fly is made from a polypropylene material which means it floats. Thus although not real stiff it does help support the mass of the fly. If you look closely at the fly in the example below you can see the fly floating on the wing material in red died water with the parachute hackle above the wing itself.
  4. Bob The wing has little or no discernable impact on casting and being made with a polypropylene material it helps with buoyancy. Dave
  5. Aero Fly a Perfect Spinner Fly As we all know spinners or spent flies attract numerous trout to the surface. That’s why some of us are always looking for a spinner that will present a profile on the water unlike traditional spinner flies but just unique enough to make it stand out from the crowd. With this in mind I stared to experiment using different wing designs and body materials. What I ended up with is what I called the Aero Fly. The Aero Fly does not have a traditional body and the wings form a fighter jet type of appearance thus the name. The body is 1/8 inch natural latex tubing although one can use a cream colored dubbing to achieve the same appearance. I used latex tubing for the color, the specific gravity of .94 to .95 and the fact that air can be trapped inside to ad to the buoyancy. It also has the advantage of not impeding the hook gap that a wrapped dubbing can sometime do. It is actually a fairly simple fly. The steps are as follows: Hook – Size 8 to 16, 3 or 4x long with a light wire wrapped with Brown 6/0 thread Legs – Brown rubber tied in on sides of the 1/3 down hook shank behind the eye Antenna – Brown mono inserted in the 1/8 inch natural latex tubing Body – Natural latex shank length tied in tightly compressing it at leg tie in point Wing – Iridescent web wing type material tied in at the same point Wing Post – White Polypropylene Wing Finish – White Saddle feather tied parachute style 5 to 8 wraps Finish with a drop of head cement or super glue at the eye and on the end of the latex tubing (if used) to seal in the air. This fly also works well by its self as a good imitator of a PMD
  6. The materials are as follows: Hook – size 16 – 12 any brand 4-6x long with as light of wire as possible (Yellow Sally) size 8 – 14 (Golden Stone) Thread - yellow and metallic orange Body – 1/8 inch natural latex tubing Wing – clear web wing material with black netting (see how to make at https://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/2012/02/making-fly-wing-material-fly-tying.html) Antenna & Tail – brown monofilament Legs - brown rubber Collar - grizzly saddle Directions: Wrap the hook shank with yellow thread. Form the tails and antenna by tying in one section of 15# brown monofilament to one side of hook shank Repeat step two on the other side of the hook shank leaving the thread at the rear of the shank Slide the 1/8 inch latex over the mono antenna and hook shank Tie in the latex at the rear of the hook shank with the thread Work the thread approximately 1/3 up the shank and tie in the rear legs To the front of the rear legs use the orange metallic thread to form the egg sack (Optional Golden Stone) Tie in front legs to one side of the hook shank Tie in the other legs to the opposite side of the hook shank Tie in the wing just behind the hook eye Tie in the saddle feather Wrap the saddle feather 3 to 5 times and tie off Side view finished fly – Note you may need to trim the legs, antenna, and tails Top view finished fly
  7. The Dream Salmon Fly I’m going to show you how to tie a Salmon Fly that will out perform all others simply because it presents right profile and size. Stop here if you are not into different materials because this fly is definitely non-traditional and the main body is not tied but assembled. This fly floats like a cork and is impossible to sink always popping to the surface even in the roughest of water. The ideal fly is 2 ½ to 3 inches long (6-8 Centimeters) The materials are as follows: Hook – size 2-6 any brand 4-6x long with as light of wire as possible Thread - brown and metallic orange Body – ¼ inch colored or UV reactive orange heat shrink or orange latex tubing Head – ¼ inch gray polyethylene closed cell foam Wing - home made wing material with black netting and some type of sparkle (follow this link to see how to make https://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/2012/02/making-fly-wing-material-fly-tying.html) Antenna – brown monofilament Legs - brown rubber Eyes - black mono or vinyl Egg Sack – ¼ inch round black foam Collar - brown saddle (optional) Shown in the pictures above are the materials to be used and a 15 watt soldering iron used to segment the heat shrink fly body. Note the two body materials the top one is orange UV Heat Shrink and the one below the top one is the colored heat shrink. The heat shrink bodies above have been segmented and assembled prior to attachment to the hook. If the body is latex segmenting is performed by pulling the thread tightly around the hook shank. The egg sack and head is super glued into place along with shrinking with the soldering iron. The eyes shown are super glued into place.. Directions: Wrap the hook shank with brown thread. At the rear of the hook tie in the assembled fly body (6-10 wraps). Tie in the rear legs (location of legs varies depending on amount of segments). Work you way up the hook shank applying 6-10 wraps at each segment and tie in the middle legs. Near the eye tie in the tie in the front legs. Whip finish at the eye with the brown thread. Tie in the metallic orange thread at the first or second front segment. Attach the wing or wings (1 to 3 depending on the fly). Whip finish with the metallic orange thread and apply a small amount of head cement or super glue long the hook shank. This will stabilize the body and keep it from rotating on the hook shank. Under side of finished fly. The top three flies above do not have the optional brown saddle collar. The reason most salmon fly tiers add a collar or fur as wing is to provide flotation. This is not necessary on a salmon fly like this because of the air trapped inside the fly body. On the underside one can cut the bottom off the optional brown saddle to provide a better profile on the water.
  8. If you use a strike indicator most likely you have experienced a fish taking a whack at your indicator. With this in mind I designed a fly that I call the Double Dipper. The Double Dipper Strike Indicator Fly is a large highly visible and very buoyant fly. Because it is so buoyant one can run one or two smaller dropper flies off it at one time. I call it a Double Dipper because it has two of each type of material except for legs in which it has four sets of two, two on each side of the body. Hook 6x long any brand with a light of wire as possible Body one 2 to 1-1/2 inch of 3/16 heat shrink and 2 sections of foam of the same length. Thread metallic purple Legs black and white speckled rubber Post white polypropylene Wings white or iridescent web wing type material and a white saddle feather The clear 3/16 to 1/4 inch polyolefin heat shrink needs to be colored purple and the foam can be a variety of colors although I prefer black and beige. For more on using heat shrink for tying flies or making your own web wing type material type in "Unsinkalbe Dry Flies" in you search engine.
  9. Have you ever wanted a strike indicator that has a feather like touch on the water? The answer just might be water bomb ballons. These ballons, available on line or at most part supply stores, are inexpensive, extremely light, and simple to use. Another great quality is you can make them any size you want. All a person has to do is blow up the ballon to the desired size, tie it off like any other ballon, and then attach it to the leader with two haft hitches. To remove it pull or cut off the ballon the haft hitches should just fall out releasing the ballon. The attached picture shows some samples and a bag of 60 ballons that cost less than $2.
  10. Have you ever wanted a strike indicator that has a feather like touch on the water? The answer just might be water bomb balloons. These balloons, available on line or at most part supply stores, are inexpensive, extremely light, and simple to use. Another great quality is you can make them any size you want. All a person has to do is blow up the balloon to the desired size, tie it off like any other balloon, and then attach it to the leader with two haft hitches. To remove it pull or cut off the balloon the haft hitches should just fall out releasing the balloon. The attached picture shows some samples and a bag of 60 balloons that cost less than $2 .
  11. This is my “go to pattern” that has worked extremely well and simply slays trout. When I first tied it I wondered if it would work, when it did so well I wondered why -- Thus the Dry Wonder Bug. The effectiveness of this fly I believe comes from the color (like the purple haze), the legs, and the wings. Whereas the purple haze is basically a purple adams this fly presents a different profile on the water that trout have a difficult time resisting. Note: This fly is also effective to catch grayling and whitefish. Recipe Wonder Bug (Dry) Hook: Any brand 4X long size 6 to 16 with a fine wire, having as wide a gape as possible or a Mustad 3261 Egg Sack: Black foam Tail: White Goose Biots Thread: Purple 6/0 (70 denier) or larger Body: Purple Heat Shrink 1/8 or 3/16 diameter colored with alcohol ink and tan foam. Note other sizes can be used with smaller hooks – Also purple foam can be used in place of heat shrink. Legs: Medium to fine speckled white rubber centipede leg material Antenna: Brown Mono (optional) Post: White Heat Shrink or Polypropylene Yarn Wing: Saddle feather (white) and white wing material made with heat-n-bond. To see how to make wings with heat-n-bond go to https://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/2012/02/making-fly-wing-material-fly-tying.html. 1. Cut a single or two twin sections of Heat Shrink as long as the hook shank plus at least a 1/8 inch. Note: Twin sections are used when using smaller Heat Shrink. 2. Cut a section of tan foam approximately the same width as the Heat Shrink. 3. Cover the hook shank with thread. 4. Attach the black egg sack use a drop of super glue to anchor. 5. Attach the goose biots on top of the egg sack 6. Attach the heat shrink at the rear of the hook one section at a time using at least three thread wraps. Use heat to pinch the heat shrink to the hook shank. 7. Attach the foam at the rear of the hook shank, add legs and work the thread up to the eye. 8. Attach the heat shrink and foam at the eye using at least three thread wraps. Add legs. Use heat to pinch the heat shrink to the hook shank and finish forming the air bubble. 9. Add antenna on top of the foam seal with a drop of super glue. 10. Add the wing material. 11. Add the PP post and take 6-8 wraps around the white saddle parachute style. Seal the thread at the hook eye with super glue. 12. Seal the thread at the hook eye with head cement or super glue. Trim off any excess foam and heat shrink.
  12. Takes are aggressive and usually solid. The smallest effective pattern is an 18 and that is using 3/64 heat shrink.
  13. Simple, the better a dry fly floats the more chances for strikes. Attach air to a hook and the fly will float better. Combine air with traditional materials (feathers and fur) add foam and the hook becomes a super fly. This is the rational behind using polyolefin heat shrink tubing to tie dry flies. Below are some of the methods that can be used to attach air to a hook. Sample Flies If you would like more information just type in “Tying Unsinkable Dry Flies” in your search engine.
  14. Unsinkable Skwala 1. Hook size 8-12 - 4x long light wire - wrap shank with 6/0 olive thread 2. Tie in black foam for egg sack 3. Slide heat shrink(HS) tubing colored green with ink over shank 4. Insert brown mono in tubing for antana and tails 5. Use iron to shrink tubing at rear 6. Tie in HS and work thread up shank over HS lightly about 1/3 lenght of shank 7. Tie in gray ruber leg on one side then the other 8. Pinch two legs holding them to HS and work thread about 2/3 lenght of shank 9. Tie in legs tightly compresses HS 10. Work thread up to head, use iron to shrink HS at head 11. Tie in 3 wings* 12. Tie in gray foam to form head 13. Tie in front legs 14. Tie in yellow foam to help visibility 15. Straighten/trim tails and anatana with iron - seal with head cement * Link to making wing materal - https://unsinkableflies.blogspot.com/2012/02/making-fly-wing-material-fly-tying.html
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