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Fly Tying
mikemac1

GooDoo Feather Tail Glider

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This mouse type fly was designed to simulate the Feather Tail Glider, a small marsupial common along the streams of Eastern Victoria. The fly is purposely designed for GooDoo (Murray Cod) in small stream situations with lots of downed timber and snags along the shoreline.

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Pattern:

Hook: Umpqua Beast Hook #5/0

Thread: UTC 210 Black

Tail: Four stacked CDL Dark Pardo Rooster Hackles

Undertail: Clump of Angel Hair

Body: Layered Brown and Beige Finn Racoon or Arctic Fox Hair

Legs: Knotted Fettuccini Foam

Eyes: Large Black Pin Heads

Ears: White razor foam colored brown

Head: White Double Barrel foam popper, colored with brown marker and tied in slider style

 

Step 1:

Prepare a Double Barrel foam popper head for insertion on the hook. I use a large tube fly mandrel that is heated with a torch. Once heated, the mandrel is pressed through the foam head in a manner that will cause the hook to emerge from the lower third of the foam.

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Step 2:

Color the foam head with a brown permanent marker. I use two shades of brown, darker on top, lighter on the bottom. Do not add the eyes at this point.

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Step 3:

Prepare the ears by cutting a thin piece of white razor foam with a typical foam cutter. Color the ears with brown marker. Attach the ears to the foam head with super glue. Set the foam head aside to dry.

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Step 4:

With your hook in the vise, start a thread base about mid shank. You want to make sure that all the materials you tie in from this point don't impinge on the space needed for the foam head. Tie in a clump of angel hair at the hook bend. This still clump provides some subtle flash, but more importantly provides support for the tail.

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Step 5:

Prepare the tail by selecting four equal length Coq de Leon Dark Pardo rooster hackles. Stack them curved side down on top of each other with the tips aligned. Secure the clump of feathers with hackle pliers near the point you want to tie them in. Soak the shafts with fly cement in front of and behind the hackle pliers. Do not trim the hackle butts yet.

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Step 6:

Lay the tail on top of the hook shank at the hook bend leaving the hackle pliers in place. Make thread wraps in front of and behind the hackle pliers until the tail is secured on top of the hook. Adjust the feathers as necessary to ensure they are flat and perpendicular to the shank.

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Step 7:

Tie in short clumps of Finn Racoon of Arctic Fox fur in front of the tail on top of and on the bottom of the hook shank. I use darker fur on top and lighter fur on the bottom.

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Step 8:

After the first clumps of fur are tied in, select a length of black fettucine foam and knot each end leaving a tag of ~3/8" of foam. Fold the foam legs in half and tie in on top of the hook shank so the legs extend out from the fur. This is a good place to soak the wraps in fly cement.

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Step 9:

Continue adding clumps of fur on top and bottom of hook shank until you reach the point where the back of foam head will be. Then tie in the front set of legs as before.

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Step 10:

Wrap the hook shank forward to the hook eye with thread wraps and secure with a couple of half hitches behind the hook eye. Cut the thread and coat the hook shank liberally with super glue. Slide the foam head on to the hook shank and push back until the hook eye emerges. This takes some pressure and can deform the head a bit (reason for not added eyes earlier). Adjust the head on the hook before the super glue sets.

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Step 11:

Prepare the eyes by cutting off the large black heads of straight pins leaving ~3/8" of pin shaft attached. Press the pin heads into the eye sockets on the foam head. Seal with your favorite UV cured cement.

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