View Original Forum Topic


Current Tags for This Pattern
/ Black / bluefish / Cape Cod / Epoxy / Flash / Flashabou / Grizzly / Saddle / saltwater / step by step / striper / white /

Feather Brain

 
tied by striblue
Fly Type: Bucktails/Deceivers,
Imitation: General Baitfish,
Material List:
Hook-4/0 Trey Combs Big Game Gamagatsu
Thread- 6/0 white nylon
Inner body- White Bucktil and pearl flashabou
Inner head- Large pearl E-Z body mylar
weight---optional
Outerbody-6 silver American Rooster cape hackles, white
Outerbody,Top- Rooster Saddle Black,laced kingfish Blue .then two short blue grizzly Hackles
Head----5 minute epoxy
Eyes- medium Prismatic

Tying Instructions: Step 1- thread the hook all along the hook shank and tie in a decent clump of white bucktail at the hook bend. The bucktail can "creep" down the sides a bit.

Step 2- Tie in a large clump of Pearl flashabou around all of the bucktail. Be sure to put a drop of super glue on these tie-ins.

Step 3-move a short way down the shank toward the hook eye and tie in another clump of white bucktail and cover with another good clump of pearl flashabou.. This is your "inner flash" which will show thought the outerbody much like Combs Sea Habit bucktails do. Keep the flash the same length as the bucktail from the tie position this application should be shorter than the tail application by virtue of the positioning.

Step 4,--Rotate the vice so that you can add a small clump of bucktail at the same position as the second clump, except this will fill the fly's inside .

Step 5--- cut a reasonable length of the E-Z body and tie in at the position of the bucktail tiein..super glue that.let set..

Step 6--- Push the E-Z body over onto itself and tie-in in front of the hook eye as shown, super glue and trim the excess..This forms a head and you should flatten it as much as possible..Keep an eye on your hook gap..

Step 7-here is where you need a steady hand. Take one white hackle ,cut the base ends to length. The length should be about the length of the tail. Get some zap agap goop glue and place a "small" amount on the large part of the spreader where I have the bodkin pointed. This should be toward the bottom of the spreader as shown.This glue is very sticky as you know so take your time by using a bodkin or other small pointed instrument. Repeat this on the other side of the fly in the same location...

Step 8-now do the same with the next hackle,only this should be toward the middle of the spreader and the third toward the top of the spreader.but keep them on the sides..we will fill in the head later..ALSO. IMPORTANT.. The very base ends of the hackles should just about touch the hook eye. This is the key step to the "beakless "head.we want no evidence of a tied in head. Repeat this on the other side of the fly. If you foul it up pull the hackles off and start again. I use this goop because it sets well and allows you work the feathers into position even though you may have missed it on your first placement. ..

Step 9..now take the two Blue hackles and put slightly above the top white hackle. Do this on both sides. You will now see a nicely shaped fish flank..

Step 10..Take your two shorter Blue Grizzly Hackles and put them over or slightly above the blue hackles..

Step 11--- Now ,take 5 minute epoxy and VERY CAREFULLY place on the sides of the head..BUT only about ½ inch back.Just enough to set the feathers in place.DO NOT epoxy the bottom..just the sides.as the epoxy sets be sure to close the top as best you can..just prior to setting you can squeeze the head slightly to make sure the two grizzly at least touch for about ½ inch to an inch.You will need to watch this and can squeeze them slightly with tweezers.Place in your eyes as shown..

Step 12 and final.. Put on your final coat of epoxy over the first and carefully move it back a bit more to cover a bit more of the head.not a lot of epoxy, but enough to give a good coating. Let set and then cover the head with a good coating of hard as nails.

Presentation Tips: I had given a lot of thought for a new fly, one that would behave differently ,but one that gave a more realistic appearance of a bait fish. So I concentrated on contruction more than imitation at the beginning.. I had given a lot of thought to the traditional bait fish.,Those type of bait fish that were standard deceivers, or variations of deceivers. Flies tied with bucktail on the outside supporting inner saddle hackles. The flash on these flies was usually clearly seen on the outside of the flies. All were basically tied the same way. Also, all had viable so called "Beaks". The tie in at the hook eye could be large or small but always a significant part of the head. Some tiers overcame this with the epoxy applications covering the tie in and the eyes. But this always seemed to create a type of ball shape. Another significant issue I had thought about was the action of the typical deceiver. There is no way I would state that this had any effect on the fishability of deceivers because we all know that they are extremely effective and always will be. I wanted something different that was realistic in appearance, that would not splay all over while the fly was steady in current or in-between strips. Finally I wanted the fly action to act like a fish. That is, the swimming motion should be side to side or left to right, right to left...not up and down. A squid can act that way but I wanted a baitfish that was all-inclusive. Please remember that this fly was created after this year's season so my only confirming action has been in tub tests. But the construction of this fly does as I had hoped. When I created the Crab Apple and Flounder Around, I was looking for realism as well as action. This fly is based on the same concept. I hope you find it successful this year for you. It is a relatively simple fly to tie..but takes a little patience to set the hackle feathers. The following step by step instructions are meant to give you that ability and I will be sure to add some of the little things to watch for as you tie.By the way.don't be wedded to all the materials.. expand the design yourselves. I am sure you will see ways to improve this or add your own touch to it.