Making segmented extended Mayfly tails - the floss method, biot method and hackle method.

[Mark Knapp 0]

This is a tutorial for how I make barred or segmented extended tails for Mayflies. Other tiers may have posted similar tutorials to this one, any similarity between mine and any others is purely coincidental. This is how I do it.

This is the first of several I will show starting with the  easiest, the floss method. This method makes a very durable, attractive Mayfly tail.

You will need;

• A fly tying vise, a true rotary version is the most effective for this technique.
• A needle
• Thick Clear Goo UV Resin, this happens to be Loon
• Mayfly tails, these are Micro-fibetts, you can also use boars hair, moose body hair and others.
• Fly tying floss, colored to match the bug you want to imitate.
• Fine or super fine dubbing to match the bug.
• Flow or super thin Clear Goo UV Resin.

Put the needle into the jaws of the vise in a horizontal position and adjust the vise so that the needle rotates in nearly the center when the vise is turned. Apply the thick UV Resin almost the length of the needle. Stick three tail fibers into the Resin.

Starting near the jaws of the vise, start the floss on the needle as you would on a hook shank and wrap it in loose turns along the needle to the tip.

Next apply a small pinch of dubbing to the needle while turning it to form a long slim body.

Starting at the tip of the needle wrap the floss around the needle and floss body to form a solid bar of floss about 1/16 of an inch wide, advance the thread (Palmer it) to leave about 1/16 of an inch of bare dubbing, then make another bar of floss just a little longer than the first, make another bare spot a little longer than the first, and so on until you run out of needle at the vise.

Pinch the body near the vise and slide it off of the needle.

Push the body of the tail against something convenient to form a nice curve and expose the body to UV light to cure it.

Last, coat the tail with thin UV resin to smooth it out and make it more durable, cure the resin. I usually make these in batches and then go to making the flies.

The Biot Method

Prepare the needle the same as above, choose a biot the color of the ribbing you want to make. In this case I am using brown peacock wing feathers, the long side biots.

Tie the biot in at the tip of the needle just as you would on a hook shank. Whip finish the thread and restart it at the vise end of the needle.

Apply a small pinch of dubbing to the needle like we did above.

It should look like this.

Wrap the biot in a spiral, back to the vise, with just a little of the dubbing showing in between the wraps. Tie it off and whip finish.

Slide the body off of the needle and push it against something convenient to form a curve in the body.

Cure the resin in UV light.

The Hackle Method.

You will need;

• Thick UV Resin
• Tail fibers like Micro-Fibettes, moose body hair or boars hair.
• Super fine dubbing.
• Grizzly hackle with bold fine bars
• Thin cling wrap (like for food storage)
• Thin UV Resin.

Prepare the needle as we did above with the tail fibers and the dubbing. Choose three died grizzly hackles the color you want your extended tail to be. In this case yellow and black.

Prepare your cling wrap by folding it into thirds, this will help with cutting the thin material. Cut a 1/16 inch wide strip from the material and unfold it so you have one long thin strip of material.

Cut the grizzly hackle tips just a little longer than your body needs to be. Stick the hackle tips to the needle so the tips of the hackle are closely lined up with the end of the needle. Align the bars on the hackle so they are lined up all around the needle.

Starting at the vise end of the needle wrap the strip of cling wrap around the needle, start it as you would fly tying thread on a hook shank. Wrap the cling wrap around the needle to the tip with almost-touching wraps. Then wrap it back to the vise and tear it off.

Smooth the resin around the body and slide it off of the needle.

Form it into a shape you like and cure the resin.

For different colors you can use Cree hackle, black and white grizzly hackle with different colored plastic wraps or color the cured tail with markers, coat again with clear resin and cure.

Mottled turkey tail feather

[McFlyLures 0]

Ok so almost identical to the way I did it with silicone just without the floss.  Ok these are great thank you!  I tried at first with the resin before doing silicone, but wasn’t successful.  Do you find it difficult to slide off the vice after curing the resin?  And you said thick resin, can you tell me the exact resin you use?  I have solarez in all their forms.  Think solarez thick hard would work?  Also when I do it with the silicone I find that it wants to spin around so do you find it wants to spin when winding on the floss at all?  

[Mark Knapp 0]

6 hours ago, McFlyLures said:

Ok so almost identical to the way I did it with silicone just without the floss.  Ok these are great thank you!  I tried at first with the resin before doing silicone, but wasn’t successful.  Do you find it difficult to slide off the vice after curing the resin?  And you said thick resin, can you tell me the exact resin you use?  I have solarez in all their forms.  Think solarez thick hard would work?  Also when I do it with the silicone I find that it wants to spin around so do you find it wants to spin when winding on the floss at all?  

Yes, exactly like the two videos I posted for you before, then I added the floss.

No, I cure the resin after I slide the body off of the needle.

The Loon thick resin is what I have been using like in the picture. I think any thick Goo would work but I haven't tried them all.

Sometimes stuff wants to spin but if you wind the floss under the dubbing first and continue winding in the same direction over the dubbing, it doesn't spin.

[McFlyLures 0]

3 minutes ago, Mark Knapp said:

Yes, exactly like the two videos I posted for you before, then I added the floss.

No, I cure the resin after I slide the body off of the needle.

The Loon thick resin is what I have been using like in the picture. I think any thick Goo would work but I haven't tried them all.

Sometimes stuff wants to spin but if you wind the floss under the dubbing first and continue winding in the same direction over the dubbing, it doesn't spin.

Thank you Mark!  Do you find these don’t float as well as the silicone version?  More durable?  

[Mark Knapp 0]

I'm actually going to fish them hard within a week. I'll let you know. I suspect they'll float well because they are hollow and full of air. I'm pretty sure they'll be much more durable.

I'll let you know.

[Guest]

Great SBSs Mark and appreciate your effort with these.  Been following this and wait your results.  Wanta try some but haven’t decided if you want a strong flexible body or ridged.   I thought bendable yet untearable( not a word) was what to try for.  Kinda think  that would also help with hook set.  Thought the silicones ones did that, but they are braking, huh?  Yours definitely gonna be hard and may miss takes but strong enough not to brake where the body leaves the hook.  I think there’s one out there that kinda hinges at that point.

Seems like I can remember when I was young I got some where the wings/body were molded over the hook outa a soft yet tough plastic that lasted well.  Been trying to search with no luck.  

Hope your versions work.

[Mark Knapp 0]

11 hours ago, denduke said:

Great SBSs Mark and appreciate your effort with these.  Been following this and wait your results.  Wanta try some but haven’t decided if you want a strong flexible body or ridged.   I thought bendable yet untearable( not a word) was what to try for.  Kinda think  that would also help with hook set.  Thought the silicones ones did that, but they are braking, huh?  Yours definitely gonna be hard and may miss takes but strong enough not to brake where the body leaves the hook.  I think there’s one out there that kinda hinges at that point.

Seems like I can remember when I was young I got some where the wings/body were molded over the hook outa a soft yet tough plastic that lasted well.  Been trying to search with no luck.  

Hope your versions work.

Thanks for the nice comments.

The UV bodies do bend to a degree they, are not completely rigid. Its hard to say what effect these stiffer bodies will have, and hard to say if more durability equals more fish to the net or not as compared to a shorter fly life and more re-tying. I suppose the foam body flies (and straighter bodies) are the answer but I didn't care for the look personally (though I am sure they catch fish).

I like to tie what I think is pretty, not necessarily what I think will be effective. We have mostly stupid fish up here, and lots of them. It doesn't concern me as much as if I could only get five strikes in a day and they could all be misses due to a stiff fly.

The only way to tell for sure is to go fishing. I guess I'm going to have to take one for the team and do the research.😄

[Guest]

I hear you.  I’m kinda able to sacrifice durability for great “ consumability” on finicky fish.  When they are slamming drift wood, leaves, or strike indicators doesn’t matter much... And lotta this stuff is aesthetics for the tier as well as the fisherman as you say.  I’m stickler for eyes and such. The fish prolly never see them is a good example.   Yours do look great for sure and we all envy your fishery!  The only thing our Ms/La marsh  have in common with you is certain times of the year l hear the bite flies and mosquitoes are literally murder also. 🥴

[chugbug27 0]

Thanks for those SBS's, Mark.

[Mark Knapp 0]

3 hours ago, chugbug27 said:

Thanks for those SBS's, Mark.

Yep, I have one or two more to do, then I think I'm done.

[chugbug27 0]

👍