Welcome to Outdoor Savages! We are a small group of friends that enjoys nothing more than to spend our free time in the outdoors. Here are the first hand accounts of our adventures. Enjoy!

Friday, February 11, 2011

At the Bench

Today i took a nice ride down to my local fly shop, The Complete Angler.  I needed to purchase some materials allowing me to craft some basic aquatic insects.  Scott, was very helpful in the shop and set me up with a hare's mask, thread, beads, hooks, and a few other items.  The store has moved, but is still located in the same parking lot, on the Post Road in Darien, CT.


   Upon my arrival home i was greeted by my dog, Penny who wanted to eat.  After taking care of my friend i sat down at the bench and got to work.  Like i said earlier, these hooks are small.  I started with the Tiemco 3761 size 16 paired with a 3/32 gold bead.  I made a few wraps with the thread up at the eye to ensure the bead would sit properly.  After i secured the bead i worked the thread back and put in a piece of rabbit fur for a tail.  The easy way to explain the set up is the long guard hairs were the tail and all the under fuzz was what i used for the dubbing.  I did not need a lot of either.  Before i spun the dubbing on the thread, i secured a length of gold wire, and went forward with the dubbing.  The dubbing took a few attempts but i got it in short order.  Half way up the shank i stopped and wound the wire forward for a rib, and put in the end of the wing case, which i used a duck feather for.  As a side note, you would think that with all the ducks we shot this year i would not have to buy duck feathers.  Well i had to buy some duck feathers.  After securing the wing case i ran more dubbing right to the bead.  Once i reached the bead i folded the wing forward and anchored it.  A whip finish and a drop of head cement and i was good.  Look out Trout!!!!


     I want to say that the freshwater fly tying is a different animal than saltwater, and frankly i think it is a lot more difficult. 

3 comments:

  1. Brk Trt, the Quill looks like a great fly and i am researching it now. I really like the wet fly version of it. Funny, you never hear of people fishing wet flies that much or see them in the fly shops.

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  2. Nice start for sure. I still have problems dubbing some times. The key.....Less is more. You can always add as you need to. It's a challenge creating those taper bodies sometimes.

    Keep it up.

    Thanks for sharing.

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