- 1). Select your hook. As the basis of your fly it acts as a skeleton of sorts, and should reflect the size of your finished fly. Hook size is also determined by what you are fishing. Larger fish need larger hooks, while smaller fish need smaller hooks.
- 2). Place the hook in a small mounted vice that will allow you to work on it with both hands. The vise should grab the hook between the point and the bend.
- 3). Attach your fly tying thread to your hook about the middle of the shank. This is the straight neck between the eye and the bend of the hook. Wrap the thread to cover the shank completely to a point where you want to attach the fly eyes.
- 4). Attach your chosen eyes by cross-wrapping the thread several times around the eyes and shank so that they are attached firmly. Your method will depend on the type of eyes you are using, which in turn is determined by the type of fly you are tying. You may also use a dab of glue to further secure the eyes. Use a glue recommended for tying flies.
- 5). Select your color and texture of fox fur for the tail of the fly. Soft under fur and coarser guard hairs perform differently in the water, so choose the fur that will best mimic the insect you are tying as your fly. Choose the amount of fur accordingly, and attach it to the hook so the tail extends over the bend of the hook. Wrap thread to mimic the body of insect your are tying as your fly. This may need to be tightly wrapped for a smaller body, or wrapped with some distance between strands to allow fur to stick through for others.
- 6). Select your body material, which may be additional but different textured fox fur, a feather, or the fur of another animal like mink, woodchuck or squirrel. Attach it over the fox fur fly tail using dubbing -- a thread treated to appear frayed especially for fly tying -- and a dubbing loop. Make the loop with your fingers while turning the thread bobbin around the shank once. Secure the bobbin end of the thread to the dubbing spinner. Use the dubbing spinner to twist the loop to your desired thickness. Once spun, you can then rough up the dubbing with a brush to give it an even fuzzier appearance.
- 7). Tie the dubbing loop off once you have secured the body material by wrapping it around the shank, including in front of the fly eyes. Use a basic whip finish to secure the thread, and touch it up with a bit of clear fingernail enamel.
- 8). Add desired additional detail by brushing the fly to bring up the fur and make it stick out. This can be done using a small wire brush or tooth brush, if you do not have one made specifically for fly tying.
next post