[Andy Elliott]

There are many variations of this pattern , ,this is mine

Hook: Tiemco 1/0
Thread: 6/0 olive cobweb
Bucktail:[ white, olive and yellow
DNA: white and olive [/i]
Eyes: real eyes 5/32[/i]

Hook in vise and a good thread base

Attach the dumbbell eyes using figure of eight thread turns , then lock into place by going around the dumbbell in a circular motion .. use super glue to secure

tie in some flash.. Im using spooled mirage here .. but you cna use what ever you want , bills body braid etc

Wrap the thread along the length of the hook shank and back down again securing the flash in place

Wrap the flash back down towards the hook eye and secure with thread at base of eyes

Now tie in your first clump of bucktail , a common mistake is to use too much . So I've counted the fibers there are 22 in this first tie. also try and make them all a universal length ..a dab of superglue when its in place

Now its time for White DNA holofusion Ive added eight strands

Yellow bucktail next , there are 18 fibers in this tie,, a dab of superglue when its in place

the olive DNA holofusion goes on top of this ... again there are eight strands

tie in the olive buck tail on top of this .. twenty strands this time ...a dab of superglue when its in place

Finally the herl is tied in .. four strands two at either side of the hook

Form the head using the thread . whip finish and varnish

The finished fly .. it looks very yellow in the picture that's just the light I have here

Hope this is of some help

 

[Alex Jordan]

Awesome SBS - I have tied a few red and black clousers following this - need to post some pics!

 

[Keith White]

Another good post.

I'm surprised you don't tie a bump, or as I do, a double bump for the positioning
of the eyes.

I notice your flies eyes are further forward toward the eye of the hook than the standard 1/3d
overall hook length ?

You've obviously got reasons for this, what are they.

I would assume the fly tips to dive much faster ?

I'm just being super critical, sorry.

 

[Andy Elliott]

Hi

Just noticing the fly looks very bulky in that last photo .. its not

The figure of eight wraps .. then locked in place with the thread going round the eyes in a circular motion works fine for me

I try and keep the eyes as far forward as possible because it gives it ( IMO) a better action


You can be as critical as you want ,,, I'm open to all vomments good or bad , only way to learn

cheers

 

[Bagpuss]

Andy

It looks good to me. I wish I could tie my flies as badly as you do :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I know you submit these things on UKSWFF, but keep them coming.

Nigel

 

[Keith White]

No worries Andy, thanks for your reply.

You might need to be teaching us though m8.

eyes?

Does no one use plain lead anymore ?
We abandoned it to be fair. You've only got to clock the rough stuff in a backcast
even lightly and they shear off. Yes, we can cast guys, just that in the dark, on a new moon
in pitch black, you don't often realise the obstacle is there.

So, we switched to Orvis 'Eye Ballz'.

Not bought any for ages because they last. Even when the hook is knackered or the fly ragged
beyond recognition, we can mostly re-use the eye ballz.

Are those 'real eye's' similar ?

To be honest, I pretty much only use and carry 3 flies now for Bass.

Flatwings, Clousers and Ray's fly variants.

It keeps things real simple and all those flies are 'Killer'

On that Andy...

If you feel like posting another 'how to', please consider the flatwing and ray's fly (I like the many colours bucktail scheme).

please tell me where you get those genetic hackles too, they are awesomely thin over such a long length ?

Do you dye your own stuff ?

Too many questions m8...

You'll get fed up.

 

[Andy Elliott]

I never get fed up talking flies and tying .. I think I have a problem

Hackles

A few months ago I would have said whiting euro hackles .. only available from the states
II do dye a lot of my own saddles and buck tails (more on that later ) but if I can get colours pre dyed then thats great
My last order of saddles from the states ,, the dyed ones were of fantastic quality but the white ones I got were shite , and that's being nice about it .. a lot of missing tips on the feathers and a lot of unusable feathers ..I was not impressed at all

I'm paying 36 dollars a saddle plus postage ... and ten white ones were complete crap ... not good

One of he problems of trying to find hackles that are suitable, is stuff looks good on the web but what you actually receive through the post is disappointing

After a lot of disappointments I've settled on Metz grade 2 micro barbs , they are slightly thinner than the euro hackles but the quality is first class . normally I can only get these in Natural colours, white, dun , brown etc , Celtic Flycraft sometimes have dyed ones

Dying

I use a lot of pastel shades in my tying .. which I cant find anywhere on the web.. so dying was my only option
Then the problem arises of finding the right dyes ,, Veniards do a range of dyes but yellows yellow to them there are no shades of yellow so experimenting was required to get the colours I wanted
Different shades are achieved by varying the immersion time in the solution or the amount of dye in the solution

An example would be lavender .. I cant get a lavender dye.. so I halved the amount of purple dye in the solution this gave me a dark lavender .. So i tried again with a third of the dye in solution .. this gave me the colour I was after
A longer immersion time in solution will give a deeper colour to the hackle .. its all about experimenting . I would always double check with a single feather before immersing the entire saddle in the solution

Step by Steps

no problem on doing step by steps .. I'm donating a dozen flatwings to the UK BASS restoration project AGM auction.. I'll start tying those later in the week.. I'll take a few photos as I go


Cheers

 

[kevin white]

i used to tie up hollow ties on tubes for a while they seemed to work very well, how about doing a tutorial on something like that andy,

all the best

kev

 

[Andy Elliott]

Yeah I'm experimenting with Pete Grays Dual tubez method at the minute ,when I get something that usable I'll post it up


Andy

 

[Chris Davies]

I reckon that this is a first rate, uncomplicated pattern. I always think that a wing on the other side of the hook, tied down over the eyes, can make the finished fly look rather bulky. Your pattern just leaves it out altogether.....obvious really! Resulting in a very tasty streamlined fly!

 

[Bob]

Andy, many thanks on your excellent Fly tying articles, they are very much appreciated. I tie a few myself but mostly Lough style for Sea Trout and Brownies. I purchased DNA fibres last year,and I found the fibres excellent for Clousers in particular. The material is very translucent and mobile in the water. Any opinions on how it would work on a Flat wing , Sloopy Droopy etc
regards
Bob

 

[Alex Jordan]

Tied some up this weekend - really useful SBS

I tend to prefer naturals - all bucktail and yak hair as I find the DNA stuff I get tangled too easy ...

 

[Andy Elliott]

Hi

It is used in the sloopy .. but sandwiched in between layers of bucktail

As Alex said used on its on it tends to foul the hook

Andy

 

[Ger Doran]

Hi andy,

Im placing an order soon for dumbell eyes and was wondering what do you think about the yellow/red real eyes or do you favour the white only? Im ordering the 5/32" would that be the standard size you use or do you use bigger ones also at times?

Thanks alot.

 

[Andy Elliott]

HI

I like the yellow and black dumbells .. not so keen on the red and blacks , maybe the fish are

As for sizes .. tie a range and you'll not go wrong

Andy

 

[Ger Doran]

Thanks a million,

Just placed a order for a few bits and bobs.