Cover bend of hook with thread, making an orange tag. Build up thread at bend, making a small ball to separate biots. Tie in biots on both sides of shank, curving outward. Tie in floss for ribbing. Dub light Evie hair to 2/3 point on shank, starting small and building a taper. Wrap floss forward in an open wrap to end of dubbing – will get 5 wraps. Wraps should be thin enough to have the dubbing show in between the wraps, and thick enough to be noticeable and colorful. Tie off and trim floss. Dub dark Evie hair for thorax, which is coarser and has guard hairs, which will be picked out for legs. Dub one thin wrap forward to behind eye. This builds a base to make the thorax thicker and to tie in the wing case by spreading the butt end of the pheasant tail over a larger area, thus preventing it’s crimping when tied in. For the wing case, cut a pheasant tail section about the width of the already dubbed thorax, using a pheasant tail that has been sprayed or cemented. Tie in, over the dark thorax dubbing, wrapping backwards and ending in front of the lighter abdomen dubbing. Dub another thin layer of dark Evie hair for the thorax to two eye widths behind the eye. Pull the wing case over the thorax and tie off and trim. Whip finish. Very lightly pick out the dubbing in the abdomen between the ribbing. Pick out the darker dubbing on the sides of the thorax to form the legs. Pull and trim to an almost uniform length.

 

 

 

Before mounting the hook in the vice, put bead on the hook. Cover bend of hook with thread. At the bend, dub a small ball to later separate biots. Tie in biots on both sides of shank, laying biots along the dubbing ball, curving outward, extending past the bend, attaching in front of the dubbing ball and forcing the biots to spread out against the dubbing ball. Move the thread forward to 1/2 up the hook shank. Tie in tubing at ½ point, taking thread towards the bend. Part way back, add tinsel, using a piece long enough to cover the entire shank, ending at the dubbing ball with both the tubing and the tinsel, forming an even, thin layer. Leave the thread hanging at the bend. Beginning at the ½ point where the tinsel and tubing are tied in, wrap 8-10 turns of lead forward, ending short of the bead. The level of the lead on the front half of the shank will match the level of the tubing tied in on the back half of the shank, forming a level base the entire length of the shank. Break off the lead. Wrap thread over the lead, once forward, then back again to the bend. On the way back, fill in with thread any gap at the ½ point between the lead and the tubing. Dub lightly forward to the ½ point. Overlay tinsel on top of the abdomen over the dubbing and tie off, but do not cut. The remaining tinsel will also be used to overlay the thorax. Rib the tubing forward - will get three wraps – tie off at the tinsel and trim. Advance thread forward short of the bead and tie in wing case first, then hackle, wrapping backwards, taking thread back to the ½ point. Dub thinly forward, short of the bead, avoiding a thick thorax. Leave thread forward. Palmer hackle forward over thorax – will get 2 wraps – tie off and trim. Hackle should be spread in a wide cap to allow dubbing color to show on the thorax between the wraps. Lightly pull hackle from top and bottom to the sides and trim the top of the thorax flat. Overlay wing case and tinsel forward together over the thorax, tie off and trim. Use as few wraps as possible to tie in hackle, wing case, and tinsel in order to avoid building too large a head of thread behind the bead. Whip finish. Trim the bottom of the thorax flat, leaving hackle only on the sides for legs. Hard coat, very thinly, the entire length of the top of the abdomen and thorax with cement , epoxy, or other hard coating liquid.

 

 

Cover bend of hook with thread. At the bend, dub a small ball to later separate biots. Tie in biots on both sides of shank, laying biots along the dubbing ball, curving outward, extending past the bend, attaching in front of the dubbing ball and forcing the biots to spread out against the dubbing ball. Move the thread forward to 3/4 up the hook shank. Tie in wire ribbing, laying the wire along side the hook shank for the full 3/4 length, covering the wire with a single layer of thread working towards the bend. The wire, covered with thread, will begin to build an abdomen. Working forward from the bend with thread, build a thin abdomen over the wire to the ¾ point. Rib wire forward to thread – will get 4 or 5 wraps. Tie off wire but do not cut the tag. It will be used to secure the peacock thorax. Tie in two biots for the wing at the 3/4 point, attached on top of the hook shank, angled slightly out and away from the body. Tie in one or two peacock strands and wrap two or three wraps towards the eye, forming the thorax, ending one eye’s length behind the eye. Palmer wire counterclockwise over peacock thorax, getting only one or two turns of wire to strengthen the peacock, tie off, and trim. Whip finish. If dubbing is used instead of peacock, the wire can be tied off and trimmed before dubbing the thorax. Another alternative is to eliminate the biot tail for a smaller, finer fly.

 

Same as Red Rocket, except tied on smaller hook. Will be thinner and can eliminate the biot tail.

 

 

Put bead on hook. Wrap thread to bend. Build a ball at the bend either with thread or dubbing to spread the biot tails. Tie in biot tails, curving outward against the ball, extending slightly past the bend. Advance thread forward to the bead. Tie in a brown turkey biot on top of the shank, tip first behind the bead with the butt extended toward the bend. Capture the turkey biot with thread the length of the shank to the bend, ending at the ball of thread for the goose biots. For a thinner abdomen, use only the turkey biot over the thread. For a thicker, tapered body, lightly dub the shank prior to tying in the turkey biot body. Advance the thread to the 2/3 point. Wrap the turkey biot clockwise around the shank to the thread using hackle pliers and tie off the turkey biot at the 2/3 point. When wrapping the turkey biot, overlap each turn just slightly so that the edge of the biot remains exposed, forming a segmented body appearance. Leave the butt extended above the shank for use later as the wing case. Dub the thorax thinly to maintain the narrow profile. Pull the butt of the turkey biot forward over the dubbing to form a wing case. Tie off and trim the butt behind the bead. Whip finish. Pick out the dubbing along the thorax to form the legs.

 

 

 

Put bead on hook. Using floss for thread, double over three strands of Krystal Flash to get six strands and tie in along full length of the shank to the bend for the tail. Trim tail. Tie in wire ribbing at bend. Build a narrow tapered floss body to within one eye width behind the bead, leaving floss thread behind the bead. Rib wire forward counterclockwise to bead, tie off, and trim. Tie in wing behind the bead, extending the wing material backwards over the shank. Double the wing forward at a point just slightly in front of the bend, using a flat tool such as a scissor blade or a bodkin, taking the doubled wing forward to the bead, forming a loop wing over the length of the shank. A shorter looped wing is an option. Tie off and trim the wing behind the bead. Make one wrap of floss behind the wing to make the wing stand away from the shank and lift up slightly. Use as few wraps of floss as necessary to avoid building up too large a head. Half hitch finish, forcing the first knot or two of tight floss to slip tightly behind and down into the bead. Use cement on head and entire shank.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend and back to the ¾ point for a tie in point. Take a rubber band, as from the newspaper, and cut it apart once to turn it into a single length. Different size rubber bands will create different abdomens, thin to thick. Use thin rubber bands for hook sizes 14 and smaller, and thicker rubber bands for hook sizes 12 and larger. Trim one end of the rubber band with angle cuts into a V shape to tie in. The V, being thinner, will capture easier with the thread and not build up any bulk under the overwraps to come. Advance thread to the 2/3 point. Wrap rubber band around the shank clockwise, with a light stretching. Too strong of a stretch will create too much tension to be able to keep tied down, but a small amount of tension with slight overlapping will create a segmented body. Tie off the rubber band at the 2/3 point, using more thread than normal to insure the tensioned rubber is secure. For the wing case, cut a pheasant tail section about the width of the already dubbed thorax, using a pheasant tail that has been sprayed or cemented. Tie in the wing case, then three or more peacock herls at the 2/3 point. Advance the thread forward to within one eye width of the eye. Wrap the peacock forward and tie off and trim. Overlay the pheasant wing case over the peacock, tie off and trim. Whip finish.

 

 

 

 

Tie in 3-5 stiff hackle fibers for the tail. Extend the fibers at least the length of the shank. Dub a thin thorax to ½ point. Tie in wing material at the ½ point, extending material back over the thorax. Double back the wing material to the tie in point, forming a loop wing. Wing should extend back almost to the bend. Dub the abdomen, slightly thicker than the thorax. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Tie in 4-6 pheasant body feather fibers for tail. Extend tail 1 to 1½ times the length of the shank of the hook. Longer is ok. Dub a thin, tapered body to the ½ point. Prepare the wing material by doubling it over itself and cutting it in two to double its thickness. Tie in a Z-Lon wing starting one eye’s width behind the eye, laying the wing material along the shank of the hook towards the bend, working the thread back towards the bend. Tie just enough wraps towards the bend to capture the wing, ending back near the end of the dubbing, but not all the way to the dubbing- leave a small gap. Pull the wing material upright and move the thread to behind the wing material and just in front of the dubbing. Take several wraps of thread behind the wing material to make it stand up. Wrap the thread around the base of the wing material just above the shank to form an upright post wing. Leave the thread behind the wing. Dub lightly behind the wing post to fill the gap. It should take only one or two wraps of dubbing. Due to the thread buildup behind and in front of the wing, a thin amount of dubbing will tend to form a tapered body over the thread base on both sides of the post. Continue dubbing in front of the wing to within 1 eye width behind the eye. Whip finish. Clip the wing material down to a height of about ½ the shank length. The wing should stand completely upright, and you can push on the top of the wing material to cause the kinky material to spread.

 

 

 

Dub a small ball at the bend to spread the biots. Tie in two biots for the tail, curving them outward and against the dubbing ball, extending past the bend, attaching in front of the dubbing ball and forcing the biots to spread out against the dubbing ball. Leaving the thread near the bend, wrap 10-12 wraps of 0.25 lead on the front half of the shank, ending 2 eye widths behind the eye. Tie down the lead. Due to the large size of the hook and the amount of dubbing it will take to build a taper, build up an underbody using fine black chenille. Tie in the chenille near the bend and advance the thread to the front of the wire. The thorax will be thinner and the abdomen thicker due to the lead, which will build a slight taper. Wrap chenille forward to the thread at the front end of the lead. For a thicker abdomen, stop the fine chenille at the back end of the lead, and use a medium chenille over the lead. Move thread to bend and tie in floss for ribbing. Dub a black thorax with some bulk, but not too much or the ribbing will become lost within the dubbing. Dub 2/3 forward. Rib the abdomen with floss to the 2/3 tie off point. Tie off and trim floss. Tie in one grizzly and one golden brown grizzly hackle at the 2/3 point. Dub abdomen to within two eye widths behind the eye. Palmer both hackles to near eye. Tie off and trim hackles. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend, covering bend with orange thread. Leave thread at bend. Lay a clump of black elk hair on the shank with the tips forward and at least 1/4 shank length extended past the bend. No need to stack the hair. Beginning at the bend, use soft wraps to tie down the elk hair with progressively tighter wraps towards the eye, keeping the hair on top of the shank. End thread at 2/3 point and trim the remaining tips back to the thread. Clip the hair butts at the bend squarely so that it extends past the bend several eye lengths. The hair will be slightly flared and square and appear not as a tail but as an egg sack. Add cement to the hair the entire length of the hair on the shank to trap air in the hair for additional floatability. Tie in a brown hackle at the bend, tip first and shiny side up with the butt extended backwards over the bend. Tie in a strand of orange poly yarn at least 4" long at the bend, covering the hackle tip. Move thread forward to the end of the hair. Wrap the yarn forward to the end of the hair and slightly forward to cover the hair end. Tie off and trim the yarn. The yarn will form a round, smooth body. Palmer the hackle forward over the yarn to the same point, tie off, and trim. Stack a large clump of light elk hair for the wing. Lay the elk hair over the shank with the tips extending at least to the bend or slightly past the bend. Tie in the hair with a circular wrap around the hair to keep it from flaring and spinning as you then tie it against the shank. Tie it in with progressively tighter wraps forward just in front of the end of the yarn. Stack a small clump of black elk hair to form a collar and bullet head. Push the elk hair clump into the eye with the butts back and the tips forward. Leave about 1/3 shank length of tips extended forward past the eye. Tie down the elk hair with progressively tighter wraps beginning several eye widths behind the eye and working backwards from the eye. Trim the butts behind the thread. Form a bullethead by pulling back the black elk hair tips along the shank, both over and under the shank. Tie down the tips against the lighter colored elk wing to from a collar of contrasting color and legs. Whip finish and cement the head. Trim the hackle and collar flat on the underside of the shank.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend and cover bend with orange thread. Build a ball at the bend either with thread or dubbing to spread the biot tails. Tie in biot tails, curving outward against the ball, extending well past the bend. Tie in two or three doubled over strands of Krystal Flash in front of the thread ball and trim slightly longer than the biot tails. Cut the doubled over Krystal Flash to double the individual strands. Strands should spread apart some. Tie in a length of orange floss ribbing at the bend and leave extended backwards away from the bend. Dub cream dubbing forward with a taper to less than the 2/3 point. Change to light brown dubbing and dub a thin, level thorax to the 3/4 point. Additional thread and dubbing will later build up the thorax. Move the thread back to the 2/3 point where the two dubbings meet. Tie in a short length of brown Swiss Straw at the 2/3 point, with the Swiss Straw extending back towards the bend. Take thread backwards without any more width than necessary to tie down the Swiss Straw. Double over the Swiss Straw using a thin flat tool such as a scissor blade or a bodkin. The doubled over length should be about 3 eye widths long and lay over the dubbed shank. Tie in two brown biots for legs in front of the Swiss Straw. Turn the biots outward to flare away from the thorax. Dub a thin wrap of light brown dubbing over the thread to hide the tread. Repeat the Swiss Straw and biot and dubbing step three times over the length of the thorax, ending at the 3/4 point. If not using the additional bucktail legs, then take the wing case and biots further forward than the 3/4 point. Tie in on the underside of the shank a small amount of bucktail with tips somewhat evened by hand extending back towards the bend and butts ending forward one eye width behind the eye. Move thread back to the 3/4 point and dub a head over the bucktail. The dubbing can be the same color as the thorax, or change to a dark orange dubbing or Quick Descent dub for added weight. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend. Tie in marabou tail. Tie in fine gold wire at the bend and leave extended back for later palmering. Tie in a single strand of peacock herl at the bend, also extended back for later use. Tie in a 2 inch strand of orange floss at the bend, advancing the thread forward to the 2/3 point. Wrap the floss forward to the thread and tie off and trim at the 2/3 point. Pull the single peacock herl forward over the top of the floss, along the length of the shank and tie off and trim at 2/3 point. The peacock is fragile, so apply only moderate tension. Palmer the wire forward, counterclockwise, over the peacock and floss. Tie off and trim the wire at the 2/3 point. At the 2/3 point, tie in but do not trim a short length of mylar tinsel, then hackle, then 3 strands of peacock herl. Advance the thread forward to within one eye width of the eye. Wrap the peacock forward and tie off and trim. Then same for hackle. Trim the hackle on top, leaving only side and down fibers. Pull the tinsel forward over the peacock thorax and tie off and trim. Use as few wraps of thread for tying off to avoid thread buildup at the head. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend. Tie in elk hair tail, beginning at the ½ point, wrapping forward to the 2/3 point. Overwrap backwards towards the bend, using successively tighter wraps at the bend to slightly flair the tail. Trim the elk hair butts at the 2/3 point. Tie in chenille at the bend. Advance thread to the 2/3 point. Wrap chenille forward to the 2/3 point, tie off, and trim. Tie in stacked elk hair wing at the 2/3 point, using successively tighter wraps to slightly flair the wing. Trim the elk hair butts. Tie in grizzly hackle in front of wing. Use two hackles for larger sizes. Advance thread to one eye width behind eye. Wrap hackle forward to thread, tie off and trim. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Cover bend of hook with thread, making a yellow tag. Tie in wire at beginning of bend, against the back side of the shank. Tie in hackle, stem first. Dub ¾ of hook shank, leaving room for elk hair wing. Dubbing should be thin, just enough for a profile, with a slight forward taper. Wrap hackle clockwise to end of dubbing - will get 4 or 5 wraps. Wrap wire counterclockwise to end of dubbing. Stack elk hair and remove short hairs. Measure hair slightly longer than the length of the hook shank. With hair stack in left hand, before attaching the hair to the hook shank, wrap one or two wraps of thread around the hair only, directly above the attachment point, then pull the hair down lightly against the shank by pulling upward on the tread – this will prevent the hair from spinning and flaring when attached to the shank. Attach hair to shank with successively tighter, backwards wraps. Pull butt ends of hairs up and wrap in front of and successively backwards against the ends to make them stand up. Whip finish. Trim butt ends above the eye, about two eye widths long.

 

 

 

Cover bend of hook with thread, making a tag. Tie in golden pheasant tail, placing the second black band at the bend. Dub charteuse dubbing to 2/3 point. Tie in calf wing in front of the forward end of the dubbing, extending wing to bend of hook. Trim calf wing at an angle and secure. Tie in one strand of Krystal Flash which has been doubled over several times, in front of the calf wing, leaving the loops. Take the Krystal Flash loops that are extended forward and pull them back, bunching them with the loops that are already in front of the wing, effectively doubling the number of strands laid back. Tie off the Krystal Flash. Gather the loops and pull them upwards, trimming the top so that the loops are cut open and single strands spread out in front of the wing. Tie in a deer hair wing in front of the Krystal Flash, using successively tighter wraps forward to ¾ point. Trim and secure the hair. The thread body covering the hair should be tapered from the 2/3 point to behind the eye, creating an evenly tapered thorax base for the rubber legs and dubbing. In the middle of the thorax thread base, tie in two rubber legs on the top of the thread base. Separate the legs somewhat by using thread to cover the middle of the legs at the tie in point. Figure 8 the rubber legs, one set at a time, so that all four legs extend to the side, with 2 pointing slightly backward and two pointing sideways or slightly forward. Move thread backwards to behind the back set of legs and immediately in front of the wing to the last exposed thread. Dub orange dubbing forward behind, between, and in front of the legs to within one eye width of eye, being careful to not reposition the legs. Whip finish. The standard pattern has a clipped deer hair thorax instead of dubbing. An alternative is to leave the calf wing butt and use it to make a parachute wing. A color variation is to use a pheasant tail butt feather with a black tip, honey cream dubbing abdomen, brown rubber legs, and peacock ice dubbing thorax.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend. Tie in chenille. Advance thread to ¾ point. Wrap chenille to ¾ point, exposing the ribbing as you go, and tie off. Loosely dub a head to within one eye width of eye, allowing the fibers to protrude in a rough fashion. Whip finish. To achieve a rough head, trim (not close) any dubbing fibers that are much longer than others and pick out dubbing fibers where it may be thin.

 

 

 

 

Cover bend of hook with thread. Tie in golden pheasant tail, placing the second black band towards the butt end at the bend. Tie in tinsel at the bend for ribbing and lay back for later use. Tie in 3 or 4 long peacock strands at the bend. Advance thread to the ¾ point. Wrap the peacock forward to the ¾ point, tie off, and trim. Wrap the tinsel counterclockwise over the peacock body in open wraps, getting 4 or 5 wraps. Tie off the tinsel and trim. Tie in a hackle tip on the underside of the shank at the ¾ point. The hackle tip will extend back towards the bend and angle downward to near the point, forming legs. Alternately, use a soft hackle feather wrapped hackle style, but pulled and gathered under the hook shank for legs. Tie in a calf tail wing on top of the shank two eye widths behind the eye, with the hair tips extending back at least to the beginning of the peacock, or even slightly past the bend. Trim the butt end of the calf tail to a slight taper. Form a neat, tapered head over the tapered butts. Whip finish. Cement the head, including the thread on the back side of the wing and around the hackle tip. Cement is necessary for this pattern due to the bulk of material and thread all finished near the head.

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend. Cut a strip of foam one and one-half times the length of the shank and less than the gap in width. Trim one end of the foam to a tapered, blunt point to assist in tying down the foam against the shank. Tie in the foam by the tapered end just slightly ahead of the bend, with the rough side of the foam facing up and the length of the foam extending back over the bend and beyond. Tie in a hackle by the tip at the foam and lay the hackle back with the foam. Tie in floss at the foam. Advance thread to the 3/4 point. Wrap floss forward, overlapping slightly to form a wide body. Depending on the bulk of the floss, to build up a body, you may need to wrap forward to the thread, back to the foam, and forward again to the thread. Tie off floss. Palmer the hackle forward to the thread. Tie off hackle. Pull foam forward over the shank to the thread, tying down the foam. Compress the foam with the thread to form a neck. Tie in a very small square of red foam at the thread point, on top of the black foam, to form a visibility tag. Advance thread to in front of the black foam. Pull the black foam butt upward slightly and trim square behind the eye to form a head. Whip finish.

 

 

 

Before placing the hook in the vise, put a single small bead on hook, followed by three extra small beads. Place hook in vise. Push the beads up to the eye to create space behind the last bead towards the bend. Capture thread immediately behind the last bead, working the thread towards the bend. At the bend, overwrap several wraps of thread to create a small ball to be a backstop for the beads so that they will not slide back past the bend. Slide the beads to the bend as far as they will go, even jamming the bead nearest the bend onto the ball. Move the thread to the front of the beads by pulling the beads back one at a time and wrapping the thread from behind to the front of each bead. Do this four times to create the abdomen, causing the open space on the shank to be shifted from the bend to behind the eye. Dub thorax in front of the beads. Whip finish. When dubbing, if you want a slimmer look, pack the dubbing tightly and sparsely. For a fuller look with legs, dub loosely and then after whip finishing, gently pull on the dubbing to create a fuzzy look.

 

 

 

 

Wrap thread to bend. Dub a small ball at the bend to separate biots. Tie in biots on both sides of shank, curving outward. Tie in wire for ribbing. Dub to within 2 eye widths behind the eye, starting small and building a taper. Return thread back to 2/3 point. Wrap wire forward in an open wrap to thread at the 2/3 point – will get 4 wraps. Tie off and trim wire. For the wing case, cut a turkey quill about the width of the already dubbed thorax, using a feather that has been sprayed or cemented. Tie in the turkey quill over the shank on top of the thorax dubbing, wrapping backwards and ending back at the 2/3 point. Trim the butt end of a saddle hackle. Tie in a saddle hackle by the butt with the tip back. Palmer the saddle hackle forward over the thorax, tie off, and trim. Trim the hackle on the top of the thorax. Pull the turkey quill forward over the top of the thorax, tie off, and trim. Whip finish. Trim the hackle underneath the thorax, leaving only hackle on both sides for legs.

 

 

 

Before mounting the hook in the vise, put the bead on the hook. Capture thread behind eye. Lay sparkle ribbon along shank and tie in tail of sparkle ribbon by wrapping thread back to bend. Trim tail to ½ or less the length of the shank. Leave the thread at the bend. Tie in white wire for ribbing, with thread beginning at the bend and moving forward, along shank for ribbing and leave tag end of wire extended past the bend. The white wire becomes the underbody, which must be uniform in diameter, so it must lay the entire length of the shank from the bend to the bead. Placing the wire at the proper point forward, behind the bead, will negate the need to trim the wire end behind the bead. Tie in black wire, with thread beginning behind the bead and moving towards the bend, along shank, to the bend. Move thread forward in even, tight wraps to behind the bead, forming a smooth, thread underbody. Wrap black wire forward clockwise in even, tight wraps to behind the bead. Tie off and trim black wire. Wrap white wire forward clockwise in open spirals for segmentation to behind the bead. Tie off and trim white wire. Tie in sparkle ribbon wing behind bead and trim to ½ the length of the shank or less. Trim butt end behind bead. The sparkle wing material, both for the tail and the wing, will come apart on the open exposed end, forming a spread appearance. Whip finish.