Christmas Island Special - yellow

This fly is part of the series of seven different colours combinations that I tie of the iconic CXI Special fly in. There are days on Aitutaki in particular where bonefish will only take a fly with a bit of yellow in it.

These are the other colours in the series:

• Christmas Island Special – Pink.
• Christmas Island Special – Pearl
• Christmas Island Special – Orange – rich (Ring burner is a similar fly)
• Christmas Island Special – Orange – light (Anaa special is a similar fly)
• Christmas Island Special – Violet (Electric camel is a similar fly).
• Christmas Island Special – Chartreuse
• Christmas Island Special – Yellow.

Materials for CXI Special – pink

Bonefish flies for Aitutaki tend to be one or two sizes up on the size of fly used on CXI so I have tied this fly ona #4 Gamakatsu SL11-3H hook with 3/16chrome yellow pupil real eyes and craft fur for the over-wing.

Materials for trailing hook

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95% position to about one third of the way toward the bend of the hook. [member Link=”p=10018″ Title=”Understanding hooks”]

B	Put a drop of super glue on top of the hook shank exactly where you intend to tie the eyes in. I like the eyes to be tied in about the same distance from the back of the eye of the hook as the diameter of the dumbbell eyes. Position the eyes on top of the drop of super glue and tie them in on top of the hook shank using tight figure 8 wraps. To make sure that the eyes don’t rotate on the hook shank include a couple of tight wraps the thread around the base of the eyes on top of the hook shank and between every couple of figure of eight wraps take a firm wrap of thread around the hook shank. Continue winding the thread to the bend of the hook.

C	For this size #6 fly select two strands of krystal flash, double it up and cut it at the bend, then double it up again and cut it at the bend again. This should give you 8 strands of krystal flash. Just check that the ends that are going to be the tail are just slightly different lengths. I don’t like the tail cut off square. For a size #6 CXI Special you want 6 strands of krystal flash for the tail and the under-wing and for a size #4 CXI Special you want 10 strands of krystal flash for the tail and the under-wing Position the krystal flash so that the tail when tied in will be about 2/3 the overall length of the hook.

D	Lock the tail in position on top of the hook shank with tight wraps of thread. Take the thread forward to about half way along what will be the body of the fly.

E	Tie two strands of krystal flash along the top of the hook shank all the way down to the bend of the hook with the excess krystal flash trailing behind the fly. Two strands is enough for a size #6 and #8 fly but you will need 4 strands of krystal flash for a size #4 fly.

F	Wind the sparkle flash forward all the way to the back of the dumbbell eyes overlapping where necessary to build up a uniform cigar shaped body about twice the diameter of the shank of the hook. Figure of eight wrap the sparkle flash around the dumbbell eyes then tie it off in front of the eyes.

G	Trim away the excess krystal flash and give the body and the figure of 8 wraps around the dumbbell eyes a thin coat of UV epoxy.

H	Turn the hook over in the vice. For this size #6 fly select 8 strands of krystal flash. Just check that the ends that are going to be the tips of the under-wing are just slightly different lengths. I don’t like the under-wing cut off square. For a size #6 CXI Special you want 6 strands of krystal flash for the tail and the under-wing and for a size #4 CXI Special you want 10 strands of krystal flash for the tail and the under-wing Position the krystal flash so that the tips of the under-wing when tied in will be directly above the tips of the tail.

I	Lock the under-wing in position half way between the dumbbell eyes and the eye of the hook with tight wraps of thread.

J	Quite a few materials are suitable for the over-wing including craft fur, pseudo fur, faux fur and Finn Raccoon fur and they all work well. What you have to be careful about is not to make the over-wing too dense so select only a small bunch of your choice of over-wing material. I have used white craft fur for the wing on this fly. Pinch out all the under fluff and finger stack the material so that all the tips are reasonably uniform but don’t overdo this step. Position the over-wing so the tips of the over-wing are directly above the tips of the under-wing.

K	Tie the over-wing material in half way between the dumbbell eyes and the eye of the hook with firm wraps of thread.

L	Trim away any excess over-wing material. Build a neat nose of thread further locking the under-wing and over-wing in position and Whip finish the thread and trim the excess thread off. Finally, apply a thin coat of UV epoxy to the nose of the fly.