Hook choice

I always remind fly fisher and fly tiers that one of the easiest ways of adding weight to a fly is to use a heavier hook. Just adding weight to an existing fly recipe may be a false economy if the hook doesn't suit the addition of weight. If you add weight to the shank of too light a wire hook the weight may cause the fly to swim differently or even turn upside down. Perhaps not what your trying to achieve, or perhaps it is. The bend of the hook and the bite of the hook are like a keel on a fly and together they have to be in harmony with the dressing of the fly in order to swim properly.

Lead or tungsten wire - round

There are various weights and thicknesses available for with the popular range including 0.010 mm at the thin end right through to  0.030 mm at the thick end. Lead and tungsten wire can be used very effectively to add weight to a fly by wrapping just a few turns or many turns of lead wire around the shank of the hook. It is also widely used because it can be hidden below the dressing of a fly.

• Example

Lead or tungsten wire - flat

Flat versions of lead and tungsten wire have been available for quite some time but are often overlooked by fly tiers mainly because of availability and price. That has all changed now that we can shop on line and more often these days you will find advantages in substituting flat lead and tungsten wire in your flies. The two main advantages are.

1. Flat wire packs much more densely on the hook i.e. there is not as much air space between the wraps so less wraps are needed to produce a given result than would be the case with round lead or tungsten wire.
2. You can tie it in smoothly so that you have uniform under-body. This is particularly helpful when you want to create a slender fly but with the maximum weight.

Copper and brass wire

Now available in a wide range of colours and thicknesses copper wire is often just thought about as a ribbing material, a way of reinforcing body material such as peacock herl or dubbing when used to create bodies on flies or  as a hot spot on a fly copper wire is so much more. It's particularly useful as a subtle weight in flies and particularly when you just want a fly to break the surface tension but not sink quickly a few extra wraps do the job. There are also flies that have significant amounts of copper or brass wire integral to their design.

• Example

Beads not designed for fly tying

The first are beads that we use in fly tying that were designed for other purposes such as jewelry beads. They come in a rang of shapes and sizes and generally the opening at each end of the bead is the same size. Much of the time they have limited application because the hole width to length ration means that its difficult and in many cases impossible to slide the bead round the bend of the hook.

• Beads - adding weight or eyes to a fly

Beads designed for fly tying

Specifically designed fly tying beads are quite different to beads manufactured for the jewelry industry in that most fly tying beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. This makes it much easier to load the bead onto the hook. If you slide the bead onto the point of the hook small opening first the wider opening at the rear makes it easier to slide the bead round the bend of the hook whilst ensuring a snug fit behind the eye of the eye of the hook.

• Beads - adding weight or eyes to a fly

Cones

An alternative shape to normal round brass beads. Because of their shape they are not as heavy as a round or faceted bead of the same diameter.

Eyes - dumbbell, real eyes, sink chain eyes and glass rattle eyes

Whilst there are many ways of adding weight to a fly one easy way to add weight and eyes at the same time is to include a set of dumbbell type eyes in the dressing of the fly.

Most recipes use the term "figure of eight wraps of thread" when describing how to tie in dumbbell type eyes and other eyes that have two eye balls connected by a stem. Technically consecutive single wraps of thread as described in steps "A" and above in "B" below are called figure of eight wraps. From experienced I have found that its better to use the process below rather than consecutive individual figure of eight wraps.

• Tying in process

Jiggy heads and similar fish head slide overs

A few of these hit the market with a flurry in the late 90's. There are still some about but they are relatively expensive and hard to get.

• Example

Faceted and slotted beads

An innovation that has come out of competition sports fly fishing. The slotted beads are available in both round and facated and the faceted beads are available in a a range of colours and sizes. The idea of the slot in the bead is so the can be used on jig hooks.

Molded lead shapes

An innovation that has come out of competition sports fly fishing. These little molded shapes fit well on Czech nymph hooks and add a high density of lead to the back of the fly.

Lead shot

I have several flies, particularly in my saltwater range, which include a lead shot on what is the the bottom of the hook shank when the fly is intended to swim hook point up. There are a number of benefits benefit of using a lead shot as opposed to say a set of dumbbell eyes.

• How to do