Free fly tying
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{{+1}}Legs – flat over thorax legs{{-1}}
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Although this is a nifty way of representing legs on a fly, particularly a nymph, it is not used very often.{{end}}
Last Updated: January 1, 2011
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{{+1}}Hackle – ‘beard’ type legs{{-1}}
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Hackle beards are tied in to represent legs on a fly and in some cases to camouflage the point of the hook. They can be tied with almost any soft hackle or feather. In the example below I have tied the beard with a Ringneck Pheasant feather (also known as church window feathers).{{end}}
{{+1}}Wings – dry fly down wings{{-1}}
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Dry fly down wings can be tied out of deer hair, synthetic material such as crystal flash or out of feather fibres. Whilst the directions below apply specifically to deer hair down wings the same fly tying principals apply to other types of down wings except they don't have the same degree of difficulty because of the reduced tendency to flare out.{{end}}
{{+1}}Wings – dry fly upright divided hair and hackle wings{{-1}}
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The concept of upright divided hair wings was introduced to fly tying in the 1930's by Lee Wulff when he evolved the Royal Wulff from the Royal Coachman. The evolution involved replacing the relatively fragile feather slip wing with a more robust and visible white calf tail wing.{{end}}
{{+1}}Wings – dry fly feather tip wings{{-1}}
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Feather tips for use as wings for a dry fly are most often taken from hackles but other feathers such as hen, blackbird, pigeon etc. are also used. Feather tip wings tied from fowl tips are generally thin and delicate but tips from other types of feathers can be a little more robust. In either case feather tip wings should be symmetrically.{{end}}
{{+1}}Wings – dry fly feather slip wings{{-1}}
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Feather slip wings should be as wide as the gape of the hook at their thickest point, be symmetrically positioned above the hook with the wings separated by an angle of between 70 degrees and 90 degrees. As for other dry fly upright wings they should be at least as long as the hackle and up to 120% of the hackle length. As for other dry fly upright wings they should be at least as long as the hackle and up to 120% of the hackle length.{{end}}
{{+1}}Foam beetle hackle legs{{-1}}
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Foam beetles remain very popular because they can be truly representational and of course because they float so well.{{end}}
{{+1}}Closed cell foam bodies{{-1}}
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Closed cell foam is exactly what the name implies. It is for with multitudes of tiny closed cells each filled with air. The material that closed cell foam is made out of varies but it is heavier than water and therefore sinks, it is only the trapped tiny bubbles of air that cause the material to float.{{end}}
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{{+1}}Tails – deer hair tails{{-1}}
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In most cases if deer hair is being used as a dry fly tail the butt ends of the deer hair are generally incorporated as an under body for the fly as detailed below.{{end}}
{{+1}}Palmering hackles{{-1}}
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The term Palmering a fly has its origins around 1300 AD, that's right about 700 years ago. Whilst a fly can be palmered in either direction along the hook shank and doesn't necessarily require wire or thread to be wrapped along it in the opposite direction for reinforcement I always wind the hackle from front to back and reinforce the palmered hackle with thread or wire wound from the back to front.{{end}}