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For me the hair winged humpy is a great prospecting and indicator fly for fast water.

The combination of materials and the structure of the tie provide a fly that floats well and has a good buggy appearance. I don't tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect but I do try to either select appropriate coloured materials to match various terrestrials that may find themselves on a trout's menu or to add a hot spot or to to solicit an inquiring strike.

I generally stick with natural deer hair and white calf tail wings because together they make the fly easy to see even in fading light and fast water. Having said that its worth experimenting with other colours of deer hair and hair wing to suit the waters your fishing. My black version has replaced the traditional "black gnat" that I used to carry.

As well as fishing well alone hair winged humpies also are great indicator flies fly fished in conjunction with a second dry such as a small red tag, nymph or stick caddis.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook and then in wide turns back to the 75% position. Understanding hooks Tie in a bunch of white calf tail hair for the wings with the tips pointing out in front of the hook a distance equal to about 75% of the length of the hook. Divided wings Trim the butt end of the calf tail hair wing at an angle to the hook shank so that there isn't any obvious ridge.

B	Stroke the tips of the calf tail back behind the hook and tie and stand them upright by tying several wraps of thread directly in front of where the calf tail is tied in. Separate the calf tail into two wings and lock them position with figure of eight wraps of the thread. The finished wings should be around 1 1/2 to 2 times as long as the gape of the hook and should face a little forward with the gap between the wings being about 60 to 90 degrees.

C	Tie in a tail of around 10 deer or moose hairs firmly behind the wing. The tail should extend beyond the bend of the hook a distance equal to the length of the hook shank. Deer hair tails Hold the deer hair flat along the top of the hook shank and lock it into position with a couple of softer wraps of thread. Avoid tight wraps of thread around the hair tail as you approach the bend of the hook because tight wraps of thread will cause the hair tail to flare out too much.

D	Stroke the but ends of the tail material back along the body of the fly and lock it into position with firm but not tight wraps of thread. If you don't feel that there is enough of the longer butt fibres to create the back of the body you can of course add a couple of extra at this stage.

E	Create a nice plump body using either dubbing or a herl rope and position the thread in front of the wing. Wet the wings prior to the next step as it will help to avoid getting the wings trapped as you tie the back of the humpy down.

F	Pull the hair for the back forward so that it sits along the top of the hook and between the wings. Tie it off in front of the wings and then behind the wings. Trim the excess hair that extends beyond the back of the eye of the hook. Tie in a hackle directly behind the wing. The barbs of the hackle should be about 1.25 times the gape of the hook. Dry fly hackle Take the thread forward to just behind the eye of the hook.

G	Wind the hackle forward taking 5 turns behind and 5 turns in front of the wing but stopping short of the eye of the hook so as to leave room for the head. Tie the hackle off and trim the excess. Neat heads Build up a neat head, whip finish and varnish.

H	Front view of a hair winged humpy.

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