Knitted trout flies

 

I was first introduced to knitted flies around 20 years ago when they were a bit of a fad.

Knitted bodies can be interesting and life like depending on the colours and materials used and have the benefit of being flatter than traditional dubbed or wrapped bodies.

In the description of the process below I have used a full strands of raffia as the knitting materials but that is only so that it is easy to see the steps. In reality if you were using raffia you would split the strands and knit a much finer body. Knitted bodies can of course be created with a range of materials including wool, chenille and various yarns, rubber ribbing material, strips of closed cell foam etc.

Process

A
  1. If you want to accentuate the width of the knitted body tie the knitting materials along the sides of the hook shank as in the diagram.
  2. If you would like a thinner body tie the knitting material in along the top of the hook shank.

B
  1. Tie the knitting material in along the full section of the hook shank where you want the knitted body to be built.

C
  1. If your not going to tie a tail at the rear of the body tie a simple single knot in the knitting material.
  2. If you have added a tail at the rear of the body ignore this step and step 'D'.

D
  1. Pull the knot tight at the very rear of where the knitted body.
  2. Which ever colour knitting material is at the front side of the hook shank (i.e. white in this case) will be the dominant colour underneath the fly as in the photo in step 'J'.
  3. Each knitting stitch is a two step process.

E

Top stitch first part:

  1. The 'top stitch' involves taking the black knitting material over the hook shank, and then under the white knitting material.

F  

Top stitch second part.

  1. The second half of the 'top stitch' involves taking the white knitting material under the shank of the hook and then up through the loop left in the black knitting material.
  2. So the 'top stitch' is the process of over, under, under and up through.

G

Bottom stitch first part:

  1. The 'bottom stitch' involves taking the white knitting material under the hook shank, and then over the black knitting material.

H

Bottom stitch second part.

  1. The second half of the 'bottom stitch' involves taking the black knitting material over the shank of the hook and then down through the loop left in the black knitting material.
  2. So the 'bottom stitch' is the process of  under, over, over and down through.

I
  1. Make additional 'top' and 'bottom stitches' until the desired body length is reached.
  2. This photo shows three body stitches on each side of the fly as seen from above.

J
  1. When you are happy with the body tie your thread back in and bull the body materials forward and tie them off directly in front of the body.
  2. Trim the excess body material and build the balance of your fly.
  3. This photo shows three body stitches on each side of the fly as seen from below. Note that the body material that was on the front side in step ' D' is the dominant colour from below.



Last Updated: June 4, 2011
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Categories: Free fly tying