Flatwing Steelhead Fly
by Frank G. Swarner III

Hook: Daichii 2451 - size 4 shown
Thread: 6/0
Platform (tail base): White Calftail/Kiptail
Tail: 1 pink saddle tied over 1 slightly shorter white saddle feather
Dubbing: Ice dubbing - Pearl in dubbing loop
Throat #1: White Calftail/Kiptail
Throat #2: White Marabou feather wrapped
Wing: 1 Olive saddle tied over 4 stands of purple flashabou, over 10 lavendar bucktail hairs, over 10 white bucktail hairs

1: Attach the thread to the hook

2: Trim off some white Calftail/Kiptail and pull out the short fibers so you are left with the longer hairs. The final clump should about 20 hairs max. We don't want bulk, keep it sparse....that goes for the whole fly too.

The platform is made by tying the fibers on top of the hook shank so they are slightly longer than the length of the hook shank. After they are secured, use your thumbnail to spread the fibers out in a horizontal plane. To do this put your thumbnail on the bend of the hook, below the tail. Slide your nail up the bend and when you hit the tail kind of roll your nail from side to side to spread the hairs.

3. Tail - Select a short white saddle feather that is on the wide side and strip of most of the filoplume. We want to tie the feather onto the top of the hook shank where the stem begins to taper into the longer, finer tip. The goal is to tie the feather flat and the length should be 1 1/2 times the hook shank. Select an olive saddle hackle and repeat the process, except this saddle should be a 1/4 inch longer than the white one below it.

4. Body - Make a dubbing loop, insert ice dubbing and spin....wrap the body and stop shorter than usual if you want to add a colorful throat like I did.....Red for bloody wounded gills. Leave at least 2 eyelengths of room on the hook shank for the rest of the materials.

5. Throat #1 - Clip of another clump of white calftail (red calftail would be good for a throat here too!!) and seperate the longer fibers like step #2. The fibers should extend past the bend of the hook but not longer than the platform. They also should be 1 hair thick on the lower half of the hook. Trim off excess after they are secured.

6. Throat #2 - Select a white marabou feather and tie it in by the tip. Wrap the feather as you would a dry fly hackle and make 2 complete turns, tie off excess and trim. Now's a good time to add a litte dab of head cement for strength. The marabou should extend about the same length as throat #1.

7. Wing - Select 10 white bucktail fibers and tie them onto the top of the hook shank. they should be about the same length as the pink saddle.

8. Select 2 strands of purple flashabou and fold them around thread so they are double into 4 strands.....tie them on top of the hook shank and leave them extra long.

9. Select 10 lavendar bucktail fibers and tie them in the same location but slightly longer.

10. Select an olive saddle hackle and repeat the process in step #3 for prepearing the feather. The saddle should be a 1/4 inch longer than the bucktail fibers.

11. Finsh with a whip finish and a coat of head cement. Trim flashabou so it is slightly longer than the olive saddle for a flashtail effect.

Tying Tips, featured »

[4 Aug 2010 | 5 Comments | ]
Tying Tips: Streamside Fly Tying Vise

This week’s typing tip is in response to a question by Hatches reader, Nick S. from Boise, ID. Nick wanted to know if we had any suggestions for a small, lightweight fly tying vise to use streamside, or on backcountry fly-in/ hike-in fly fishing trips.

Book Reviews & Excerpts, featured »

[2 Aug 2010 | 2 Comments | ]
Book Review: Trout Stream Insects by Dick Pobst

GLOBE PEQUOT ( THE LYONS PRESS, FALCON), November 1997
Binding Type: Hardcover
Retail Price: $16.95 at the Hatches Store
ISBN: 1-55821-067-9
“The trout’s biggest advantage is selectivity, and we can counteract it only by knowing the insects that make up his diet.  This is the reason for the study of stream entomology by the angler, and it is often the weak link in his skill.”
-Ernest Schwiebert
Trout Stream Insects: An Orvis Streamside Guide is by no means a new book.  However, since it was first published in 1990, it has successfully been introducing novice …

Product Spotlight, featured »

[26 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]
Product Spotlight: Petitjean TT Bobbin

Called the “bobbin of bobbins,” Marc Petitjean’s “Thread Through Bobbin,” aims to solve a few classic design limitations of standard bobbins.

Articles, featured »

[21 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]
Spring Olives by Russ Forney

Sand Creek is a pretty little piece of trout water that harbors some very fussy fish. Clear water in a small creek demands a quiet approach; casting from the bank is a good strategy when fishing small flies to springtime trout. Photo by Russ Forney
Springtime in Wyoming can be pretty elusive. Just when the first flush of prairie wildflowers sweetens the air, the next storm buries them under a foot of snow. Somewhere between the first Meadowlark and the last new calf, winter finally begins to relax its icy grip. …

Tying Tips, Videos, featured »

[16 Jul 2010 | 3 Comments | ]
Tying Tips: Working with Rubber Legs

With rubber legs showing up in more and more fly patterns, one common problem fly tier’s are facing is that they get in the way when tying a whip finish knot. In this week’s Tying Tips, Hatches Magazine staff member Alex Cerveniak shares three quick and easy ways to keep those rubber legs out of the way.



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