IFFF FLY TYING GROUP. Fly Tying Skills Awards Program

Transcription

1 FLY TYI NG GROUP IFFF FLY TYING GROUP Fly Tying Skills Awards Program Produced by the International Fereration of Fly Fishers, Fly Tying Group as an adaptation of the Guild Awards Scheme of the UK Fly Dresser s Guild.

2 Why an IFFF Fly Tying Skills Award Program? The IFFF Fly Ting Group exists to preserve, enhance and support the art of fly tying. Our focus generally is twofold: sharing of information and teaching so that more people may take an interest in our craft and become more knowledgeable and accomplished tiers. The purpose of the IFFF Fly Tying Group is as follows: The FTG is dedicated to the preservation, enhancement and support of the art of fly tying as a historic element of the fly-fishing experience. Archiving of historic documents, development of educational and instructional materials, teaching and demonstration are fundamental to perpetuating the art of fly tying for anglers who fish with the artificial fly. For individuals to improve as tiers, they need to be able to measure their progress. The IFFF Fly Tying Skills Awards Program provides IFFF members with the opportunity to develop or reinforce their fly tying skills and test their progress against a consistent, standard at three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Program Overview and Goals This International Federation of Fly Fishers (IFFF) Fly Tying Skills Awards Program is an educational program for all IFFF members who care to take part. The Awards Program is managed for and on behalf of the IFFF by Fly Tying Group. The goal of the Awards Program is to encourage IFFF members to develop and improve their fly tying skills at their own pace through a structured learning plan with progressive goals and in so doing contribute to the purpose of the FTG. The Program is meant to be informative, enjoyable and encourage camaraderie and cooperation amongst those taking part. In addition, it can also assist Clubs and instructors in the planning and delivering of courses. There are three levels of awards: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level develops a series of techniques, with subsequent levels building on previous ones. A Bronze level tier must be able to use straightforward materials and techniques to tie a small number of simple flies of a sufficient quality and consistency in use of materials and technique. At Silver level, tiers must be able to tie a wider range of flies, using more complicated materials and techniques to produce more intricate patterns and closer representations of specific prey species being imitated. The degree of consistency and the standard of the techniques applied must be a clear step higher than at Bronze level. A Gold Level award signifies a highly accomplished fly tier, capable of demonstrating excellent application of a wide range of materials and techniques on a consistent basis across a variety of patterns. 1

3 In the process of this Silver Award Program a tier will learn and use many important fly tying techniques and learn a number of effective fly patterns. These Silver Award patterns and techniques build upon the techniques and patterns incorporated in the Bronze Award Program. The three tier choice flies are an important part of the Tying Skills Awards Program. In each of the three levels tiers are required to tie three patterns of their choosing. The purpose of the tier choice patterns is to allow tiers to practice their tying specialty. If your angling and tying activities are saltwater, warmwater, steelhead, salmon or trout please tie those types of flies. It is suggested that the tier choice patterns reflect a degree of complexity on a par with the required evaluation fly patterns. Upon successful completion of the Silver Award program tiers will receive an IFFF Silver Fly Tying Award Certificate, an IFFF Silver Award Pin, and the accomplishment will be recognized in the IFFF Fly Tying Group Newsletter and on the IFFF Website. THE FISH WILL BE OUR JUDGE One must first learn the basic strategies and techniques for affixing various items to a fly hook. In that process will come the skills required to operate a few simple tools. There can be no rules governing what items are affixed to the hook or how those items are arranged on said hook. What we do here is learn those basic strategies and techniques and then either imitate the creations of others or let our imaginations run rampant and wild as we practice our craft of fly dressing. Only the fish is qualified to judge our efforts. Author Anonymous Acknowledgements This American adaptation of the UK Fly Dressers Guild Awards Scheme was made possible thru the cooperation and international outreach of both the International Federation of Fly Fishers and the UK Fly Dressers Guild. Our thanks go to Chairman Charles Jardine, General Secretary Chris Reeves and the many others who have worked so hard on this project. The American adaptation of the Fly Tying Skill Awards Program is the work of the IFFF Fly Tying Group and the Committee members who contributed: Al and Gretchen Beatty, Chuck Collins, Jim Ferguson, Frank Johnson, Gene Kaczmarek, Tom Logan, David Roberts, Paul Beckmann and Leslie Wrixon. This program is also a credit to the entire Board of Governors of the IFFF Fly Tying Group. Adapted by the International Federation of Fly Fishers with permission from The Fly Dressers Guild 2014 First Edition of IFFF Silver Award Handbook published 2015 The Fly Dressers Guild 2013 First edition published electronically in December 2012 This edition published in print and electronically in October 2013 For more information on The Fly Dressers Guild please visit our website: 2

4 Contents Why an IFFF Fly Tying Skills Award Program? 1 Program Overview and Goals 1 Acknowledgements 2 Contents 3 Introduction to the Silver Award Evaluation Flies 4 Silver Award Program Requirements 6 How it Works the Process Instructions 6 Instructions to the Silver Award Program Participant 6 Instructions to the Silver Award Program Evaluator 7 Instructions to the Silver Award Review Panel Member 7 Instructions to the IFFF Staff 8 Basic Fly Tying Tools 9 Thread 11 Thread Information Chart 12 Tying Techniques 13 Stripped Peacock Herl Bodies 13 Feather Fiber Dry Fly Wings 14 Tip of Oval Tinsel 14 Tail of Golden Pheasant Crest 15 Floss as a Body Material 15 Ribbing a Fly Body (wire, mono, tinsel, or other material) 16 Ribbing with Oval Tinsel 16 Folding Hackle 16 Burnishing Floss Bodies 16 Wings of Squirrel 17 Parachute Wing Posts of Calf Tail Hair 17 Stacking or Evening Hair 18 Parachute Hackles 18 Muskrat Belly Underfur Dubbing 19 Dubbing Fly Bodies 19 Palmered or Body Hackle 20 Hooks 21 Silver Award Evaluation Flies Step by Step Instructions 22 Ginger Quill 23 Blue Charm 27 Lefty s Deceiver 32 Parachute Adams 37 Bead Head Prince Nymph 41 Troth Elk Hair Caddis 45 Tier Choice Flies 48 Gold Award Preview 48 3

5 Introduction to the Silver Award Evaluation Flies Detailed step by step tying instructions are found in Section: Evaluation Fly Tying Instructions (pages 22 thru 48) The following is a brief overview of the required Silver Award Evaluation Flies Ginger Quill Dry Fly Tied by Jim Ferguson Salem, Oregon The Ginger Quill belongs to a set of dry fly patterns incorporating feather quill material for the body construction. Over time, many variations have been popularized resulting in several slightly different material listings and proportion guidelines. Wings have been constructed from starling or mallard duck wing quills. Body quills have been used from stripped ginger hackle quills or stripped peacock eye herls. Different interpretations of the color ginger results in many variations based on local mayfly insect hues. Lefty s Deceiver Salt Water Fly Tied by Tom Logan Tallahassee, Florida Lefty s Deceiver is a very versatile streamer pattern that is intended to imitate a small bait fish that will be attractive as prey for larger predatory fish. The pattern was designed by Lefty Kreh, thus its name. It typically is tied with lighter colors of feathers and buck tail with a little flash, but it can be tied with any combination of colors and in any size from size 10 bronze hooks for bream to 2/0 stainless steel hooks and larger for saltwater species. 4

6 Bead Head Prince Nymph Tied by Chuck Collins - Pocatello, Idaho Credit for the origination of the Prince Nymph goes to Doug Prince of Monterey, California for fishing in his favorite stream, the Kings River. The Prince Nymph is one of those flies that just works! Some say it is a stonefly nymph, others say it is an attractor. The Prince Nymph has increased in popularity with the addition of the bead head. The bead head adds a little weight to the fly and helps it get down as well as adding some flash to the fly. Parachute Adams Dry Fly Tied by Al & Gretchen Beatty Boise, Idaho The original Adams dry fly is arguably the most popular dry fly of all time. Today the Parachute version of the Adams is taking over that distinction. This fly pattern imitates many mayfly and caddis naturals. The Parachute Adams is a go-to searching pattern. Blue Charm Salmon/Steelhead Fly Tied by Jim Ferguson Salem Oregon There are several versions of the Blue Charm Hair Wing each with its own set of proportions. The patterns cover different styles from the Atlantic Salmon Classic Hair Wing style to the low water version developed for specific water conditions. The pattern chosen for the Silver Award program is one that leans towards the low water style but is adjusted more to the "Steelhead" tie as shown in Flies for Atlantic Salmon by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen. Western Steelhead patterns often tend to be somewhere between the Atlantic Salmon and low water styles. 5

7 Troth Elk Hair Caddis Dry Fly Tied by Gene Kaczmarek Fremont, California This pattern was originated by Al Troth of Dillon, Montana. The Elk Hair Caddis is meant to imitate an adult caddis, though it will also work as a spent adult. Looking not unlike a stonefly, cricket, even a small hopper and several other insects, this dressing also makes an effective searching pattern. The Troth Elk Hair Caddis has become one of the most popular All American dry fly patterns of all time. Silver Award Program Requirements Participant must be an IFFF member. To receive the Silver Award and recognition it is necessary to follow the instructions outlined in How it Works the Process Instructions. It is required that each tier complete the Bronze Award Program before moving on to the Silver and then Gold Award Programs. Participation is entirely voluntary. No IFFF member or Club is under any obligation to take part. How it Works the Process Instructions Throughout this Handbook reference will be made to the web site. This is in reference to the IFFF Web Site, Fly Tying, and specifically IFFF Fly Tying Skills Award Program at: This web address houses the Award Handbooks, step-by-step instructional videos for all required evaluation flies, and all the necessary forms and instructions for completion of the Silver Award Program. Instructions to the Silver Award Program Participant: Simply tie the flies. Follow the tying instructions in this Silver Award Handbook and the Instructional Videos found on the web site. Note to left handed tiers: Please make a bold note on the Silver Award Evaluation Fly Transmittal Form that you tie Left handed. This information will help the evaluator correctly evaluate the flies. Contact a Silver Award Evaluator to confirm his/her availability to evaluate your flies and get the mailing address of the evaluator. All evaluators are listed on the web site. It is suggested that you contact an evaluator near you. Throughout the process of the Silver Award the evaluator is the contact person if there are questions or items of concern to the tier. Tiers are encouraged to communicate with the evaluators at any 6

8 time. It is also suggested that tiers look at the Silver Award Evaluation Score Sheet Forms found on the web site and become aware of what evaluators will be evaluating and fully understand the evaluation and scoring process. The tiers are required to present three examples of each of the six required pattern as well as three examples of each of three patterns of the tier s choice to an evaluator. The purpose of the tier choice patterns is to allow tiers to practice their tying specialty. If your angling and tying activities are saltwater, warm water, steelhead, salmon, or trout please tie those types of flies. Mail the flies and the completed Silver Award Evaluation Fly Transmittal Form (found on the web site) to the evaluator. We suggest that the flies be mailed to the evaluator in a small compartmented box that will fit into a 6 x 9 padded mailer and mailed First Class Mail or by using a Small Flat Rate USPS box. The tiers name should be written on or affixed to the fly box. At the time the flies are sent to an evaluator the application fee of $60.00 may be paid one of two ways. Either a completed Silver Award Evaluation Fly Transmittal Form to the IFFF office (Membership@fedflyfishers.org) and make a payment using a credit card at the IFFF Store found on the IFFF website, or mail a copy of the completed Transmittal Form along with a check to: International Federation of Fly Fishers; Membership Department; 5237 U.S. Highway 89 South, Suite 11; Livingston, Montana Note: International tiers are required to pay by credit card. International checks will not be accepted. The application fee is a non-refundable fee regardless of the outcome of the evaluation. It is the intent of the program that each applicant improves their skills and be awarded for this achievement; therefore, the evaluator may provide feedback and suggest resubmittal of any number of the flies for further evaluation. However, the process must be completed within 90 days from time of original application, at which time the application will expire. An applicant may submit a second complete application (must include flies, forms and fee) following expiration of the first application. Instructions to the Silver Award Evaluator: The evaluator evaluates the flies and completes the Silver Award Evaluation Score Sheet found on the web site. If deficiencies are noted during the evaluation process the flies will be returned to the tier who, together with the evaluator, will deal with any issues that need to be corrected. If there are no deficiencies noted by the evaluator the flies, Transmittal Form, and completed Silver Award Evaluation Score Sheet are then forwarded to a member of the Review Panel. Instructions to the Silver Award Review Panel Member: If deficiencies are noted in the review process the evaluations and flies will be returned to the evaluator who, along with the tier, will then deal with the issues that need to be corrected. If no deficiencies are noted in the review the award is authorized. 7

9 Instructions to the IFFF Staff: IFFF staff will process receipt of the application fee by date and applicant s name and upon receipt of the evaluated flies and confirm that requirements for the Silver Award have been met. The applicant will be mailed their Silver Award Pin, Silver Award Certificate, their submitted evaluation flies and a copy of the evaluations. Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award The reader will become acquainted with many of the recipients of the IFFF s Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award through the highlighted information and quotes that are incorporated throughout this handbook. The history and lives of the Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award recipients is a very important part of the International Federation of Fly Fishers. Of all the awards presented by IFFF, among the most prestigious is the Buszek. This award has become recognized as the top fly tying award in the United States. Buz Buszek, the man for whom the FFF fly tying award was named, had all the attributes and characteristics that friends and relatives hoped future winners would have when they established the award. Buz Buszek 8

10 1986 Buszek Award Billy Munn Billy is aware of the winners who have preceded him. "I think this award is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," he says. "Look at the names of the people who have won it. The award has great significance even outside FFF. People know about it. And they know that the list of winners is 'primo'. It's a fast crowd." He's been formally teaching fly tying for many years, two to three classes a year. He specializes (or at least he's most well known for) deer hair bass bugs. Billy says his favorite patterns are still the five he picked out of "McNally's Fishermen's Digest." He ties a magnificent McNally frog, and Messinger hair frog. Basic Fly Tying Tools This section provides a brief introduction to the tools you will need or can choose to use for the Silver Award Handbook. These tools are in addition to those introduced in the Bronze Award Handbook. Hair Stacker or Evener Hollow tube in two parts, often made of metal but wooden ones work perfectly well provided they have sufficient weight. The base part pulls away from the upper tube revealing the aligned hair tips, which can then be removed for tying in. Stackers come in different sizes and it is important to select a tube that is just wide enough and deep enough for the bunch of hair to be stacked. Too tight and the hair will not move inside the tube; too loose and some hairs may tip at an angle, ruining the precise overall alignment. Fur comb A fine-toothed comb to remove underfur and other debris from deer hair, bucktail and other similar long-fibred hair prior to stacking and/or tying in. 9

11 Burnishing Tool Burnishing is a technique used to smooth a surface that has some bumps or valleys present. Burnishing tools can be made from polished agate, stainless steel, polished horn, hard wood, plastic, or glass Buszek Award Dick Nelson But perhaps the one thing that most people associate with Dick Nelson is his Aztec fly, and all the variables it produced. It's hard to think about Dick Nelson without thinking about all those beautiful patterns using synthetic materials. Here's what Dick has to say about how many patterns followed his initial creation: After creating the Aztec in 1976, I have, with Doug Swisher's help (testing, suggestions and lots of encouragement), developed a large number of flies based on the Aztec tying technique of using acrylic knitting yarn in a new way. Among the flies are the Aztec, the Manata and the Dorado; also the Aztec Sculpin, Crayfish, Shrimp, Puffball, Squid, Leech, F-W, Salamander, Dragonfly Nymph, Damselfly nymph, Frog, Ant, Cress Bug, Lady Bug, Stonefly Nymph, Rainbow Trout, Threadfin Shad, Black Nose Dace, Golden Shiner, Mickey Finn and many steelhead patterns. I also created the Nelson Deer Hair Caddis, the Nelson Green Rockworm and the Nelson Point Guard. That's an impressive list, and anyone who doesn't know Dick would think he's bragging. But those people who know Dick well know that he's a very humble person, willing to serve without seeking the limelight. 10

12 Thread Chris Helm, 2004 recipient of the Buz Buszek Memorial Fly Tying Award, wrote in an article about tying thread: "Matching the thread to size of the fly and the material is extremely important in achieving both functional and aesthetically pleasing flies. The more a tier understands about all the materials used in tying the fly the more efficient and effective he or she will become." More manufacturers are entering the fly tying thread market. Not only are we struggling with ever increasing choices but, because of rather confusing descriptions of thread characteristics it is not as easy as one would think to choose the right thread for a particular fly tying task. We purchased our thread for many decades based on the aught ("0") sizing system. The larger the number of 0 s, the thinner the thread, or, the larger the number, the easier the thread breaks. This was a good idea. But, in fact, each manufacturer had its own base standard for determining "0" size. Very simply put, a 2/0 thread from one manufacturer can be very different from a 2/0 thread from another company. If a tier only uses thread from a single manufacturer the system works. Otherwise, it does not. More recently Tom Schmuecker, of Wapsi Fly Inc., introduced tying thread measured by the denier system. This sizing system is commonly used in the sewing industry. The denier number represents the weight in grams of 9,000 yards of a particular thread product. What does that mean to us as tiers? The bigger the number, the heavier the thread, or, the smaller the number, the easier the thread breaks. The answer is that it is becoming a commonly used point of reference when we are determining what thread to use. What the "0" system and the 'Denier' system do not do is answer our two most important concerns regarding thread: What is the diameter of the thread and what is the breaking strength of the thread? Those are the characteristics we evaluate when purchasing and tying. Personal preference plays a large role in selecting thread. Use the thread you like to use. Some tiers tie beautiful flies ranging in size from 2/0 to 20 and only use size 6/0 or 8/0. The thread information chart included here is simply for reference to be used only as a starting point in selecting tying thread. There are no hard and fast rules. Experience in using a particular thread will be the determining factor in your thread selection. Featured in the chart are only four prominent manufacturers. There are many other makers of tying thread but a complete chart would include hundred of entries. 11

13 Thread Information Chart MANUFACTURER THREAD NAME AUGHT SIZE DENIER MATERIAL COLORS VERY SMALL FLIES SIZE 20 AND SMALLER Danville Spiderweb 18/0 30 Nylon White Only UNI UNI-Trico 17/0 40 Polyester White Only Veevus Veevus 14/0 14/0 Polyester 19 Colors Veevus Veevus 16/0 16/0 Polyester 16 Colors LOW BULK THREAD FOR SIZE 10 TO 20 FLIES Wapsi UTC Ultra Thread Nylon 34 Colors Veevus Veevus 10/0 10/0 Polyester 24 Colors Veevus Veevus 12/0 12/0 Polyester 17 Colors Danville Unwaxed Flymaster 6/0 79 Nylon 25 Colors Danville Waxed Flymaster 6/0 79 Nylon 25 Colors UNI UNI Thread Waxed 8/0 72 Polyester 23 Colors UNI UNI-Cord GSP 12/0 12/0 50 Gel Spun Polyethylene 6 Colors HIGH STRENGTH THREAD FOR SIZE 10 TO 20 FLIES Veevus Veevus GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene White & Black Veevus Veevus 8/0 8/0 Polyester 17 Colors Veevus Veevus 6/0 6/0 Polyester 15 Colors Wapsi UTC Ultra Thread Nylon 34 Colors Wapsi UTC Ultra GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene 8 Colors Wapsi UTC Ultra GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene 8 Colors Danvillle Monocord Unwaxed 3/0 115 Nylon 9 + Colors Danville Monocord Waxed 3/0 115 Nylon 9 + Colors UNI UNI-Cord GSP 8/0 8/0 75 Gel Spun Polyethylene 7 Colors HIGH STRENGTH THREAD FOR LARGE FLIES HAIR FLIES, LARGE SALTWATER, LARGE NYMPHS UNI BigFly Thread 3/0 400 Polyester 12 Colors UNI Nylon Nylon White & Black Wapsi Ultra GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene White Wapsi UTC Ultra GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene 9 Colors Wapsi UTC Ultra Thread Nylon 24 Colors Danville Flymaster Plus 210 Unwaxed 210 Nylon 25 Colors Danville Flymaster Plus 210 Waxed 210 Nylon 25 Colors Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Nylon 17 Colors Veevus Veevus GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene White Veevus Veevus GSP Gel Spun Polyethylene 12

14 1988 Buszek Award Bing Lempke Asked why he thought he was such a popular fly tier, Bing thought a second and said, I guess it's because I do things differently than most people. I was always looking for an easier way to tie. Some people say I put on wings and hackles differently than most people. Other people come along and say, 'Hey, that's the way I do it too,' or 'that would work for me.' I guess I've helped them. That's an understatement. Bing has always been willing to help a novice. He has taught fly tying classes for over 20 years. He has invented tools to help him with his extended body patterns. He's invented different techniques for some of his patterns (take a look at his hopper for example). He developed a compelling interest in entomology and can talk Latin with the most rabid professional or amateur entomologist available. He supported innumerable fund raising events associated with FFF and other conservation minded organizations. He's tied and given away thousands of flies as streamside gifts, gestures of support and teaching aids. Like all the Buszek winners before him, Bing Lempke was something special. Tying Techniques Basic techniques covered in the Bronze Handbook are not repeated in this Handbook. The techniques introduced for the Silver Handbook are set out below. Many of the techniques described below are also fully described in the Evaluation Fly step-by-step instruction section of this Handbook. All of the techniques used in the Silver Award Program are shown in the How-to videos for all the evaluation flies at: It is suggested that the techniques shown in this section be used as reference while following the step-by-step instructions for a particular evaluation fly. It is highly recommended that tiers refer to their bookshelf and the Internet for help as well. A quick Internet search for Fly Tying Techniques will yield nearly a half million returns. Surely the answer to nearly every possible question is there. The Silver Award Evaluators are there to help with any problems or questions. Please feel free to contact them for advice. Stripped Peacock Herl Bodies The best-marked quills come from the herl in the eye section of a peacock tail feather. The larger the eye, the more marked the colors on the quill. Removing the fibers from the quill can be done in several ways. Rubbing the quill with a pencil eraser is popular, as is running a thumbnail along the quill. Alternatives include bleaching and waxing. If the quills prove to be fragile or brittle, their flexibility can be improved by soaking in water for half an hour prior to use. Pre-prepared quills are available and may be used. Wrap the quill in touching turns to form the body, leaving no gaps or the underbody will show through. The quill is steeply tapered so, if tied in right by the tip, a large number of turns will be required to make the body, resulting in a striped rather than segmented effect. Tie in the quill about one-third of the way down from the tip to get a properly segmented body. 13

15 Laying the peacock quill on a hard surface and running the back side of your scissors down the quill may flatten the quill and remove most of the taper. Attach the peacock herl quill at the tail tie down position and bind the stem waste down along the top of the shank like you did with the tail waste. Tie off the quill either where it butts against the wing butts or closer to the wing tie-in if underbody wraps are already level. The body should be the same diameter throughout; there should not be a visible lump or bump at the wing tie-in position Head cement may be used sparingly to reinforce the body segments once the body is wrapped. Be sure to let it completely dry prior to tying in and wrapping the hackle. Feather Fiber Dry Fly Wings Making a wing of feather fiber is often a daunting task for a beginner. However, by following a few simple rules, it is not difficult to consistently produce neat, well-set wings. Always use a matched pair of left and right feathers, preferably from opposite wings from the same bird. Use the part of the feather that has straight edges and has enough fiber of the same thickness to form the size of wing you require. The thick part of the feather fiber near to the stem of the feather is more difficult to work with and should be avoided if possible. The place where change in thickness occurs can usually be seen on the back of the feather. Matched quill sections from the Mallard duck wing should be equal in width to the gap of the hook at their widest part. Wing length should be equal to the length of the hook shank. Make sure that the selected fiber slips are the same and correct size. Prepare the wing slips by placing them back-to-back and even up the tips. Determine the tie in position on the wings by using the hook shank as the measure for the wing height. Place the wings over the hook shank with tips forward and butts to the rear. Using a soft loop, mount the wings at the ¼ shank position. Pull the thread upwards to begin the collapsing of the wing fibers. Make another loop and tighten again. Make a few more wraps to secure the wing butts and then move the thread to in front of the wings as you lift the wings upright. While still holding the wings upright, make several wraps in front to stand the wings up vertical. Trim the wing butt waste as close as possible to the tie-in position and wrap thread to the rear tail tie in position using flat wraps. Ensure your wings are tied onto a flat base they will not sit straight if tied in on top of a lumpy underbody. Tip of Oval Tinsel The tip should start at the position on the shank directly above the halfway position between the hook point and the barb point. Prepare the end of the tip tinsel by stripping off some of the metal sheathing leaving the thread core exposed. Tie in the thread core on top of the shank at a position that will allow you to catch a few turns of tying thread around the metal sheathing coating as you reach the position directly above the halfway point between the hook point and the barb point. Wrap the tying thread back towards the eye of the hook and let it hang. Make 3 or 4 close turns of the tinsel to form the tip. Tie off underneath the shank with 1 or 2 turns of thread. While holding tension on the thread bobbin, cut the waste of the tinsel leaving about ¼ of an inch of waste. With tweezers, and/or dubbing needle and still holding tension on the bobbin, strip off the metal sheathing back to the tie-down position. Trim off any metal waste and bind down the remaining tinsel core to the underside of the shank. A common variation is to tie the tip onto the bottom of the hook shank. However, when you pull the tinsel around the shank, some slippage usually occurs which makes the first turn appear to be coming out about the 7 or 8 o'clock position. With fine tinsel, your eye will probably not notice but if you use larger tinsel there will be an aesthetic negative look. By wrapping the core down at the 4 or 5 o'clock position you can make it appear 14

16 as if it is coming out right at the bottom but if you pull just a little harder, it will come out between the 6 and 7 o'clock position. The reason for using the top of the shank is based on the experience of tying Atlantic Salmon flies for framing. When you start to wrap the tip, it will slide very slightly to the far side of the shank, the 1 or 2 o'clock position. When you complete the first turn of tinsel it looks like it starts at the bottom and the actual starting point is hidden on the backside. When tying in rib tinsel the rule is to start at the bottom but even then tiers are cautioned that the tinsel slips from tension. It may look like it comes out at 7 or 8 o'clock and it is suggested that it be tied in more around the 5 o'clock so it slips around to the 6 o'clock position. Having the tip tinsel tied down on top has some of its origins in the way Hale constructed his tip/tag assemblies. It may also be added that when you have thicker tip material you also must remember that you are tying on a curved portion of the hook. When that second and third wrap comes around, things do get crowded on the underside of the curve and spaces start appearing between wraps on the outer curve. Using a finger nail to push the wraps together isn t advised; doing so will just loosen up the assembly. Therefore carefully wrap the tip so those open spaces are dealt with as the tip is formed. Tails of Golden Pheasant Crest The crest of the golden pheasant has a natural curve. However, this curve is often distorted as a result of packaging and storage. With smaller flies this is not so much of an issue but for larger steelhead or salmon flies, any detraction from the proper plane or curve will be very noticeable and unbalance the fly. If the feather does not sit flat on a table with an upwards crescent-shaped curve, it will need some preparation before using it. There are many methods, but perhaps the simplest one is to simply steam the feather over a hot kettle (taking care not to scald yourself) and then place it on a suitable curved surface to dry: for smaller feathers, use something like a herb or spice jar from the kitchen; for larger crests, use a glass or beer bottle. Make sure the feather is completely dry before you use it. Prepare the tail crest by trimming away the fibers near the bottom of the stem leaving tiny stubs along the feather stem. This will aid in keeping the stem from rotating as you tie it onto the shank. Ensure the feather is the correct length. Tie the tail feather onto the shank so it lies in the plane of the hook. Bind the stem down using flat thread wraps. Start at the tie point and wrap forward then back to the butt. With larger feathers it may be necessary to flatten the stem of the feather (with e.g. a pair of flat jawed pliers or between the grips of your scissors) before tying it in, to prevent it rolling off the top of the hook shank. Floss as a Body Material Silk floss is difficult to use as it has a tendency to fray. Modern synthetic flosses are much more forgiving. Thicker multi-strand flosses can be split to avoid a bulky dressing. If the underbody is a bit lumpy or irregular, there are irregular spots along the hook shank, use your tying thread to form a smooth underbody before wrapping the floss. It is important that the thread foundation under the floss is as smooth as possible as irregularities in the underbody will reflect in the finished floss body. Tie in the floss at the front of the hook. Wrap carefully and change hands at the top of each wrap to avoid twisting the floss. Wrap the floss body material down the shank keeping the fibers as flat as possible and use touching turns. After reaching the back of the fly wrap the body material forward using slightly overlapping turns to create a 15

17 very slight taper. Try to create a cigar shape. The goal here, again, is to create a very smooth body. You may want to burnish the body floss to assure a smooth body surface. (Optional See Burnishing Floss Bodies) Ribbing a Fly Body Ribbing provides extra strength and gives segmentation to a fly s body. Typically ribs are made using wire, mono, tinsel, or other materials. Generally ribbing material requires no special preparation and is tied in and tied off using the same positioning and wrapping instructions as the oval tinsel; keep in mind, however, that oval tinsel does require special preparation and is fully described in Ribbing of Oval Tinsel. Ribs should be tied in on the underside of the hook so that they do not suddenly appear halfway up the body. Wind the rib in evenly spaced turns parallel to each other and check both sides of the fly for consistency. When tying in rib tinsel the rule is to start at the bottom; even then tiers are cautioned that the tinsel slips from tension. If it does It may look like it comes out at 7 or 8 o'clock; this can be dealt with by tying it in more around the 5 o'clock position so it slips around to the 6 o'clock position, If directed to wrap a rib for durability, wrap the rib in the opposite direction to the material being protected. Ribs applied in the same direction as dubbing will tend to bury themselves into the dubbing. If ribbing with wire, always break off the excess do not ruin your expensive scissors by cutting wire. Ribbing with Oval Tinsel Prepare oval tinsel ribbing material by stripping off the outer metal sheath to reveal the core. To minimize bumps in the body, tie-down the tinsel core along the bottom or slightly to the off-side of the bottom of the hook shank using flat thread turns. The tying thread should just catch the metal ribbing sheath about two turns before reaching the tail tie-in position. When you eventually wrap the ribbing, it will pull toward you to directly under the hook shank when making the first rib wrap. After tying in the rib material use flat thread wraps as you take the tying thread forward. If there are irregular spots along the hook shank, use your tying thread to form a smooth underbody After the body of the fly is in place wrap the ribbing material forward creating five evenly spaced ribs. Make two wraps of your tying thread around the rib material to tie it off at the bottom of the hook shank and hold onto the bobbin to keep tension on the thread. Trim the oval tinsel rib waste leaving about ¼ inch tag end. While maintaining tension on the thread, use your tweezers to pull off the metal sheath revealing the tinsel core. Cut any metal sheath material off and make several turns to bind down the core fibers. Trim all waste ends at this time. Folding Hackle Folding a hackle is a technique where the hackle fibers emanating from different sides of a stem are folded so they all point away from one side of the stem. The resulting hackle will have the fibers folded with the dull sides facing each other. There are several procedures that produce a folded hackle. One method is to hold the hackle by the tip in the right hand or a rigidly held hackle pliers with the stem pointing to the left, shiny side up. Then, with the little finger of the left hand holding the butt against the palm, place the stem between the thumb and first finger of the left hand and stroke the fibers back and down to fold them against each other. Start up by the tip and work your way down the stem. 16

18 Or, you can secure the butt in a rigid clamp with stem pointing to the left, shiny side up. Apply tension to the stem while holding the tip of the feather between the thumb and first finger of the left hand. Place the stem between the thumb and first finger of the right hand and push down and towards the butt causing the hackle fibers to fold against each other with shiny sides out and dull sides towards each other. Start at the tip and work down to the butt end. There are additional methods that can produce a folded hackle, some using scissors to bend the fibers down. Care must be taken not to scrape the fibers off the stem or weaken the stem/hackle connection. Folding jigs have also been developed. As the hackle is wrapped around the fly the fibers can be stroked or pinched toward the back of the fly. This will increase the effectiveness of folding the hackle. Burnishing Floss Bodies Burnishing is a technique used to smooth a surface that has some bumps or valleys present. The process of wrapping stranded fibers like floss or silk often creates an irregular surface caused by changing angles or direction of wraps and unequal tension in the strands. Burnishing floss or silk wrapped bodies is done by rubbing a very smooth, clean, and hard surface over the wraps. Both back-and-forth as well as side-to-side motions are used to push the strands into valleys or off bumps. Burnishing flat metal tinsel bodies can also be done but only with movements of the tool perpendicular to the shank. No side-to-side motions are to be used when burnishing the metal wraps. Burnishing tools can be made from polished agate, stainless steel, polished horn, hard wood, plastic, or glass. Wings of Squirrel Tail Hair Squirrel tail is a more difficult fur to use than most hairs. It is hard and shiny, which makes it slippery. Waxing the thread will help get a firm grip on the fibers. Select, clean, and stack the squirrel tail material for the wing. Position the fibers so the tip of the wing goes back to the tip of the tail. While holding the material with the tips pointing in the direction of the tail the butts of the hair can be trimmed to length and cement applied to them before tying in the bundle. With some practice the butts of the hair can be cut in a taper that will help form a smooth, tapered head. Position the fibers on top of the hook shank in the wing tie down position and make a soft loop around the hair material. Make several tighter wraps as you bind the wing down.. A couple of turns of thread can be worked into the cut ends for additional security. Then form a neat tapered head, whip finish the head and coat with several coats of head cement to make a smooth, attractive head. Parachute Wing Posts made from Calf Tail Hair There is more than one way to tie in a wing post. The essential requirements are that the finished post is vertical and stable enough to support the wound hackle, that the post be stable enough to prevent its turning or twisting on the hook shank, and that the hackle will not slide up on the wing while fishing. Select and clean an appropriate size bundle of calf tail hair fibers. Wing post diameter is determined by putting a half twist in the bundle of calf tail fibers and comparing its diameter with the hook eye diameter. When twisted, the cylinder formed by the calf tail fibers should have the same or slightly larger diameter than the hook eye. 17

19 Stack the fibers twice to assure the tips are even. Measure the calf tail fibers for length. Form a wing post one shank length in height. Apply head cement to the tie-in spot for the calf tail and mount the calf tail with several turns of thread on top of the shank at the ⅓ shank position back from the eye of the hook with the tips forward. Do not cut the waste. Post the wing by lifting it upright and making several wraps tight up against where the calf tail and shank meet. This forms a small thread dam to hold the wing in an upright position. Make a few wraps around the post and back behind the post to secure the calf tail in an upright position. A few figure eight wraps should hold the post in an upright position. Wrap back several turns to further anchor the wing. Lift the waste material up into an almost vertical position and cut the waste while holding the scissor blades parallel to the shank. This will produce a tapered cut on the wing butt. Bind the angled wing butt section down, bring the thread forward and make several wraps up and down the post to stiffen it and provide a section for the hackles to be wrapped. Use your bodkin to apply head cement to the threads covering the calf tail. If this base is not firm, the hackle will slide off the post during wrapping, as sufficient tension cannot be applied on a loose base. Stacking or Evening Hair A hair stacker or evener is used to align the tips of individual hairs before they are tied in as a bunch to form a wing or tail. Hairs stacked in this way give the wing a neat and clearly defined profile. Choose a stacking tool of a size appropriate for the hair selected. Remove an appropriately sized bundle of hair from the skin or tail and hold it by the tips. Remove all the underfur, loose or short hairs and other debris by gently stroking it out with your fingers or using a fine-toothed comb. Otherwise, the hair will not stack correctly and the integrity of the tying in point may be compromised. Hair can be much more easily cleaned of all underfur, loose hairs and debris by first sprinkling the hair patch or tail lightly with baby powder or some other talc like product. Gently rub the powder into the hair patch or tail. Once the hair is cleaned, deposit the hair bundle tip first into the stacker. Tap the base of the stacker firmly on a hard surface several times. Turn the stacker into the horizontal position and hold the tube section. Remove the base section to expose the tips. If they are correctly aligned, take hold of the tips and remove them from the stacker. Otherwise, repeat the process. Remove the hair from the stacker by holding the stacker tube with the tips pointing in the direction they will be applied to the fly. By doing so it will be unnecessary to reverse the direction of the tips after they are removed from the stacker. Once removed from the stacker, take care to keep the tips aligned during the tying in process. The butt ends should be checked for loose hairs and underfur once more before tying in. Parachute Hackles The hackle is usually tied in at the wing post at an early stage in the construction of the fly. For the purpose of the Silver Award Program it is suggested that the hackle be tied with the front (shiny) side up and the back (dull) side down. Some tiers prefer the opposite and either way is a matter of personal preference for fishing flies provided that the hackle is level and densely packed. Select a grizzly hackle feather and a brown hackle feather, ensuring that when wound they will span roughly twice the width of the hook gape, and strip off a portion of its base fibers for the tie-in zone on the stem. Attach the hackles in front of the wing post with the hackles to the far side. Allow some stem length so you can bind the hackle stems to the thread portion of the wing post as you wrap the tying thread up the post and 18

20 back down. Be sure to position the hackles so the barbs will have the shiny side up when you wrap the hackle counter-clockwise around the post. Trim the hackle stem waste. Wrap the hackles counter-clockwise around and down the post. You will want the shiny sides of the hackle to be facing up and the dull sides facing down when you wrap the hackles. Wrap the hackles one at a time. Make about 3 wraps of the first hackle. While holding the hackle tip pointing towards the far side in front of the post with the right hand, stroke the hackle fibers up and to the back with the left hand. Pinch the wing assembly and hackles together with the left thumb and index finger. Release the hackle tip from the right hand and take the tying thread up and over the hackle stem and shank. Make two wraps, let thread hang, grasp the hackle stem with right hand and pull to tighten stem against the wing post and hook shank. Make several more wraps of tying thread around the hackle stem. Trim the hackle stem waste in a similar way, wrap the other hackle down the post, wiggling it as you work the stem into the other wrapped hackle, tie off the hackle, trim the hackle stem and form the head of the fly. Muskrat Belly Underfur for Dubbing Dry Flies This material is used as body dubbing on the Parachute Adams evaluation fly. For the best color and texture select a patch of muskrat fur from the underbelly of the muskrat. Underfur from any part of the muskrat is finely textured and grey in color. Most of the other parts of the skin have much more brown guard hair that must be removed prior to use but can still be used if this guard hair is removed. The dubbing material is prepared by simply grasping a small amount of the clean fur with the thumb and forefinger and snipping the bunch off the skin with scissors. Cut the fur as close to the skin as possible because that grey underfur nearest the skin is the best for dry fly dubbing. While still holding the ends of the fur and guard hairs use the other hand to pull out as much of the nice grey underfur as possible. Discard guard hairs and only dub with the soft grey underfur. When as much guard hair as possible is removed the underfur can be blended by any number of methods. It blends nicely by simply mixing the underfur with your fingers and then pulling the bundle apart and blending it a number of times. Follow the dubbing process instructions below. Dubbing Fly Bodies This technique gives the average tier more problems than nearly any other. Nearly any material can be dubbed provided that it is sufficiently pliable to bend and mat together and has sufficient staple to allow it to wrap around the tying thread. Staple means the length of individual hairs or parts of the dubbing. The longer and softer the material is, the easier it is to dub. When dubbing dry fly bodies the rule is: less is best. Some tiers apply too much dubbing; this interferes with the formation of the dubbing rope of material interwoven within itself and the thread. The technique used for this level is simple. Once the dubbing is well blended and formed into a thin mat, hold the mat up to the tying thread (opposite if you are tying left handed) with the right thumb and forefinger while cradling the bobbin in the palm of the left hand. With the right thumb and forefinger tease the dubbing onto the thread using a rolling motion all the time in the same direction. Start the teasing process with a very small amount of dubbing and increase the amount as you work down the tying thread. This will create a tapered body. The longer the movement you can make with your fingers, and the more pressure you exert, the tighter the wrap or dubbing rope will be. Roll the material in only one direction and use only as much 19

21 dubbing material as you need. A small pinch of dubbing goes a long way. The use of too much dubbing material is very often a fault with novice tiers. Some fly tiers advocate applying wax sparingly onto the thread, or using pre-waxed thread to help the dubbing to adhere to it. Having dubbed your thread, wrap the dubbing forward on the hook in close turns. Do not overdress the body. If you find you have too much dubbing on the thread, take some off before completing the wraps. Many dubbed fly bodies like the Parachute Adams are tapered from the tie-in position forward much like the taper of an insect body. This is achieved simply by tapering the dubbing rope on the tying thread prior to wrapping the dubbing onto the hook. Palmered or Body Hackle A body hackle is a feather wrapped or palmered in evenly spaced wraps along a portion of the body. Often a wire rib is included as part of this treatment of the fly body to protect the fragile feather stem. There are two ways of doing this; both ways work equally well. The first method is to tie in the hackle by the butt at the head. This first method is the method to be used on the Troth Elk Hair Caddis Evaluation fly. In this case, prepare the hackle by removing the fluff and unwanted fibres from the base of the stem. Tie it in by the butt of the stem at the front of the body and wind it backwards in equally spaced turns while wrapping the hackle over the top and away from you and under the shank toward you to the end of the body. Make two turns around the hook shank and the hackle stem with the fine wire ribbing material. By forward wrapping the wire, it will cross over the hackle stem tying it down to the shank and body. The Second method is to tie in the hackle by the tip of the feather at the tail of the fly, wind it forward, tie it down, and then bring the rib forward in the opposite direction Buszek Award Jimmy Nix "Being born with a compulsive personality, I immersed myself in tying totally." A friend, and fellow Buszek winner, Billy Munn of Bridgeport, Texas, agrees with Jimmy's own assessment of himself. "I think Jimmy is about as enthusiastic as anybody I've ever met," says Billy." "That goes for fishing and fly tying. He really goes after it, and he's a very good fly tier." Indeed, in the last 20 years Jimmy has done just about everything involving fly tying and fly fishing. He now makes his living tying, giving lectures, slide shows, teaching classes about tying and fishing, and writing freelance articles. He's produced a video called Fly Tying Bass Flies. There's another video about saltwater flies and plans for creating a book. 20

22 Hooks The hook is a very important part of a fly. No matter how good your skills as a fly tier if the hook fails, your efforts have been wasted. Similarly, the aesthetic effect of a well-tied fly can be ruined by poor hook choice. For additional information regarding hook types and other information regarding fly tying hooks please refer to the Bronze Award Handbook. Parts of a Hook The different parts of a hook are set out in the picture below 1990 Buszek Award Kent Bulfinch I didn't have money to buy flies," recalls Kent, "so I got Dr. Fred E. Steele of Montpelier, Vermont and Roland S. Nickless of Manchester, New Hampshire to teach me to tie. Dr. Steele's flies were an inspiration and it was fun." Among his many activities as a tier, he includes tying for FFF fund raisers, sportsman shows, teaching fly tying and tying for special museum displays. Retaliation Streamer and the Improved Hutchinson Damsel Nymph. However, most recently he has been working with producing realistic stonefly patterns using rubber bands. He says it gives the flies a "chewey" abdomen. 21

23 General Information: Silver Award Evaluation Flies Step by Step Instructions The instructions, tying techniques, tying materials, sizes. and hooks are very specific for the tying of the required evaluation flies. If, for some reason, the tier should want to deviate or substitute these materials and techniques it is strongly suggested that the evaluator be consulted prior to doing so. Not doing so can result in evaluation problems. It is understood that there are many pattern variations for the required fly patterns used in the Silver Award Program. The patterns used in the program are the ones that were found to be among the most common and historically correct versions of the patterns therefore we ask that the flies be tied as the instructions suggest. Left handed tiers are asked to inform their evaluator of that fact. Write Left handed on the Silver Award Evaluation Fly Transmittal Form or write it on the fly box. This has to do with looking at the direction in which materials are wrapped on the hook. The evaluator may look at the fly as a right handed person would and incorrectly evaluate the fly. If you, as a left hander, have any problems or questions regarding the Silver Award tying techniques, please consult your evaluator. This writer is among that left handed ten percent of humans. We ve lived in this right handed world and made many adjustments throughout our lives. We ve had to adjust to using scissors, can openers, ball point pens, and power tools and we have prevailed. As tiers we can prevail as well. In addition to this handbook detailed step-by-step instructional videos for the six required patterns are found on the IFFF web site. Tiers are encouraged to watch the videos before tying the flies. The videos also include evaluation material in order for the tier to understand the evaluation process Buszek Award - Wayne Leuallen Friend and fellow member of the Visalia based Kaweah Flyfishers, Tom Leach, had this to say about Wayne in the club's formal nomination for Wayne for the Buszek Award: "Over the years, many people have been recognized for their skills at fly tying. Most masters of the craft (and most previous winners of this award) are recognized for the visual quality of the finished product - the fly. With Wayne, his quality is obviously superb, but it is not the main issue - it's tying of the fly. He has clearly elevated the activity to a higher plane. 22

24 Ginger Quill - Dry Fly The Ginger Quill belongs to a set of dry fly patterns incorporating feather quill material for the body construction. Over time, many variations have been popularized resulting in several slightly different material listings and proportion guidelines. Wings have been constructed from starling or mallard duck wing quills. Body quills have been used from stripped ginger hackle quills or stripped peacock eye herls. Different interpretations of the color ginger results in many variations based on local mayfly insect hues. The Silver Award program requires the following proportions and guidelines to be followed for this required pattern; Wing: Matched quill sections from the Mallard duck wing should be equal in width to the gap of the hook at their widest part. Wing length should be equal to the length of the hook shank. Tail: The tail should be equal in length to the hook shank. Body: Body is formed from wraps of a stripped peacock herl stem. Underbody should not be visible and the body should not be tapered. Minimizing body taper may be difficult based on the herl stem used to make the wraps. There should be no visible lump or bump at the wing tie-in position. Hackle: Hackle length is 1.5 times the hook gap. Hackle tips should be short of the wing length allowing some of the wing tips to be visible above the hackle. Hackle should not cross between the wings. There should be 8-10 turns of hackle distributed evenly behind and in front of the wings. Materials: Hook: Mustad or TMC 100, Size 12 or 14 Thread: Yellow 8/0 UNI-Thread or UTC 70 Denier Wing: Natural Grey Mallard Wing Quills Tail: Ginger hackle fibers Body: Peacock herl stem, stripped Hackle: Ginger Neck Hackle 23

25 Step -By-Step Tying Instructions for Ginger Quill: 1. Mount the hook in the vise jaws, attach thread in front of the ¼ shank position and wrap back towards the bend about 5 or 6 turns using flat turns. Twist the bobbin clockwise to make it into a rounded thread and wrap back to the wing tie-in position at the ¼ shank position (Fig. #1.) This provides a firmer foundation for the wing tie-down zone. Flatten the thread by spinning the bobbin counterclockwise. Fig. #1 2. Prepare the wing slips by placing them back-to-back and even up the tips. Determine the tie-in position on the wings by using the hook shank as the measure for the wing height. Place the wings over the hook shank with tips forward and butts to the rear. Using a soft loop, mount the wings at the ¼ shank position. Pull upwards to begin the collapsing of the wing fibers. Make another loop and tighten again (Fig. #2). Make a few more wraps to secure the wing butts and move thread to in front of the wings as you lift the wings upright. While still holding the wings upright, make several wraps in front to stand the wings up vertical (Fig. #3.) Trim the wing butt waste as close as possible to the tie-in position and wrap thread to the rear tail tie-in position using flat wraps (Fig. #4.) Fig. #2 Fig. #3 Fig. #4 3. Prepare the ginger hackle fibers for the tail by stroking the hackle fibers out perpendicular to the hackle stem and strip of the fibers. The number of tail fibers will be proportionate to the size of the fly and the length of the tail should be the length of the hook shank. Tie in the tail at the rearmost position of the straight section of the hook shank - usually above the point of the barb. The tail waste should be bound along the top of the hook shank up to the wing butts. You are using these waste hackle fibers to form a flat section to minimize or eliminate a body taper. Trim tail waste so the hackle stubs butt up against the wing butts (Fig. #5.) Select a stripped peacock herl for the body. These stems will be tapered. The stripped herl will give the body a segmented look. You want the segments to appear wide enough after wrapping the body so you need to decide where on the peacock herl you will get a section that is wide enough but not tapering too much in thickness. Laying the peacock stem on a hard surface and running the back side of your scissors down the stem may flatten the stem and remove most of the thickness taper. Attach the peacock herl stem at the tail tie-down position and bind the stem waste down along the top of the shank like you did with the tail waste. Tie off the stem either where it abuts the wing butts or closer to the wing tie-in if underbody wraps are already level (Fig. #6.) Stripped peacock herl stems may be a little fragile or split if they are dry. You may want to moisten them prior to tying them in. 24

26 Fig. #5 Fig. #6 4. Trim the waste stripped herl stem (Fig. #7.) Carefully wrap the peacock stem forward using edge-to-edge turns. The underbody should not be visible when body is completed. The body should not be tapered nor should there be a visible lump or bump at the wing tie-in position (Fig. #8.) Head cement may be used sparingly to reinforce the body segments. Be sure to let it completely dry prior to tying in and wrapping the hackle. If too narrow a stem is used, you will lose the segmented look. Fig. #7 Fig. #8 5. Prepare the ginger hackle stem by stripping off the fuzz from the lower part of the stem. Tie in the hackle by the butt behind the wing with the concave side forward. Leave space behind the wing to make several wraps of the hackle. Bind the stem down along the bottom side of the shank and bring the thread in front of the wing tie-in position and continue binding the stem down (Fig. #9.) The hackle fibers should be 1½ times the gap in length. Trim the hackle butt waste. Wrap the hackle by making four to five turns behind the wing, crossing under to the front and making four to five wraps. The goal is to distribute the hackle evenly behind and in front of the wings (Fig. #10.) Wing tips should be visible above the hackle. Fig. #9 Fig. #10 25

27 6. Form the head of the fly, whip finish, trim the waste thread, and apply head cement (Fig. #11.) Check to make sure the wings are centered on top of the shank (Fig. #12.) Check to be sure the fly sits with the 3 point stance with tail tip, bottom of hook, and hackle tips supporting the fly. Fig. #11 Fig. # Buszek Award Stan Walters In the fly tying world, he is known for his work with hollow hair, extended hair bodies and low water steelhead flies. His bass bugs are a thing of beauty. Stan says it was never his goal to tie for show but to tie flies that would catch fish. One of his favorite flies is the Walters Yellow which he originated. Another pattern that he reluctantly admits to originating is the Walters Turkey Nymph. Like most fly tyers he has produced variations on many standard patterns. Teaching all aspects of fly tying and fishing is a forte that he has become famous for. Some people have called him the George Harvey of the west. 26

28 The Blue Charm Hair Wing - Salmon/Steelhead Fly There are several versions of the Blue Charm Hair Wing each with its own set of proportions. The patterns cover different styles from the Atlantic Salmon Classic Hair Wing style to the low water version developed for specific water conditions. The pattern chosen for the Silver Award program is one that leans towards the low water style but is adjusted more to the "Steelhead" tie as shown in Flies for Atlantic Salmon by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen. Western Steelhead patterns often tend to be somewhere between the Atlantic Salmon and low water styles. The following proportions should be adhered to for this tie; Tip: The tip should start at the position on the shank directly above the halfway position between the hook point and the barb point. Tail: Tail should extend to about ½ gap behind the bend. Tail should begin at the position where the shank starts to drop off or where the bend begins. The intent is to get the tail to hug the bottom of the wing. Throat Hackle: The throat hackle should be tied on as a collar and pulled down as a throat. Fibers of the collar should slope back toward the hook point. Rib: There should be 5 ribs on the body of the fly beginning and ending at the underside of the body. Materials: Hook: Tiemco TMC 7989 or Mustad SL 73UNP-BN (36890) Size 4 Thread: UTC 70 Black or UNI-Thread 8/0 Black Tip: Fine silver oval tinsel Rib: Small silver oval tinsel slightly larger than that used for the Tip Tail: Golden Pheasant crest Tag: Yellow silk or rayon floss Body: Black silk or rayon floss Hackle: Blue hackle (Kingfisher Blue) Wing: Gray Squirrel tail 27

29 Step-By-Step Tying Instructions for Blue Charm: 1. Mount hook in vise jaws, attach thread about one eye length behind hook eye, and lay a flat thread base to the rear ending just in front of the position above the hook point (Fig. #1.) Prepare the end of the tip tinsel by stripping off some of the metal sheathing leaving the tinsel core exposed (Fig. #2.) Fig. #1 Fig. #2 2. Tie in the tinsel core on top of the shank at a position that will allow you to catch a few turns around the tinsel coating as you reach the position directly above the halfway point between the hook point and the barb point (Fig. #3.) Make 3 or 4 close turns of the tinsel to form the tip. Tie off underneath the shank with 1 or 2 turns of thread (Fig. #4.) While holding tension on the thread bobbin, cut the waste of the tinsel leaving about ¼ of an inch of waste. With tweezers, and still holding tension on the bobbin, strip off the metal coating back to the tie-down position (Fig.#5.) Trim off any metal waste. Bind down the tinsel core waste to the underside of the shank (Fig. #6). Fig. #3 Fig. #4 Fig. #5 Fig. #6 28

30 3. Wrap the thread forward to a position one eye length to the right of the point above the hook point. Tie in the floss tag material on the bottom of the shank slightly to the off-side of the bottom of the hook (Fig. #7.) Wrap the yellow floss tag material down the shank in flat touching turns to the tip tie-down position then wrap the floss forward in slightly overlapping flat turns to the tie off position (Fig. #8.) This should result in a slightly tapered tag. Tie off the floss and trim the waste leaving about a ¼ inch waste. While holding onto the bobbin to provide tension on the tying thread, carefully burnish the floss tag to smooth out any irregularities in the wraps if necessary. Fig. #7 Fig. #8 4. Select a Golden Pheasant crest feather for the tail. The tip of the tail should be located approximately ½ gap behind the bend of the hook and should curve upwards to a position about a gap or 1½ gap above the shank. Prepare the tail crest by trimming away the fibers near the bottom of the stem leaving tiny stubs along the feather stem. This will aid in keeping the stem from rotating as you tie it onto the shank. Tie the tail feather onto the shank (Fig. #9) so it lies in the plane of the hook. Bind the stem down using flat thread wraps. Prepare the ribbing material by stripping off the outer metal sheath to reveal the core (Fig #10.) Fig. #9 Fig. #10 29

31 5. To minimize bumps in the body, tie-down the ribbing core along the bottom or slightly to the off-side of the bottom of the hook shank using flat thread turns. The tying thread should just catch the metal ribbing sheath about two turns before reaching the tail tie-in position. When you eventually wrap the ribbing, it will pull forward to directly under the hook shank when making the first rib wrap. After tying in the rib material (Fig. #11), use flat thread wraps as you take the tying thread forward. If there are irregular spots along the hook shank, use your tying thread to form a smooth underbody. A burnishing tool may help. A rotary vise will allow you to check the underbody and locate uneven spots. Attach the black body floss at the body tie in position (Fig. #12.) Fig. #11 Fig. #12 6. Wrap the black floss body material down the shank keeping the fibers as flat as possible and use touching turns. Then wrap the body material forward using slightly overlapping turns to create a very slight taper (Fig. #13.) Try to create a cigar shape. Tie off the floss. Do not cut the tag ends yet. You may want to burnish the body floss to assure a smooth body surface. Wrap the ribbing material forward creating five evenly spaced ribs (Fig. #14.) Make two wraps of your tying thread around the rib material to tie it off at the bottom of the hook shank and hold onto the bobbin to keep tension on the thread. Trim the rib waste leaving about ¼ inch tag end. While maintaining tension on the thread, use your tweezers to pull off the metal sheath revealing the tinsel core. Cut any metal sheath material off and make several turns to bind down the core fibers. Trim all waste ends at this time. Fig.#13 Fig. #14 30

32 7. Prepare the blue hackle by folding it, stripping off excess lower stem fibers, and trimming away hackle fibers along the stem at the tip. Hackle fiber length should allow the hackle fibers to almost touch the hook point when tied into position. Tie in the hackle by the tip with concave side down (Fig. #15.) Pull the tip back under the shank and make a wrap of tying thread to secure the hackle. Trim the waste. Wrap the hackle on as a throat (Fig. #16) and tie it off. This will increase the effectiveness of folding the hackle. Trim away the waste hackle. Pull the hackle down as a collar and use a pinching technique to direct the hackle fibers back so they point toward the hook point (Fig. #17.) Fig. #15 Fig. #16 Fig. #17 8. Select, clean, and stack the squirrel tail material for the wing. Position the fibers so the tip of the wing goes back to the tip of the tail. Transfer the fibers to the left hand and pre-glue the butts of the hair fibers. Pre-cut the butts of the hair fibers to the appropriate length so no trimming is necessary after the wing is mounted. Position the fibers on top of the hook shank in the wing tie-down position and make a soft loop around the hair material. Make several tighter wraps as you bind the wing down (Fig. #18.) Form the head. Whip finish the head and coat it with several coats of head cement (Fig. #19.) Fig. #18 Fig. # Buszek Award Chuck Echer Professionally, the 1993 recipient of the Buszek Award, Chuck Echer, is a scientist operating an analytical electron microscope for Lawrence, Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Perhaps it's the inclination toward scientifically exacting accuracy that makes Echer particularly gifted as a fly tier, but Frank Stolten, past fly tying chairman of the Northern California Council's annual Conclave, describes Echer as "a highly creative tyer, always striving to develop and teach new techniques with new materials." Echer considers trout flies his specialty, "if I have one' he says. It's only been in the last four years that opportunities to fish saltwater have had their influence. "My problem is that I enjoy fly fishing for all the game species. Therefore, I find myself researching and subsequently tying fly patterns for a particular trip." 31

33 Lefty's Deceiver Salt Water Fly Lefty's Deceiver is a very versatile salt water pattern intended to imitate a small bait fish to act as prey for larger predatory fish. Lefty Kreh developed the fly in the late 1950's. Lefty incorporated several characteristics into the design; 1) Easy to cast long distances and into the wind 2) Have a baitfish shape and appeal to predator fish 3) Materials shouldn't foul during the cast It is not a precise pattern but more of a style or method of tying. It typically is tied with lighter colors of feathers and bucktail with a little flash. Over the years it has been tied using many combinations of colors and size variations from size 10 bronze hooks for bream to 2/0 stainless steel hooks and larger for saltwater species. The techniques for tying this pattern are generally those used for tying many other saltwater patterns. However, the instructions and materials described here generally follow those demonstrated by Lefty Kreh in his video "Lefty Kreh Saltwater Fly Tying" produced in 1990 as well as Lefty's book, Presenting The Fly, 1999, Materials: Hook: Daiichi 472, or Mustad S71SNP-SS (was 34007). Size 10 2/0 Size (size 2 used here) Thread: White Danville's Fly-Master Waxed, white UTC 140, or 3/0 Tail/Body/Collar Assembly: Six white and two Grizzly rooster feathers, 5 strands of Krystal Flash (doubled), white bucktail on sides and brown bucktail on top Throat: Ten strands of red Krystal Flash Head: White thread, eyes, head cement Eyes: Cement:* 3-D Eyes (5/32 or smaller) Loon Hard-Head Clear Finish, Loon UV Clear Fly Finish, or The Original Super Glue GEL. *Some cements may be incompatible with the adhesive on the back of the eyes as well as some head cements. If this is the case the eyes may not become securely attached to the fly. Be sure that is not the case with your flies. Some head cements may cause the incompatibility issue. It may be best to not use head cement prior to applying the eyes. The UV finish will harden quickly when exposed to a UV light. 32

34 Step-By-Step Tying Instructions for Lefty's Deceiver: 1. De-barb the hook and place it in the vise (Fig. 1.) Attach the thread with a jam knot approximately 1/3 shank length in front of hook bend (Fig. 2.) Wrap thread towards hook bend using flat side by side or touching wraps (Fig. 3.) Stop wrapping and leave thread hanging at a position mid-way between hook point and barb point. Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 2. Form the body by selecting three paired white hackle feathers and one pair of grizzly hackles. Feathers should be selected from each side of the cape or saddle to assure the two sides of the body match when paired. Three of the white hackles should curve to the left and three should curve to the right. Hackles need to be matched for curvature, and width (Fig. 4.) Similarly, the grizzly hackles should be chosen with one curving to the left, and one to the right (Fig. 5) while matching the white feathers for width and curvature. Length of the stems will be adjusted later. Fig 4 Fig 5 3. Adjust the tip ends of all the hackles that curve in the same way so they are together and laying parallel to each other. The grizzly hackle is to be located on the outside of each set to represent a scale like pattern. The grizzly hackle should be slightly shorter when placed over the white hackles. Constructing a set of feathers with tips matching can present a frustrating situation with all the handling that will take place in the mounting procedure. The feather sets should extend past the mounting position one hook shank length. You can do a preliminary length adjustment by stripping off excess feather fibers. If you cut the stems to different lengths you can later identify which stem to pull on to adjust mis-aligned tips. While holding the feather assembly for one side between your fingers, dip them in water and stroke them with the fingers of the other hand to remove excess water. Repeat for the other set of feathers. The white and grizzly sets are separated in the Figures below. (Fig 6 & Fig 7) You can then position the grizzly hackle on top and adjust for length or add the grizzly to the white set before wetting. Notice how the lengths of the stems on the white sets are of different lengths. Fig 6 Fig 7 33

35 4. The neck or saddle feathers on each side were flared inward on the original Deceiver to better represent the motion of a swimming baitfish. Place both halves of the wing sets together while still wet, with tips matching and feathers flared inwards. Handling the feathers while wet makes keeping them together and in position much easier. Hold the feather assembly over the hook shank to determine a length that will extend rearward from the hook bend approximately one hook shank length. Strip excess feather fibers to clear the stem tie-in section. Place the paired hackles with barbs vertical on top of the hook shank with the tie-in point of the hackles on top of where the thread is hanging. Make one soft thread wrap over the hackle shafts and pull upward to tighten slightly and make two more wraps forward and touching in the same manner. Leave the thread hanging and release your hold on the hackles to see if the stems lay horizontal and with barbs vertical. The hackles may be adjusted for position by adjusting the butts in each group and the groups with respect to the shank. Trim stems to approximately 0.5 inch in length for tie -in. Hold the feathers again with left fingers, wrap thread to cover butts, return thread to tie-in point using touching flat wraps. Leave thread hanging (Fig. 8.) Fig 8 5. Tie in five strands of Krystal Flash on near side with three forward and touching thread wraps (Fig. 9), double the flash over to far side and wrap thread rearward in three touching wraps to tie-in point (Fig. 10.) Krystal Flash ends should be cut at varying lengths with longest just short of hackle tips. Wrap the thread to eye and then back in touching turns to a point approximately two eye widths behind hook eye (Fig. 11.) Fig 9 Fig 10 Fig 11 34

36 6. Cut a sparse bunch of white bucktail and generally even the tips by holding butts in right fingers and grasping the longer tips in fingers of left hand. Pull long tips from bunch and then overlap both bunches once to generally even tips. The tips should not match perfectly. Hold the bunch to measure a length that approximates the distance from hook eye to mid-way on the paired hackles with some hairs just short of the hackle tips. Hold bunch in left fingers pre-glue and cut butts, leaving butts approximately the length of two hook eyes. Hold bunch in left fingers on near side of shank with butt tips just short of hook eye. Tie in butts with two forward soft wraps and tighten thread by pulling towards you. Continue wrapping thread in flat touching wraps to eye and back to tie-in point (Fig. 12.) Fig 12 Fig Cut a second sparse bunch of white bucktail, generally even tips, and tie-in on far side of hook shank in a similar manner as in step 6. Thread should be hanging approximately two eye widths behind eye. Figure 13 shows a top view of the white bucktail arrangement. Figure 14 shows a side view. Fig Cut a sparse bunch of grey or brown bucktail, generally even the tips, cut to length and tie in on top of shank as in steps 6 and 7. See Figure 15 for side view and Figure 16 for top view. Fig 15 Fig 16 35

37 9. Tie in ten strands of red Krystal Flash as a throat on the underside of the hook shank, wrapping the thread to the eye (Fig 17), double them over by pulling the Krystal Flash back and to the rear. Bind down the Krystal Flash by wrapping the thread to the tie-in point (Fig. 18.) Fig 17 Fig 18 Cut Krystal Flash to length that extends halfway to hook point. The point where thread is hanging becomes the rear of the head. Wrap thread in flat touching flat turns forward and rearward over the head until all hair butts are covered and a desired head shape is achieved. Finish with wraps to back of head, whip finish forward and seal with head cement (Fig. 19.) Fig Add eyes and seal with head cement or epoxy (Fig. 20.) Figure 21 shows the profile when the fly is wet. Fig 20 Fig Buszek Award Royce Dam Not only does Dam join the company of the world's top fly tiers who have received the Buszek award over the years, but his contemporaries praise his tying skills without reserve. Buck Goodrich, who won the 1991 Western Rocky Mountain Council Fly Tyer of the Year award, said flatly, "I believe Royce is the best all-round fly tier in the world today - I have found myself literally awed by his talents. I have had tying sessions with him where he would show me a better way to tie any fly I chose." 36

38 Parachute Adams - Dry Fly The parachute pattern has the hackle wound around a wing post resulting in a hackle that will be parallel to the water surface. This design allows the fly to sit lower in the water yet keeping the wing in a position easier for the fisher to see it in the water. The Adams Parachute is an excellent searching fly. Like most patterns, several variations in color and material selection have occurred over the years. The Silver Award program requires the following proportions and guidelines to be followed for this required pattern; Wing Post: Wing post is to be constructed using calf tail fibers. Post should be one hook shank in length. Wing post diameter is determined by putting a half twist in the wing post calf tail fibers and comparing the diameter of the calf tail selection with the hook eye diameter. When twisted, the cylinder formed by the calf tail fibers should have the same or slightly larger diameter than the hook eye. Body Dubbing: Natural Muskrat dubbing will be used for the body. The dubbing should cover the spot under the wing post and should be wrapped in front of the post up to the just behind the hook eye. Hackles: Hackles wrapped around the wing post should be one hook size larger than typically used. This produces a stabilizing effect to help the fly sit on the water surface without rocking side to side or tipping over. Hackles should be wrapped with shiny side up and dull side down. Materials: Hook: Standard dry fly, Mustad R , Tiemco 100, size Thread: Gray, Danville 6/0 (70 denier), UNI 8/0, UTC (70 denier) Tail: Mixed grizzly and brown hackle fibers Wing Post: White calf tail hair fibers Body: Natural gray muskrat dubbing Hackle: Grizzly and brown saddle hackles Head: Thread 37

39 Step-By-Step Tying Instructions for the Adams Parachute: 1. Bend the barb down on the hook and mount the hook in the vise (Fig. 1.) Attach the thread with a jam knot about a half eye length behind the eye of hook. Wrap a flat thread base over the front half of the hook. Wrap the thread back to the ⅓ shank position (Fig. 2) and let the thread hang. Fig. 1 Fig Select and clean a small bunch of calf tail hair fibers. Double stack the fibers to assure the tips are even. Measure the calf tail fibers for length (Fig. 3.) You want to form a wing post one shank length in height. Follow the technique guide-lines for "Parachute Wing Posts of Calf Tail Hair to determine post diameter. Preglue the tie-in spot on the calf tail and mount the calf tail on top of the shank at the ⅓ shank position (Fig. 4) with the tips forward. Do not cut the waste. Fig. 3 Fig Post the wing by lifting it upright and making several wraps tight up against where the calf tail and shank meet forming a small thread dam in front of the wing. Make few wraps around the post and back behind the post to secure the calf tail in an upright position. A few figure eight wraps around the wing and the butt material should hold the post in an upright position. Wrap back toward the hook bend about 1 eye width behind the tie-in point as shown in Fig 5. Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Lift the waste material up into almost vertical position and cut the waste while holding the scissor blades parallel to the shank. This will produce a tapered cut on the waste. Bind the angled waste section down (Fig. 6), bring the thread forward and make several wraps up and down the post to stiffen it and provide a section for the hackles to be wrapped (Fig. 6.) Use your bodkin to apply head cement to the threads covering the calf tail. 38

40 4. Select and prepare the hackles. Strip off webby hackle fibers to provide a clean stem for the tie-in zone on the stem. Attach the hackles in front of the wing post with the hackles to the far side. Allow some stem length so you can bind the hackle stems to the wing post as you wrap the tying thread up the post and back down. Be sure to position the hackles so the barbs will have the shiny side up when you wrap the hackle counter-clockwise around the post (Fig. 7.) Trim the hackle wastes. Fig. 7 Fig Wrap the tying thread back to the tail tie-in position to provide a thread base for the tail and body section. Select a grizzly hackle with stiff fibers for tailing material. Run your fingers down the hackle stem to splay the fibers and strip some from the hackle stem. Place them carefully on a flat surface. It is important to keep the tips even. In a similar manner, select, splay, and strip brown hackle fibers from a brown tail hackle stem. Place the brown fibers on top of the grizzly fibers making sure the tips are even. Carefully pick up the section and hold between your thumb and index finger as in Fig. 8. By moving your thumb back and forth while maintaining pressure on the fibers, they will mix producing the tail for the fly (Fig. 9.) Keep tips aligned during this process. Mount the tail at the tail tie-in position. Tail should point along the same line as the hook shank and be one shank length long (Fig. 10.) Bind the tail waste down on top of the shank as you wrap the tying thread forward to meet the waste ends of the post. Fig. 9 Fig Trim the tail waste. Continue to wrap thread forward to base of post and then back to the tail tie in position. This process should produce a tapered underbody. 7. Select some natural muskrat dubbing and spin it onto the tying thread. Use a sparse amount that gets a little thicker as you spin away from the shank. Wrap the dubbing forward to form a slightly tapered body (Fig. 11.) Be sure to carry the dubbing far enough forward to cover the shank under the post. Wrap dubbing in front of the wing post almost to the eye of the hook. 39

41 Fig. 11 Fig Wrap the hackles counter-clockwise around and down the post. You will want the shiny sides of the hackle to be facing up and the dull sides facing down when you wrap the hackles. Be sure there is enough dubbing under the post. Wrap the hackles one at a time. Make about 3 wraps of the first hackle. While holding the hackle tip pointing towards the far side in front of the post with the right hand, stroke the hackle fibers up and to the back with the left hand. Pinch the wing assembly and hackles together with the left thumb and index finger. Release the hackle tip from the right hand and take the tying thread up and over the hackle stem and shank. Make two wraps, let thread hang, grab hackle stem with right hand and pull to tighten stem against the wing post and hook shank. Make several more wraps of tying thread around the hackle stem. Trim the hackle stem waste (Fig.12.) In a similar way, wrap the other hackle down the post, wiggling it as you work the stem into the other wrapped hackle, tie off the hackle, trim the hackle stem and form the head of the fly. Whip finish, apply head cement, and clean the eye of the hook (Fig. 13.) Fig A small drop of head cement can be placed into the center of the post and the post fibers can be splayed a little to mimic a wing. View the fly from the top and adjust any hackle fibers to distribute them around evenly around the post (Fig. 14.) Figure 15 shows the bottom view of the fly. Fig. 14 Fig

42 The Bead Head Prince Nymph The Prince Nymph is a searching nymph pattern making use of peacock herl which is iridescent and reflects points of light. Adding a bead head helps to get the fly down to where the fish are located. The gold ribbing and bead reflect light mimicking air bubbles forming inside the shuck of emerging nymphs or the air bubble carried below the surface by some beetles. Proper bead selection, bead attachment, biot mounting, and peacock herl wrapping are some of the techniques required in tying this pattern. Several of these techniques have different procedures to arrive at the same result. Some tiers will mount the biots one at a time while other tiers will mount them both simultaneously. Multiple Peacock herls may be reinforced for strength by wrapping them around the tying thread, or, as done here, by spinning the herls in a dubbing loop to form a peacock chenille. The Silver Award program requires the following proportions and guidelines to be followed for this required pattern; Hook: Use a 1X long shank hook to accommodate the bead without closing down the hook gap. Bead: The correct size of bead needs to be matched to the hook size. When placed up against the hook eye, it should not overhang the hook eye, nor should it wobble excessively at the head. Biots: Tail biots should form a "V" on top of the rear of the fly and should be approximately hook shank in length. Wing biots should form a "V" over the back of the fly and should reach the tail tie in position. The wing biots should form an angle close to 30 and hug the body. Rib: Make 4 or 5 turns of either flat or oval gold tinsel. Hackle: Use fairly rigid hen hackle or softer rooster hackles. Make no more than two wraps of hackle. For this pattern, tie in the hackle before the wings. Tie hackle on wet style with fibers pointing towards the rear of the fly. Materials: Hook: Nymph Hook, Dai-Riki 060, size 12 Thread: Black 6/0 or 8/0 Bead: Gold bead sized for hook (for size 12, 2.8 to 3 mm) Tail: Brown biots Rib: Fine gold oval or small gold flat tinsel Body: Peacock herl Hackle: Fairly rigid brown hen or softer rooster hackle Wing: White biots 41

43 Step - By - Step Tying Instructions Bead Head Prince Nymph 1. Bend the barb of the hook down, slide a bead onto the hook shank, and mount the hook in the vise (Fig. #1.) Check to be sure the bead does not overhang the hook eye. Slide the bead toward the bend of the hook. Attach the tying thread behind the hook eye and wrap a thread base over the front of the shank where the bead will be located (Fig. #2.) Wrap several layers so the bead will not wobble excessively when it is brought up against the eye of the hook. Half hitch the thread, cut the thread, add a coat of head cement to the wraps, and slide the bead forward. Fig. #1 Fig. #2 Fig. #3 2. Re-attach the tying thread to the left of the bead and wrap a thread base with side-by-side wraps of tying thread to a position over the barb (Fig. #3.) 3. You may want to form a small thread bump at the position on the shank over the hook barb. This is the tiein position for the biot tails. The thread bump will help splay the tail biots when you tie them onto the top of the shank at the tail tie-in position. Select the brown biots and hold them with their convex sides against each other and tips even. This should make the biots splay away from each other in a "V" shape. The tail should be ½ a shank in length. Position the biots so they are resting on the shank with the tie-in spot over the barb. Switch hands so the thumb and a finger from the left hand are holding the biot pair in position. Make a soft wrap over the biot fibers directly behind the bump on the shank. Make several tighter wraps and check to be sure the fibers form a "V" shape on top of the rear of the fly. You can carefully figure 8 wrap to establish the splay of the fibers. Wrap the thread forward, binding down the biot stems. Trim the wastes when you get to the rear of the bead. Wrap the tying thread a few wraps back down the shank and let the thread hang (Fig. #4.) Attach the flat tinsel to the side of the shank away from you and bind it down along the far side of the shank to the tail tie-in position (Fig. #5.) Fig. #4 Fig. #5 42

44 4. Attach 3 or 4 peacock herls by their tips at the tail tie-in position. Form a loop to be used to form a spun herl rope from the peacock fibers (Fig. #6.) Take the thread up the shank to behind the bead. Attach the herls to the loop and spin the loop to form a peacock herl chenille rope. Wrap the herl rope up the shank using touching turns. Tie off the herl rope behind the bead head (Fig. #7.) Make a few more wraps of tying thread or secure assembly with a half hitch. Trim peacock herl waste. Fig. #6 Fig. #7 5. Wrap the flat tinsel forward making 4 to 5 evenly spaced turns for size flies. Tie off the rib behind the bead and trim the waste (Fig. #8.) Fig. #8 6. Select and prepare the hackle by stripping off the fluff from the butt end. Use a fairly rigid hen hackle or a softer rooster hackle. Attach the hackle by the butt behind the bead. The dull side should be down (against the shank) with shiny side up (Fig. #9.) Make one or two turns of hackle, tie off, and trim waste. Hackles may be at least 1½ gap in length. These fibers should move similar to those in a soft hackle tie. Stroke the hackle fibers back and down. While holding the fibers against the body, make several wraps of thread to secure the fibers in the rearward sweep (Fig. #10.) Fig. #9 Fig. #10 43

45 7. Select the white biots for the wings. These should form a "V" over the back and the tips should reach to the end of the body. The white biots should form an angle close to 30 (Fig. #11.) Attach one of the biots at the proper angle with one or two thread wraps. Attach the second biot in a similar way to form the 30 angle. Carefully fold the biot waste up and back to the rear and tie off tight against the bead. Similarly tie off the other biot. Figure #12 has a white paper placed under the rear biots to show how the tail biots flare. Trim the white biot waste and make several wraps to bind down the biot ends. Whip finish and add head cement to the wraps to finish the tie (Figs. #13 & #14.) Figure 14 provides a view from the top to show the tail and wing "V" shapes. Fig. #11 Fig. #12 Fig. #13 Fig. # Buszek Award Marvin Nolte Most people begin fly fishing and then take up fly tying. Not Marvin! He started fly tying in He started fly fishing in In 1984 he started tying Atlantic Salmon flies which he has become famous for. As an instructor, he has taught fly tying to beginners to the very advanced. He is also an expert in aquatic entomology and teaches classes in that field also. Marvin says his most popular classes today are Atlantic Salmon flies and antique flies. As one who has known many of the Buszek winners I can honestly say that the high prestige of this award is elevated with the addition of the 1995 Buszek winner Marvin Nolte, a fine fly tier and gentleman. 44

46 Troth Elk Hair Caddis - Dry Fly The Elk Hair Caddis, designed by Al Troth of Montana, is an imitative pattern as well as a standard caddis pattern for fishing riffles and runs of freestone streams. Fished to mimic a fluttering adult caddis the fly relies on the elk hair wing for keeping it afloat as well as providing the tent wing silhouette when viewed from below. When hoppers and stoneflies are present, the Elk Hair Caddis will be an effective searching pattern. For the Silver Award required pattern, we will adhere to Troth's original pattern as nearly as possible. Troth liked to use hackle 1½ the gap in fiber length, and used light elk hair which he liked to splay out using pressure from his thumb nail after tying in the wing. The following proportions and pattern aspects should be kept in mind while tying this fly: Wing: The wing should be constructed of light elk hair and extend to just behind the hook bend. Hackle: Body hackle should be 1½ hook gap in length as suggested by Al. Rib: Two turns of ribbing are used at the rear to trap the hackle stem. Ribbing should cross over the stem as you spiral it forward over the body. Wing Butts: The butts of the wing should be cut at an angle close to the line of the wing. There should be a distinct segmentation between the head and wing ( ½ eye width) but not too wide. Materials: Hook: Tiemco 100, standard dry hook, size (Size 12 used in step-by-step) Thread: Tan - UNI 8/0 or 6/0, UTC 70 Rib: Fine gold wire Body: Fly Rite Light Tan (No. 19), Tan fur or synthetic (Tan Super Fine used in step-by-step) Hackle: Brown neck hackle, palmered Wing: Light elk body hair 45

47 Step-By-Step Tying Instructions for the Troth Elk Hair Caddis 1. Bend the barb down on the hook and mount the hook in the vise. Attach thread with a jam knot about one eye length behind eye of hook. Wrap the thread 3 or 4 turns down the shank. Tie in the wire ribbing material on top of the shank (Fig. #1.) Using edge-to-edge wraps, bind the ribbing material down on top of the shank as you wrap the thread to the rear of the hook. Stop at the position on the shank above the ½ way distance between hook point and barb point (Fig. #2.) Fig. 1 Fig Spin the dubbing onto the tying thread. You want to dub a body that mimics the caddis body which is larger at the rear and tapers slightly smaller as you wrap forward. Distribute your dubbing on the thread accordingly (Fig. #3.) Wrap the dubbing forward. The last two turns should have a reduced amount of dubbing. End the body two eye lengths behind the hook eye (Fig. # 4). Fig. 3 Fig Select and prepare the dry fly hackle by stripping off the fluff. Al Troth preferred the barb length to be 1½ the gap width. Attach the hackle by the butt just in front of the body with the shiny convex side upwards (Fig. #5.) Clip the excess stem waste. Wrap two turns close to the front of the body and then spiral wrap the hackle over the body in evenly spaced turns to the rear of the body. Do not twist the stem during this body wrap. Be sure you have some hackle fibers under the shank at the front. While holding the hackle tip in the off hand, catch the hackle tip under a couple turns of the ribbing wire. By wrapping the hackle to the back with turns going over the top away from you and under the shank towards you, the wire will counter-wrap the hackle stem as you forward wrap the ribbing material. As you forward wrap the wire rib, wiggle it so it will seat down on the stem without trapping hackle fibers (Fig. #6.) Tie off the ribbing at the front of the hackle. While holding onto your thread bobbin, bend the wire back and forth until it breaks, then trim the hackle tip waste close to the body (Fig. #7.) Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 46

48 4. Select a bunch of light elk hair, remove the fuzzy under fur, and stack the fibers to align the tips. Measure the hair against the hook. The wing should be the length of the hook, including the bend. You want the wing to extend a little beyond the body. To help in getting the wing to set down onto the shank, use your bodkin to separate the hackle fibers along the top of the shank and stroke them down. Wrap your thread to a position about two wraps behind the eye of the hook. Hold the wing material between the thumb and a finger of your off hand, press it tightly over the top of the hook shank, make a soft wrap, tighten the wrap with an upwards pull, make 5 to 6 tight wraps edge-to-edge working back over the wing, and make 8 to 10 more wraps back and forth in this space (Fig. #8.) You want a distinct segmentation (a separation about a ½ eye width, not a highway) between the flared wing and the flared wing butts. Keep tension on the thread bobbin. Al Troth spread the wing clump into a tent shape by using pressure from his thumb nail against the top of the wing just behind the rear thread wraps on the segmentation (Fig. #9.) This produces a caddis wing profile when viewed from under the fly and enhances the tent appearance of the wing when viewed from the top or side (Fig. #10.) Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig Hold the wing butts back with thumb and fingers of the off hand and make several wraps under the wing butts behind the eye and tight against the butts. These wraps will prop up the butts to make a 45 angle to the shank. Whip-finish behind the eye, cut the thread waste, and cement the head and segmentation wraps (Fig.#11.) Hold the clump of butts with your off hand thumb and forefinger, pull them tight, and clip them straight across which should be nearly in line with the wing. This step must be done in one cut. Be sure your scissors are at the right angle and not favoring the off side or near side. Serrated scissors should be used. The result is a flared wedge shape for the head (Fig. #12.) Fig. 11 Fig