Production mode

Usually when I tie a pike fly, I leave my hook in the vice from start to finish, but this weekend I got a rather large order of ‘Lonesome Tom’ patterns, so I started looking for a method to speed things up a bit.

I started with tying the tails and the bodies first, so I could do the heads later.

But when I looked at the amount of brass wire dubbing brushes I had to twist manually, my courage abandoned me very quickly.

So I came up with a new setup to make my brass wire dubbing brushes.

Equally easy, equally efficient, but a lot faster.

I just screwed an eye (like you see on the left) straight into my tying table (yes, I did), used the same piece of wood (with a groove), but attached the second eye into my dremmel tool. I use this dremmel tool for all kinds of stuff, so I really don’t know why I didn’t come up with this idea before. But, better late than never, so now I’m off to finish my flies. That will be for a next post…

Back to pike flies!

Next month, I’ve been asked to give a tying session on pike flies. So the first fly that came into my mind was a ‘Lonesome Tom’, which I will do, but I have to keep the sponsor of the club in mind. So I’ll have to tie it entirely with materials he can provide (and people are able to buy afterwards of course). That way, the polypropylene fibre that I usually use for the head is out of the question, and so are the hooks and the flash material. So the last couple of days I’ve been experimenting (and testing) with other stuff, and I’m actually quite happy that I had to, because it has improved the action of the fly.

Hooks are a personal thing, and flash material may have another name but it’s usually the same stuff, so that wasn’t any problem, but the head was something else.

So after trying out several synthetic materials, I ended up with Slinky Fibre (or Flash’n Slinky in this case). This stuff is thicker and stiffer than polypropylene, but that also makes the head less dense, which allows the water to penetrate the head more rapidly and therefore sink faster. This way, I was able to make the head bigger (read higher), so the fly swings even more (left, right, up and down) and gives it a very lively action.

I’ll probably use a more classic colour combination (white/chartreuse, white/pink or a classic redhead), but tonight I felt like tying some other colours for myself.

I’ve also started to tie a tandem version, and the action of that one is even more spectacular, so you can expect more of these in the future…

Tying to ease the mind

 

After two weeks of doing things that made me stressful and down, I was finally able to tie something. And I must say that it felt really good! I struggled a bit with what I wanted to tie (I still have to tie a lot of dry flies and nymphs), but, because it has been a while since I’ve tied a pike fly (and that is the kind of tying that I get the most satisfaction from), the choice wasn’t so difficult after all. I just tied me a couple of ‘Lonesome Tom’ patterns that I can use in the river Semois. They’re not to big (about 12 cm), tied on a TOF SS-1930 INOX, size 3/0.

White/pink and

white/chartreuse.

The ‘Lonesome Tom’ tutorial

I’ve never had this amount of mails before relating to one specific pattern, so I definitely had to do a tutorial on this one. I hope this will answer most of the questions I’ve received. If you still have questions concerning this or other matters, please don’t hesitate to mail me.

So this is a ‘step by step’ on a ‘Lonesome Tom’ pattern (well, two actually, because I use two different methods to make the head). Click on any image to enlarge.

This fly is about 14 cm long, tied on an SS-1930 Inox, size 4/0 (but I know that hooks are very personal, so this is not a must), and you can use any colour combination you want. This is just my version in chartreuse and white.

 

1. Put your thread on the hook (I always varnish the hook shank before I put on the thread).

 

2. Tie in some flash material (this is Polar Flash) like this.

 

3. Fold back the excess and tie it in.

 

4. Tie in a chartreuse rabbit zonker strip. At this point I put on some lacquer but it’s not really necessary.

 

I also put a hairclip on the tail, so it won’t get in the way while tying the rest of the fly.

 

5. Tie in some white chenille (this is Vampire Plush).

6. Wrap the chenille around the hook shank (about 1 cm), cut it, and tie it off.

Now comes the bucktail. There are two reasons why I use bucktail here.

One, It gives a nice transition between the head and the tail, which gives it a more natural profile.

And two, It keeps the tail from wrapping around the hook (it will still happen, but a lot less).

 

7. Tie in some white bucktail and spread it evenly around the bottom of the hook shank.

 

8. Tie in some chartreuse bucktail and spread it evenly around the top of the hook shank.

 

9. Cut off the excess and use Head Cement to secure it (this is very important for the durability of your fly).

10. Then wrap your thread around the hook shank to make this kind of conical shape. This will make the building of the head a lot easier.

This is the amount of polypropylene fibre (or EP Fibre) I use to make the head. As you can see, I will do it in 4 (x4) steps. But that’s because I’m used to do this.

If you’re not used to tie a head like this (or if you don’t have this kind of soft synthetic fibre), I would recommend that you do it in more (than four) steps, with less material. You won’t notice it while tying, but once you cut it into shape, you will have certain gaps (and that doesn’t look very nice).

 

11. a. Tie in the red fibre on the bottom of the hook shank (two tight wraps is enough).

 

b. then the white fibre on one side

 

c. and again on the other side

 

d. and chartreuse on top

at this point, I use a half hitch knot to secure, and then pull the thread trough the middle of the fibre on the bottom of the hook shank (the red in this case) while pulling all the fibre backwards, and wrap the thread around the hook shank a couple of times in front of the fibre.

 

I use another hairclip to keep all the fibre out of the way for the next step (it can get really messy if you don’t).

 

12. Tie in some Barred Crazy Legs (or Flexifloss, or whatever…)

 

13. Repeat step 11 (in this case, white on the bottom, and chartreuse on the sides and top of the hook shank).

 

14. Again, repeat step 11.

 

15. And again. Then tie off, whip Finnish, and lacquer. 

 

This is what you’ll get, and as you can see, this fly is in desperate need of a haircut.

 

15. So after cutting the head into shape (be careful with the Crazy Legs), and gluing some epoxy eyes on, you should have something that looks like these.

Now, if you feel like this is to difficult, or to much work to put into a single fly (which I can perfectly understand), then this might be an alternative.

 

The first 10 steps on this fly are the same as the fly above (except this one is completely white, but you can use any colour you like of course). So let’s continue from this stage on…

 

11. Make a brass wire dubbing brush with the same material as above (in this case, white and red polypropylene fibre, but I’ve mixed in some flash material as well). If you don’t know how to make one of these, I made a tutorial on how to make a brass wire dubbing brush a while ago, which you can find in my blog archive, on Thursday 25 November 2010. 

 

12. Tie in the dubbing brush.

 

13. Wrap it forward (tight) around the hook shank like this, while pulling all the fibre backwards…

 

14. until you reach the hook eye. At that point, cut off the excess. I don’t have any excess here besides the wire itself, because I’m quite used to do this, but I can guarantee you that you will have some excess in the beginning. So make sure to make your dubbing brush long enough. It’s a lot easier to cut off a bit because it’s to long, than to add a second one because it was to short!

Then tie off, whip finish and lacquer.

15. This next step is important. This is very soft material, so by making the dubbing brush and tying it in, lots of the fibre will be attached to the hook shank at both ends of the fibre.

All you have to do is put your scissors into the fibre, along the hook shank like you see on the picture. DO NOT CUT! But just pull your scissors upwards, and continue to do so around the hook shank. You will feel it when it’s no longer necessary, once you put the scissors in and you’re able to pull it upwards without any resistance. 

Then you will have something that looks like this. Which again, is a fly in desperate need of a haircut.

 

16. So after cutting the head into shape and adding some epoxy eyes, you should have a fly that looks like this.

Like I’ve said before, my video footage an the action in the water of this fly was a bit disappointing, so you’ll have to take my word for it, or even better, tie some yourself, and…

tight lines!

Pike flies

I finally managed to get behind my vise again today (and it felt really good). I’m very satisfied with this ‘Lonesome Tom’ pattern. The way it moves in the water, and the fun I have in tying them, makes it my favourite pattern of the moment. I planned on doing a video tutorial on them (and I still intend to), but the video footage that I made on the action in the water turned out to be a bit disappointing, so it will be for later on.

These are all about 14 cm long, tied on an SS-1930 INOX, size 4/0.

 

Two in chartreuse and white, with some red under the chin

 

A yellow and white redhead

 

And a bleeding baitfish

The Djuza Project, part 1

Last week, fellow pike-fly-tier, and very sympathetic bloke from Finland, Djuza (from www.piketeaser.blogspot.com ), had a bit of an inspiration problem. So I thought that maybe we could help each other out. I asked him to send me a list of the material he had in stock, and I would try to make something out of it.

I don’t consider myself to be a fantastic fly-tier, but I love doing it, and I like a bit of a challenge (I just love to experiment), so I thought this could be a fun thing to do.

And besides, what kind of a world are we living in, if people stop helping each other.

Actually, I expected a rather short list (no offence, Djuza, but I haven’t seen that many different material on your blog), but the inventory he sent me will keep me busy for quite a while (so more posts are coming).

This is a piece of the mail he has sent me: “As you maybe know, I prefer naturals before synthetics” … “but I should not forget Slinky Fibre or other synthetics” … “My next tying project will probably be some baitfish imitations in a smaller size for the summer”.

I was already looking for some smaller sized pike flies for myself (usually, small for me is 12-14 cm).

So I had already tied this small version of a ‘Lonesome Tom’ (about 9 cm), and therefore, I thought, this could be a good way to start.

But the head is polypropylene fibre with Crazy Legs, and those were not on the list.

 

So I’ve changed it a bit. I’ve made the head with a brass wire dubbing brush with SF Blend, which I’ve cut into shape (I know that Djuza likes to use a dubbing brush himself).

But SF Blend wasn’t on the list either.

However, SF Blend is a mixture of Slinky Fibre and Angel Hair, and those two, he does have in stock.

 

So this one, I’ve blended myself (a dubbing brush is an easy way to do that).

This head is white and pink Slinky Fibre blended with white and pink Angel hair.

The only problem with a dubbing brush is the fact that the bottom and the top of your fly always have the same colour.

 

So here, I’ve used chartreuse Flash’n Slinky for the head, but I’ve coloured the top with a permanent marker (don’t worry, a permanent marker used on synthetic fibre is very water proof).

Another interesting part of this project, is that I’m forced to use certain materials, that I rarely use myself.

Such as, Polar Fibre.

I’ve used it before for flies like these, which could be used in the Baltic as well. They’re about 8 cm long. Some of them don’t look so fresh anymore (that’s because they have already hit the water).

 

Another fly that I've tied with Polar Fibre is this one. I got this pattern from Renzo Callebert, and he uses it for ide, feeding on fry, on the surface. I haven’t caught any ide on them yet, but they have been successful for perch, and I’ve met a guy in the Belgian Ardennes, who uses a similar pattern for trout.

But I wanted to do something else.

So I’ve tied me this baitfish pattern, which I’m rather satisfied with. They are also about 8 cm long, tied on a Gamakatsu F 314, size 1.

 

white and olive, with a little red under the chin.

 

white and chartreuse, with a little orange under the chin.

 

hot pink and purple

 

black and red

 

You do have to comb this material out first, and the amount of rubbish that comes out of this stuff is unbelievable (you can still use it as dubbing material of course).

The little jar is all the chartreuse Polar Fibre that I had to comb out for this one fly!

I’m already experimenting with Yak Hair (another material that I rarely use), so…