Old School "thread body" flies

[tcorfey]

Lately I have been getting in to tying basic thread body flies as I find it so interesting and effective way to tie flies that not look great but definitely catch fish. I had learned a couple of new ways to adorn basic thread bodied flies to achieve different results and I was thinking this is a great way to get beginners going on fly tying and I enjoy making a "family" of flies based on a standard body color.

I am referring to simply tying the thread body by wrapping the thread (color of your choice) from the eye to the curve of the shank and back up the shank towards the eye then use different materials to finish the fly for example take a few elk hair fibers and tie them in as a wing towards the shank and you have a great dry caddis imitation. If you reverse the wing so it goes over the hook eye instead of down the shank you now have an emerger, These flys are so simple yet very effective.

Or instead of tying in elk hair, tie in a hackle feather for a hackled dry fly (add a few hackle fibers for a tail if you feel adventurous). or instead you can tie in a soft hackle style to make a wet fly.

Or maybe forget the wing and tie in a peacock hurl collar instead, and/or perhaps add a bead head for a deadly nymph pattern (I find a yellow thread bodied fly with a peacock hurl collar to be especially deadly at certain times on the McCloud river in California).

I rarely hear people talk about this simple yet effective style of tying flys but, the great thing is they are so easy to tie and they work! I thought some beginner fly tiers out there would especially appreciate this suggestion and maybe others would like to add more to this subject.

Regards,

Tim C.

 

[silver creek]

One of my older TU friends who used to tie flies for local sports shops that carried flies (remember when that was a thing) used embroidery floss for his dry fly bodies. He was a self taught fly tier from back in the 1940s and tied without a bobbin. He used half hitches at each step to keep materials from unwinding.

So I can suggest that embroidery floss would work better for larger dries to better imitate the bulk of what dubbing does.

 

[edreilly]

Interesting. Can you provide a picture or two of the flies you are tying? Thanks


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[bumble54]

Still tie most of my flies like that, heavily waxed thread means I can tie without a bobbin if I wish and it doesn't unravel.
90% of the time my wet flies consist of 2, or at most 3 materials. My favourites and most successful are tied using thread, and fur, rarely a hackle instead of the fur. No varnish, no epoxy, on rib, no need. Less is more, so they say or maybe I'm just lazy.
At the moment I'm experimenting with dental floss for bodies, coloured with a waterproof pen, tough stuff.

 

[tcorfey]

Interesting. Can you provide a picture or two of the flies you are tying? Thanks

Here is a picture of a bunch of different styles/types small dries through streamers.

 

[edreilly]

Nice! Thanks for showing me those.


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[bigjim5589]

We as tyers probably have more choices than we've ever had for materials, and forget that simple flies will catch plenty of fish and take less time to tie. Not that time is always a concern for many folks.

I like to experiment with materials, but still tie some very simple and basic patterns. I was looking at the famous "Utah Bug" online the other day, tied with yarn, and back when I started tying, many supply houses/shops sold wool yarn, and I'm sure some still do, but I rarely see it mentioned in articles or fly pattern descriptions these days.

I tie a lot with Danville's Flat Nylon threads, and they have several colors that they used to call "Depth Ray", which are all fluorescent. I buy it unwaxed, and it makes excellent thread bodies for a variety of fly types. I particularly like it for soft hackle patterns. I also still use acetate floss for tying Ant patterns, which is not something that is mentioned too often now.

I very much like tying flies with dubbed fur bodies, but with all the materials that can be obtained, such as threads and yarns, which are as easy to use as wrapping them, the variety of what can be done, with this idea of simple and basic design is something that very much appeals to me.

 

[kentuckysteve]

Most of these flies are tied with thread bodies or "punch yarn" bodies and a few fibers for a tail and a hackle feather.Quick to tie and fish love them.

 

[el jefe]

Most flies are designed to catch fishermen, not fish. Simple works great.

 

[falcon53]

Many of my smaller flies (18's and smaller) are tied with thread bodies. I like UTC and Veevus. I spin the bobbin counterclockwise to flatten the thread or twist clockwise show segmentation. Simple and effective. I recently tied up several midge flies called a Al's Rat for fishing later in the year (winter). Thread bodies for small Olives work great.
Add a thorax, hackle ...whatever. Dubbed bodies on small flies are sometimes too "fat" and slim is better.

 

[flytire]

simple, deadly and only thread

 

[JoJer]

I had a big handful of different colored thread that was pulled from cotton/synthetic socks. It was very fuzzy, much like a dubbed thread. I used these for a LOT of small 18-16 sized bodies. For a beginner, this thread was helpful in building gradual tapers without getting too fat. They could be wrapped tighter than (poorly) dubbed thread so the rib wouldn't sink, yet stay "buggy".

 

[bumble54]

Most flies are designed to catch fishermen, not fish. Simple works great.

Ain't that the truth, I watch anglers with a box of a thousand fly patterns taking forever to decide which one is " the one ". :noidea:

 

[ratherfish]

Ain't that the truth, I watch anglers with a box of a thousand fly patterns taking forever to decide which one is " the one ". :noidea:

Way different but kinda the same - I have buddy who is very proficient with a shotgun on the Clay fields; I asked him once "what chokes do you use for the different disciplines... Skeet, Trap, Sporting and how often do you change them out?" his answer - always full chokes, never change them out. Do what!!? He said, keeps me from thinking about it, less mind games to deal with, with full chokes I know I "must" be on the target and... and... there is no wondering about if I knocked a chip off, I either break them or miss them, I am not satisfied with a chip.

But don't get me wrong I have a bunch of flies in my box. However, looking at it, I have about three that I go to regularly.... don't mean I know what I'm doing, just means, I have about three that I go to regularly is all.

 

[ratherfish]

See - other that the foam hoppers, I got 90% of these at an antique shop where some family was selling grandpa's flies for like $1 each - so I bought them. Not sure which sink and which float - so consequently, I don't use them.