Started to photograph this walk through process on numerous occasions, but always missed more pictures than i took.
Finally I got the most of them, so here it is.
Start with the hook in the vise, in this case a Ronn Lucas 4/0 Philips Jones.
Tie in the gut eye, right at the taper of the shank. usually i fully gut them but not this time.
Form a nice flat layer of thread back to the tie in point for the tinsel tip, secure and wind the tip. Here it is tied off and read to start the tag. If this fly had floss body or tag i'd have used some uni-stretch to create an ultra smooth and tapered underbody, but since it was dubbed fur, i didnt need to worry about that this time.
Tag on this fly is yellow wool, dubbed, not wound.
Tie in the tail, a GP topping. Usually the pattern says single topping, sometimes two. in this case i used to as it gives a fuller look to the tail. The toppings are tied one on top of the other.
Here the butt (black ostrich) and the rib are tied in and the body started up to the second turn of tinsel. Before starting the body i ghost wrap the tinsel to find the approximate tie in point for the hackle, which nearly always starts from the second turn of rib. The body in this case is blue seals fur.
Body completed, all dubbed seals fur
Here the rib and hackle are wound, notice the hackle from the second turn
The first go around, i did tippet in strands. Which was ok, but with the replacement wing i decided to do full tippets (no photo). Here, i've also tied in the throat hackle, and changed threads, from white to black.
Here is the first wing, ready to be tied in.
and again, after tie in
First of three roof attempts on the first wing.
Third roof, and finished head, with horns. Pretty simple front end to this fly, though after seeing the photos, i wasnt happy with the whole wing/roof/head, so decided to redo them today.
After cutting off the first wing and reforming a totally new one, i tied in tippets back to back, tied in the new wing and finished the roof, horns and head.
All the more happier with this version.
All in all, i spent about 6 hours on this fly, between two sittings.
Thanks for looking, and i hope this shows a little of the process of tying a salmon fly.
Finally I got the most of them, so here it is.
Start with the hook in the vise, in this case a Ronn Lucas 4/0 Philips Jones.
Tie in the gut eye, right at the taper of the shank. usually i fully gut them but not this time.
Form a nice flat layer of thread back to the tie in point for the tinsel tip, secure and wind the tip. Here it is tied off and read to start the tag. If this fly had floss body or tag i'd have used some uni-stretch to create an ultra smooth and tapered underbody, but since it was dubbed fur, i didnt need to worry about that this time.
Tag on this fly is yellow wool, dubbed, not wound.
Tie in the tail, a GP topping. Usually the pattern says single topping, sometimes two. in this case i used to as it gives a fuller look to the tail. The toppings are tied one on top of the other.
Here the butt (black ostrich) and the rib are tied in and the body started up to the second turn of tinsel. Before starting the body i ghost wrap the tinsel to find the approximate tie in point for the hackle, which nearly always starts from the second turn of rib. The body in this case is blue seals fur.
Body completed, all dubbed seals fur
Here the rib and hackle are wound, notice the hackle from the second turn
The first go around, i did tippet in strands. Which was ok, but with the replacement wing i decided to do full tippets (no photo). Here, i've also tied in the throat hackle, and changed threads, from white to black.
Here is the first wing, ready to be tied in.
and again, after tie in
First of three roof attempts on the first wing.
Third roof, and finished head, with horns. Pretty simple front end to this fly, though after seeing the photos, i wasnt happy with the whole wing/roof/head, so decided to redo them today.
After cutting off the first wing and reforming a totally new one, i tied in tippets back to back, tied in the new wing and finished the roof, horns and head.
All the more happier with this version.
All in all, i spent about 6 hours on this fly, between two sittings.
Thanks for looking, and i hope this shows a little of the process of tying a salmon fly.
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