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I have decided as a retirement gift to myself and to clear my mind, I am going on a walkabout. Not too sure where I will end up but the Sandy is haunting me. It is odd to think I will no longer have a boss, with the exception of my wife. So for the trip I need to reload the box just a bit. Sticking with the feather wing theme, here is a must have color combo. In my last post, First Light Feather Wing variation, I mentioned the use of a hair dryer to set a bend in the hackle tips. I have used this technique for many years, but never really wanted to admit it. For some reason it feels like cheating, but I am over it now. Making do is part of the new wave of tying. Though not impossible, it is getting more difficult to find quality tying materials. Items that were a dime a dozen 10 to 20 years ago, now require an extensive search - or even worse - are no longer on the market. I still prefer tying with materials you don’t need to manipulate, like a perfect crest with just the right shape, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Hope this helps and thanks for looking.
Feather Wing
Hook: 3/0
Tip: Silver Oval Tinsel
Tag: Orange Silk Floss
Tail: G. P. Tippet
Rib: Pearl Mylar tinsel
Body: Shrimp Pink, Pink, and Orange dubbing
Collar: Orange schlappen with a few turns of shrimp pink Guinea
Wing: Two shrimp pink hackle tips enveloped by two dyed orange grizzly hackle tips.
You know the drill,
Start the tying thread at the bend of the hook. Secure in a length of oval tinsel. Wrap the tying thread down the bend, trapping the tinsel as you go. Stop wrapping when the tying thread hangs in line with the midpoint, between the point of the hook and the barb. Take three turns with the tinsel and secure. Wrap the tying thread back to the start. Make sure your thread work is consistent; it will be the underbody for the floss. Secure in a length of floss and wrap it to the tip and back to the tie in point. Prepare the tippet for the tail and secure.
Secure in a length of Mylar for the rib and build a dubbing loop with the tying thread. Load the loop with three equal parts of dubbing and give it a spin. Wrap the tying thread to the eye of the hook and secure with a half hitch. Start the orange tying thread at the eye of the hook.
Bring the dubbing forward followed by five open wraps with the Mylar. I use a bodkin to separate the dubbing as it transitions from color to color.
Secure in a schlappen hackle and wrap as a collar. Follow the schlappen with a few turn of guinea.
Select four hackle tips, two from each side of the neck. The two shrimp pink hackles came from a bag of strung saddle hackle. The two grizzly hackles came from a neck. Gauge the hackles to length and strip the excess from the stems. With all four hackle tips pinched together in your right hand, insert the hackle stems through the eye of the hook. Take a few firm securing wraps with the tying thread. With the wing firmly secured to the hook check your work.
With the wing firmly secured, set a bend in the stems with a hair dryer. I use the high/hot setting.
You can also set the bend before setting the wing. I use hackle pliers to hold the wing while blowing the cure into the stems. These feathers where perfectly straight before adding the heat.
Here is a shot of the finished fly.
Feather Wing
Hook: 3/0
Tip: Silver Oval Tinsel
Tag: Orange Silk Floss
Tail: G. P. Tippet
Rib: Pearl Mylar tinsel
Body: Shrimp Pink, Pink, and Orange dubbing
Collar: Orange schlappen with a few turns of shrimp pink Guinea
Wing: Two shrimp pink hackle tips enveloped by two dyed orange grizzly hackle tips.
You know the drill,
Start the tying thread at the bend of the hook. Secure in a length of oval tinsel. Wrap the tying thread down the bend, trapping the tinsel as you go. Stop wrapping when the tying thread hangs in line with the midpoint, between the point of the hook and the barb. Take three turns with the tinsel and secure. Wrap the tying thread back to the start. Make sure your thread work is consistent; it will be the underbody for the floss. Secure in a length of floss and wrap it to the tip and back to the tie in point. Prepare the tippet for the tail and secure.
Secure in a length of Mylar for the rib and build a dubbing loop with the tying thread. Load the loop with three equal parts of dubbing and give it a spin. Wrap the tying thread to the eye of the hook and secure with a half hitch. Start the orange tying thread at the eye of the hook.
Bring the dubbing forward followed by five open wraps with the Mylar. I use a bodkin to separate the dubbing as it transitions from color to color.
Secure in a schlappen hackle and wrap as a collar. Follow the schlappen with a few turn of guinea.
Select four hackle tips, two from each side of the neck. The two shrimp pink hackles came from a bag of strung saddle hackle. The two grizzly hackles came from a neck. Gauge the hackles to length and strip the excess from the stems. With all four hackle tips pinched together in your right hand, insert the hackle stems through the eye of the hook. Take a few firm securing wraps with the tying thread. With the wing firmly secured to the hook check your work.
With the wing firmly secured, set a bend in the stems with a hair dryer. I use the high/hot setting.
You can also set the bend before setting the wing. I use hackle pliers to hold the wing while blowing the cure into the stems. These feathers where perfectly straight before adding the heat.
Here is a shot of the finished fly.
