Learn Fly Tying » dressing

The Jersey Herd

Dave Cammiss — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:07:02 +0000

The Jersey Herd was created by Tom Ivens for reservoir fishing in the early 1970s . It derived it’s name because the early pattern’s body was made from the gold colour foil on the milk bottles known as gold tops. At that time the Jersey cows were the ones milked to give the best full cream milk, hence the name Jersey Herd.

It is still a useful pattern to have in your box. Materials have changed over the years and the body is now usually made of copper lurex ribbed with copper wire, or goldfingering. I have used a material called new body czech which I prefer. This fly like so many others from that era still catches a lot of fish and is well worth giving a try.

The Dressing

Hook - L/S 6, 8 or 10
Thread - Black
Tail Back & Head - Peacock Herl
Body - Either Copper Lurex ribbed with copper wire, Goldfingering or New Body Czech.

Dave C and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg1L38TH5Wc

The Yellow Dancer

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:53:33 +0000

The Yellow Dancer is a relative newcomer on the fly fishing scene. It is a ‘sport’ of the original Woolley Bugger devised by our friends north of the border. It has proved to be a ‘must have’ fly on most Scottish still water trout fisheries. As is always the case it has spawned the usual derivatives, Black Dancer , Orange Dancer, and I expect in the fullness of time we will have the Highland Dancer. I had to resort to my favourite fishing magazine , Fly Fishing and Fly Tying to get the dressing. It is a straight forward tie if you do the proper preparation.

The Dressing

Hook -- Kamasan 175 or similar , sizes 8 / 10.
Tail -- White marabou with a few strands of pearlescent micro flash.
Body -- Rainbow flashabou or similar.
Rib -- Fine gold oval.
Hackle -- Long yellow cock palmered.
Head -- Gold bead to suit hook size.

Dave C. and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzFN7APj62s

The Dark Stone Fly

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:23:07 +0000

This is a pattern more popular in the USA , and New Zealand , than here in the UK. It is a large fly that makes only a brief appearance as an adult fly. In it’s nymphal stage it is a generous morsel for a trout.

I would suggest a long shank 8 hook for both the nymph and the adult fly. The pattern I have tied is from a book by an American author , Edson Leonard , dated in the 1950s. A large pheasant tail nymph with a leaded underbody would be adequate for the nymphal stage.

The Dressing

Hook -- Long Shank 8 ( light wire )
Tail -- Bronze Mallard ( a generous bunch ) optional
Rib -- Fine Mono
Body -- A mix of brown and grey Seals Fur. Dub 3/4 of the hook length. After tying in build up a base for the wing. The wing has to lie flat along the top of the body. If the wing ‘ cocks up ‘ carefully unwind and apply more even turns to the base and try again.
Hackle - 2 Cree Cock Hackles ( brown as an alternative ). Wind the 2nd hackle through the 1st. Make a nice neat head and tie off ( as an option you can trim the underbody hackle fibres ).
Wing -- Brown Turkey quill , doubled and tied flat .
Antennae -- ( optional ) bronze mallard fibres.

This is an easy pattern to tie and it just might be useful to have a couple tied in case you are there on the right day.

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za7kJZVrfVY

Capes and Hackles

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:30:19 +0000

The types of cape which you will come across are cock and hen capes from domestic poultry.

Hen capes are smaller and softer with denser fibres , and are usually used for wet flies , nymphs and lures. The hackle fibres are more mobile in the water. They can be wrapped around the hook in the conventional way or bearded , sometimes referred to as a false hackle.

Cock capes are larger and the hackles much stiffer and shiny. Occasionally you will come across a cock cape which is softer and duller , usually a lower grade cape , these are known as henny capes. These are very useful for lures or palmered patterns which need to be longer and give some kick to the lure. Cock capes are used mainly for dry flies , the stiffer fibres make the fly float better and are wound round the hook more times. Matching fibres can be used for the tail of the fly.

The standard capes are usually available in a wide range of natural and dyed colours. They are graded , number one being the best , and most expensive. These are not necessary until you become proficient , ( and have a big fat wallet ). Lower grades catch just as many fish. Most of these capes are now imported from India and China.

There are ranges of capes which are from poultry specially bred in the United Kingdom, just for their feathers. The range of Metz capes is probably the best known. These have nice long hackles and are great to work with but are expensive. They are used mainly for dry flies. You should get more than one fly per hackle.

Hackles for north country spider patterns are usually from wild birds , many of which are now more difficult to obtain. Partridge hackles , brown and grey , are probably the best known and dye well. Others to look out for are woodcock , snipe , moorhen , cock and hen pheasants. If you know any shooting people ask for their help as many of them fish as well. If they do a lot of wildfowling , ( shooting ducks and geese ) they could help to get you CDC , teal flank and bronze mallard flank ………. all very useful. This range in itself would be an interesting lesson to put together.

Once you start collecting fly tying materials no walk along the river , or lakeside will ever be the same again. You will find yourself gathering feathers and anything else which ‘ just might be useful’ . On a recent trip my colleague could not believe I was collecting sheep’s wool off the barbed wire. Now that it has been washed in detergent in boiling water it will be dyed.

The Sedge Fly

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:09:40 +0000

This pattern sits better in the water and either static or moving it does behave like a sedge. I even found that when it was gunged up with slime and sunk it still caught fish. I suggest you tie some up in 10s and 12s and and keep them ready in your fly box. I only wish I had some of these when I went to New Zealand earlier this year.

The deer hair patterns are more complicated to tie and create a mess when you trim them up and I feel are less effective.

The Dressing

Hook Lt. wt. L/S 8,10,12,14. (kamasan 830.)
Thread Brown.
Hackle Blue Dun/ Red Game. Trim off the all the hackle fibres projecting downwards.
Body Cream dubbing ( possum under fur) tied meaty.
Thorax Cream Antron(optional).
Wing Cream antron ( I use Partons dapping floss.)
Flotant Mucilin or similar

Dave C. and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQpEjMTo1SE

The Cormorant

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:07:23 +0000

This fly has its origins in fly fishing competitions. It is neither a nymph nor a lure but can be fished as either. Primarily a still water fly it can also be used on rivers and tied with a silver or holographic body. It bears more than a passing resemblance to a butcher , only with more mobility.

The early patterns were tied with a body of peacock herl with a wire rib. More recently you will see them tied with fine fritz or metallic bodies, usually silver. This is because of the fragility of peacock herl.

The materials are very basic:

Hook -- Heavy weight wet fly size 10 / 8
Tying thread -- Black
Tail -- Tag of Flour. Red wool / Floss
Body -- Silver / Red wire
Wing -- Black marabou
Wing flash ( optional ) -- Red lurex

A good fly to have in your box, particularly if you do boat fishing.

Regards, Dave Cammiss and the Team.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgPk8XBL9Y

The Klinkhamer

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:10:53 +0000

The Klinkhamer was originally designed by Hans Van Klinken to copy the fly emerging from its shuck as it made the change to a flying insect. There are ‘puritans’ among us who refuse to accept this fly as a true dry fly because the fly has not been airborne. To those of us who just enjoy fly fishing it is a dry fly which often doubles up as a support or sight fly with a nymph attached New Zealand style underneath.It is not the easiest of flies to tie but is well worth persevering with.

There are several ways of tying this fly, all based on using a yarn post to achieve a horizontal hackle which looks like a parachute. The hook used is a lightweight buzzer hook. I use Kamasan KB100s sizes 10 and 12.I hope you will find the lesson easy to follow. You can use exactly the same technique to tie parachute dry flies, on which you use a straight hook with tail fibres to keep the tail end up in the water.

Hopefully this satisfies the purists. I use Kamasan KB400s. For both of these patterns you will find that the better the quality of the hackle the better it floats. If you prefer to dub the body keep it as sparse as possible, it stops the fly getting waterlogged. Give it a try and let me know how you get on.

Materials

Hook Kamasan B100 ( or similar ) sizes 10, 12 or 14 if you are brave.
Thread Sparton Micro black (or similar).
Rib optional fine silver wire.
Dubbing Hare or Possum body fur.
Hackle best quality cock hackles you can afford.
Wing Post Egg yarn or white calf tail.

Dave C. and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3XnPVtnMVg

The Booby

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:12:45 +0000

The Booby is a relatively recent addition to the flyfishers arsenal. The original patterns were tied using polystyrene balls tied together in the mesh from ladies tights and tied in at the eye of the hook. The way they wobbled about was how the fly acquired its name. Their other main disadvantage was that if you applied varnish to the head and some got on the polystyrene it was only a question of time before either one or both ‘deflated’.

The fly had proved so successful on the stillwaters, particularly for rainbows, that some enterprising angler came up with booby tube which could be supplied in various lengths and was not damaged by varnish.

That is the material we have used on the demo.

The variations on colour of head, chenille, cactus chenille or the marabou tail is limited only by the imagination of the tyer. Green and white and orange and white are favourites.

The ‘fly’ is usually fished with a sinking line. Once the line has settled on the lake bed the booby will be floating above it at the height of the leader. You can be lazy and sit there and wait for a rainbow to cruise by and take the fly, or you can retrieve your line in long pulls, allowing time between for the fly to lift back up to its original height. As you pull the line the booby is drawn to the lake bed.

In recent years the competition fishers use boobies to fish the ‘washing line’ method. Usually, I believe, with an intermediate line. The booby is fished on the point and 2 droppers with nymphs or buzzers on the cast. This method is used to explore different depths where the fish are feeding.

I do not believe our American friends have discovered this ‘fly’ yet despite their Dolly Parton probably being responsible for its name.

If you like sitting on the bank and taking it easy this fly might be worth a try. It has accounted for some big fish.

Materials

Hook long shank 10 / 8
Body orange chenille fritz
Tail orange marabou
Head plastazote tube orange or white
Tying silk orange
Tail flash optional
Please note color variations are optional ( white /green -- black / green )

Regards

Dave Cammiss and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8hw80abiE

The Partridge and Orange and The Greenwells Glory

Dave Cammiss — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:04:32 +0000

Today we will be explaining how to tie wet flies and spider patterns, the old standard, partridge and orange popular in the north country and the Greenwells Glory, which is more universal, and has also stood the test of time. You will find them both easy to tie and well worth a place in the box of river fishers.

The Partridge and Orange has only two materials, the hackle and the tying silk. The hackle is from the back of the old english grey partridge. The ideal hackles do not have distinct brown bar across the top but those with a lesser bold bar are acceptable and you will find that most commercially sold packs have a mixture. If you want the best go out and shoot your own. Only joking. There is another similar grey hackle on the partridge plumage which is well worth using and can be used for the partridge and yellow.

The older school of fly tyers always laboured that hackles on spider patterns had to be very sparse. To do this you strip the fibres off one side of the hackle before you tie it in. To do this correctly lie the hackle on top of the hook with curved side of the feather uppermost, grasp all the fibres on the side away from you and peel them gently off to the stem. Tie in the hackle as shown on the video clip and wind round the hook 2-3 turns and tie off at the head.

You will find some tyers who recommend tying the hackle in by the point. By all means try this once you have got the hang of doing the basics, but beware, the points of partridge hackles are very fragile. You can (and I often do) actually tie the hackle in whole and give it 2 turns and tie off.

The brown partridge can also be used for the march brown spider, the partridge and yellow and damsel nymphs.

The Greenwells Glory has only three materials, the hackle, the tying silk and the fine gold braid or wire for the rib. The hackle is from a hen cape. You can either buy a full cape or buy a packet of hackles. The disadvantage of a cape is the relatively small number of hackle of a size but it does give you a better selection of sizes but they are usually more expensive. If you want to tie a dry pattern you will have to use a cock cape, it has stiffer fibres and floats better but the dressing is the same. The book states that the tying silk should be primrose and well waxed, (use beeswax), because it transforms the colour to light olive.

Hooks wet fly sizes 12 / 14 / 16.

Once you have mastered these two all you need are the various hackles to open up a new world of spider patterns.

Hope you enjoy the lessons. Beware it has been said that fly tying can become addictive.

Regards
David Cammiss and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDdpkx-4IbU

The Montana Nymph

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:07:37 +0000

This was originally an American pattern which became popular in the UK in the early 1990’s for reservoirs and stillwaters. It has now become a very popular fly which features in most fly boxes.

The American original was dressed as an imitation of the larva of the stonefly in the rivers in the Montana region and was dressed on long shank hooks sizes 6…10.

Over the years in the UK the pattern has been slightly modified and whilst called a nymph it is usually fished as a lure. The thorax is tied with chenille in fluorescent yellow, green or red and the most popular size is a long shank 10. I modify my version slightly. I tie in a bunch of black cock hackle fibres for the tail and for the wing case I use Sparton ‘new body czech’ which is more durable and adds a little sparkle. You can also use black nylon wool which is not as fragile as chenille which our American cousins favour.

I think you will find this one quite easy to tie and it will be a good addition to your fly box.

This series of video clips is down to the enthusiasm of my younger son Jonathan. He not only does the camera work but he keeps me focussed on my commentaries and does all the work on the web site. I have the easy part tying the flies.

We will endeavour to comply with your requests but please accept that I have had no experience with salt water flies. I am in my seventies and this old dog is not too keen to learn new tricks. However just remember whatever you tie the principles are the same only the materials are different.

Materials

Hook long shank 6 / 8 /10
Tail black cock hackle fibres
Body black chenille
Thorax flourescent chenille -- green / orange / red
Wing case black wool
Dyed black hackle
Tying silk black

Happy Fishing
Dave Cammiss and The Team.