My preferred way of tying Sparkle Gnats and Griffiths Gnats has long been to wrap the body herl and hackle around the thread before winding the whole lot up the shank to form the body. There are a few advantages to doing it this way 1. It makes a stronger body. 2. If you use a good genetic hackle and just palmer it up the body it can act like a propeller and impart a lot of spin to the fly…. not good…. wrapping the hackle around the thread prevents this. and 3. The hackle footprint is a good bit more messy, like the fly in general, I like the slightly more chaotic look of the fly.
Continue reading Sparkle Gnat Step by Step
Tag Archives: micro flies
Nano Buzzer
Continuing to play around with the new Semperfli Nano Silk Ultra 30D thread I thought I’d have a go at a little buzzer with it, the fly below is the result.
Nano Buzzer
Hook: Mustad R30 #24
Thread: Semperfli Nano Silk Ultra 30D Grey
Rib: Semperfli Nano Silk Ultra 30D Red
Cheeks: Glo Brite No7 & No2
Breathers: Tag ends of the body thread folded other to give three lengths then cut to size
Body Finish: Clear Cure Goo Hydro
I remain very impressed with this thread, very strong and incredibly fine, I had to fold it over three times to get enough density of thread just to add breathers to a #24 fly. Same goes for the Clear Cure Goo Hydro, I thought I’d toil to get a thin even coat on a fly that size but it was a breeze. As I mentioned before in previous bog posts I’m not really one for tying or fishing tiny flies so this was more an experiment for me than something I’ll be tying a box full of and casting to Trout…. that said the thread and the Hydro makes the tying that bit easier so never say never.
Jim.
Aphids and Caenis Step by Steps
There are a few fly tyers who really excel at the small stuff, Hans Weilenmann and Andy Baird jump to mind quickly. These guys tie simple elegant micro flies but also some really beautiful tiny flies and they tie them with a high degree of skill, I’m afraid I’m a bit more basic. What I look for in any fly that’s below a size 20 is just simplicity, if I can get the size and shape right I’m happy. If it’ll float for a decent period of time with no floatant applied so much the better as oil slicks around the fly stand out even more when the flies are so small.
So on to a couple of basic fly patterns that cover my needs. Aphids and Caenis.
Continue reading Aphids and Caenis Step by Steps