Fish Skull Deceiver - Step by Step

 

 

 

Materials

HOOK: Mustad 34007
BODY: SF Flash Blend
FLASH/LATERAL LINE: Krystal Flash
HEAD: Small/ Medium Fish Skull

 

STEP 1:

Attach thread to hook.

 

 

 STEP 2:

Tie in your chosen color of SF Flash Blend.

 

 

Fold the Flash Blend backwards and tie the remainder down.

 

 

 Step 3 :

Rotate the hook and repeat step 2 on the bottom of the hook with a different colour of Flash Blend.

 

 

 Step 4:

Return the fly the right way up and form a small head for the Fish Skull to fit over. Attach the Krystal flash. Whip finish the fly at this point. Add a drop of superglue to the head to help the Fish Skull to seat properly.

 

 

Step 5:

Fit the Fish Skull Head over the eye of the hook and make sure it seats properly. Re attach the thread in front of the Fish Skull Head and whip finish immediately making sure that the Fish Skull cannot slip of the hook.

 

Step 6:

Trim the Flash Blend to shape.

Snowshoe Caddis

MATERIALS

HOOK: Partridge Klinkhammer

HOT SPOT: Hends Body Quill

BODY: Hends Body Quill

WING:  Snowshoe Rabbit Foot

POST: Foam Cylinder

THORAX: Hare's Ear Dubbing

Step 1

Wind the Body Quill around the hook to form your hot spot.

Step 2

Tie down the Body Quill with the second colour of Body Quill that you are going to use for the body of the fly.

Step 3

Form the body of your fly. Make sure you form a nice taper. Attache your thread to the hook eye and tie down the Body Quill. Cut of the excess.

Step 4

Tie in the snowshoe rabbit hair just like you would tie in Elk hair for a Elk hair caddis. Snip of the excess towards the hook eye.

Step 5

Tie in your foam post

Step 6

Spin some dubbing around your thread and form the thorax and legs. Whip finish and trim the foam post.

Fly from below

From the front

Biot Nymph

One of my favorite nymph patterns that I use in the streams that I fish is the Biot nymph. I can whip out one of these in about three minutes and tie them in sizes 14 to 18, but my most productive one has been the size 18 black with a gold tungsten bead.

HOOK: Kamasan B175

BODY: Goose or Turkey biots

TAIL: CDL

THORAX: UV Ice dubbing

BEAD: Tungsten

TYING STEPS

STEP1: Slide your bead onto the hook and start your thread.

STEP 2: Tie in your CDL tail

STEP 3: Tie in your biot with the notch at the end of the biot facing down. Also add a dash of super glue over the tie in area to make the fly more durable.

STEP 4: Wrap the biot forward so that the edges of the biot form a rib. If you had tied in the biot with the notch facing up the body would be smooth.

STEP 5: Spin a thin noodle of UV Ice Dub around your thread.

STEP 6: Form your Thorax and whip finish.

Finished Fly

Damsel Nymph – Step By Step

This is quite an effective little Damsel nymph pattern that is also easy to tie. I also tie this pattern with red eyes.

HOOK: #14 2X long nymph hook

EYES: Mono eyes or glass bead eyes

TAIL AND BODY: Rabbit strip and dubbing

LEGS: Partridge feather

STEP 1:

Make yourself some mono eyes or you can do what I did here and melt two glass beads onto some mono to form your eyes. Figure of eight your eyes onto the hook and take your thread all the way to the back.

STEP 2:

Tie in the rabbit strip tail at the bend of the hook. I take a normal rabbit strip and split it in half to make it a bit thinner. Cut the hair to just above the skin on the piece to the front of your tie in point.

STEP 3:

Spin a thin noodle of dubbing onto your thread and dub the body of the fly to just in front of the eyes.

STEP 4:

Prepare a partridge feather and tie it in just behind the eyes. Wrap one turn of the feather around the hook and tie of.

STEP 5:

Now take the loose piece of rabbit strip and stretch it over the mono eyes to the eye of the hook and tie it of. Make sure that the partridge feather sits to the side of the body of the fly and points backwards.

View from the top.

STEP 6:

Tie off the your thread forming a neat thread head. Cut of the remaining piece of rabbit strip.

Finished fly.

View from the top….

….and from the front

Rod Building 101- Part 5

This is the final instalment of the rod building tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter

You can find the other instalments by clicking on the links below

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4 

 

STEP 18: FINISHING YOUR ROD

Here you will need a 2-part rod finish (Like Flex Coat’s High Build or Lite formula), Colour-coded syringes, a mixing container (preferably glass…a tot glass works excellently), a paper clip, brushes, a saucer and some foil to cover the saucer with.

Mix the two parts of finish together. Mix a full 3cc’s of each part, do not try and mix less…the mixture may not be consistent then. The key here is to mix SLOWLY. Count ten turns clockwise, and then ten turns counter-clockwise. Do this repeatedly until the mixture is completely clear. (It may take up to 7 or 8 minutes.) It’s essential to work slowly to minimise bubbles forming.

Nowpour the mixture over the tin foil in the recess created by the underside of the saucer. This will spread the finish nicely, help dissapate any bubbles that formed in the finish, and increase the “pot life” (using time) of the finish.

Assuming you are doing a 4 piece rod, do two sections at a time…not more. If you are doing a two piece rod, do one section at a time. I would not advise trying to do the entire rod at once in the beginning. The finish starts to become tacky and very difficult to work with.

Start with the butt section and second section. Apply finish over the hook keeper, decorative wrap and rod writing first. Over this big area, use long brush strokes from side to side. Continue until the finish is all over the area required, and fairly level. Move to the stripping guides, and apply finish to the wraps. Once you have finish applied to all the wraps, go back and neatly finish the ends of the wraps. You want to have the finish overlap onto the blank for about 1mm right around the blank.

NB: Do not “brush” the finish on, this will introduce bubbles in the finish. Hold the brush loaded with finish against the wrap, and turn the blank. It may help to rest your brush hand on top of the rod stand. Keep turning the blank, to ensure the finish does not sag to one side and possibly drip off.

Put the completed section in the rod-dryer, and turn it on. As the rod turns in the dryer, inspect the wraps and finish for bubbles. You can “pop” bubbles in two ways: Take a straw and lightly blow on the finish. This will raise the bubbles to the surface and pop them. Or, use a lighter, and hold the flame to the side of the finish as it turns. This will momentarily thin the finish, bring the bubbles to the surface and pop them.

 
 
Rod turning in rod-dryer.
 

 
 
Note the overlap of finish onto rod blank.
 
Then mix a fresh batch of finish and complete your top two sections. Put it in your rod dryer (now the entire rod is turning) and pop any bubbles you may find.
Turn the rod for at least 12 hours, to ensure the finish has cured enough to not sag anymore. You’re done! Now let the rod stand for at least 7 days for the finish to harden properly before you fish or cast a line with it. After this, take some furniture polish or Brasso and clean the rod up for a final shine.
Remember to put a little candle wax on your male ferrules before fishing it, to ensure good contact, prevent them from loosening while casting and to make disassembly at the end of the day easier.


Now pack your new rod it a suitable rod sock (bag) and a rod tube, and go fish!

There is little more satisfaction than when you catch a fish on a fly you tied yourself…except when that fish is caught with a rod you built yourself. Enjoy.

Other resources for finding Information/Assistance
www.ganador.co.za/custom.html
www.jsflyfishing.com
www.flexcoat.com
www.aaoutfitters.com

www.flyfisherman.com/rodbuilding

Rod Building 101 – Part 4

This is part 4 of the Rod building Tutorial by Michael Newby and Shaun Futter.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

 

THE WRAP:

To ensure even wrap widths on both sides of the guides, take a piece of cardboard and mark the length of the wrap. Put some masking tape at the end of the wrap, to help you with the width of the wrap. Do this on both sides of the guide.

Bring your thread over the front of the blank, and overlap it as shown. Then start wrapping your main thread over the standing part, as illustrated on the right, by turning the blank towards you. The tension should be slight, not too much.

Nowcut the standing part of the thread, and continue wrapping by turning the blank.Make sure the wraps are tightly packed together. The standing part of the thread will now be hidden under the wraps. (NB: This “start” should be on the opposite side of your guides, so that when you look at the guides, this part is under the blank.)

When you get to the guide foot, work slowly…and here’s where your preparation of the guide feet will pay off. If you did it correctly, the thread should climb onto the foot with ease. Continue wrapping until you are about 10 wraps from finishing.

 

Now (also on the opposite side of the blank from the guide), insert a piece of thread as shown, in a loop. We will use this to tie off our wrap. Continue wrapping and trapping the loop under the thread.

When you get to the end of where you need the thread to be, hold the main thread tight, and cut it off from your spool, keeping tension on it with your one hand. Now put it through your loop, and pull the loop tight, pulling the thread against the wraps. (We are going to use a method called the “disappearing thread trick”.)

Now cut the main thread flush where the loop is, and start pulling the loop. Pull it at an angle as shown. The loop will pull the main thread under the wraps and the thread is now secure. Done!

This is the completed wraps on the stripping guide. You can now remove the strip of tape on the blank in the middle of the guide, that showed us the spacing. If your guide is not completely in line with your “spine” marking, use a little pressure with your thumb to push it into place. This should not be difficult at all.

NB: If you are at all unhappy with your wrap, or if there are frays or “fuzzies” on the thread…cut it off and start again. The finished product will look a lot better.

 

“FUZZIES”…they will look nasty when finish is applied.
Rather remove the wraps and start again.

 

 

 

Lastly, “roll” and “pack” your thread wraps as shown. For rolling, use a crochet needle. This flattens the thread and fills up any gaps between the threads. Then pack the thread, to ensure it is nice and straight, and tight together.

 

Wrapping the hook keeper.

 

 

 

Here is a completed “decorative” wrap (usually in front of the writing on the blank) that encases the writing and specs of the blank, from here to the hook keeper. The main colour is dark green, and the “trim wraps” on both sides are metallic green thread.

 

STEP 17:

TRIMWRAPS

You may wish to add a decorative touch to your rod, by adding “trim wraps”. These are usually metallic in colour, either gold or silver…but there are many colours to chose from. You could also use a different non-metallic colour of course.

 

Sage Z-Axis rod, with Gold main thread, and trim wraps in Rust, Black and Metallic Gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To do trim wraps, go about as follows:

 

First start your trim wrap colour thread, and make about four turns around the rod. Then bring over your main thread colour over the top, as shown.

 

Put your left thumb on the wraps, holding it secure so it won’t unravel, and cut the trim wrap thread. Bring it under the main colour thread, as shown above, and make sure it’s secure.

 

Continue your wrap, until you have about 6 wraps over the other loose threads. Take the loose threads in your right hand, and pull them tight. Cut them off flush, and continue wrapping.

 

When you are about 20 wraps away from your end point, put in one tie-off loop. Make about ten wraps around the loop, and put in a second tie-off loop.Make another 10 or so wraps.

 

Now put in a third tie off loop, and make another few wraps. Now you can cut the main thread, hold tension on it, and put it through the first tie-off loop you inserted.

 

Using the same method as with the stripping guides, pull the thread under the wraps. You now have two loops left, for your final trim wrap.

 

Now bring your trim wrap thread over again, and put it though the second loop you put in. Pull it tight, cut the thread, and pull it through. The thread will now be secure under the wrap. NB: Use caution so as not to pull the trim thread out from under the wraps.

 

We will use a different tie-off method here, just to show you.Make four wraps around the blank again, Cut the thread and pull it though the last tie-off loop. Then hold tension, and pull the entire thread length though the wrap.

Nowpull the loose tag of thread back and forth, making a “slot” in the wraps. Pull the thread tight, and put a sharp razor to it. Don’t cut it, just roll the blade against the thread. It should part neatly. Then roll and pack the thread wraps as you did with the stripping guide, to close any gaps and flatten the thread.

This tie off method is a little tricky, I would suggest using the “disappearing thread trick” instead.

 

The completed wrap with trims.

 

 

 

Here is our rod’s completed hook keeper, and decorative wraps that encase the writing. (It this case, a label we are going to stick on that came from the blank manufacturer.)

THE OTHER GUIDES:

 

Securing and wrapping snake guides (double foot guides) is the same as the stripping guide. For single foot guides, secure one side, and wrap as normal as well. The pic above shows the strip of masking tape that secures the guide, and the one which we placed on the blank to show the spacing.

 

The completed single foot guide.

 

 

 

 

You also have to wrap at least one inch of “security” wrapping on the female ferrules of the blank sections, as shown above. This ensures that the ends of the blank are secure and will not crack or split easily. If a guide is to be placed near the female ferrule, incorporate it in the securing wrap, as shown on the right.

Lastly, wrap a securing wrap of at least 1cm next to the tip-top. This will increase the strength of the blank in this section and also add a finishing touch to your rod.

 

END PART 4

Next time we will look at how to finish your rod.