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How To Tie Bottom's Up
Recipe: Hook: 2 Hooks 3xl, TMC 5263, size 2-4 Thread: Danville 210 or UTC 140, color to match body Eyes: Dumbbell, Painted (Large) Tail: Marabou Flash: Flashabou, Red Bead: Red Killer Caddis Bead Mono Attachment: 25 Pound Hard Mason Body: Back Hook, Rainy's Pee Wee Pops, color to match body Body: Front Hook, Ice Chenille or Tinsel Chinille (Large) Hackle: Schlappen Legs: Sili-legs, (Barred) Clear Pearl
First thing first, attach the eyes before building the back of the hook. That way by the time you’re ready to tie on the lead hook it will be dry enough. It’s also great if you’re tying a few at one sitting. For further detail on how to attach eyes using Sally Hansen’s hard as nails go check out the sculpin.
Step 1.
Prep two select marabou strands and tie them in together. I usually tie one in at a time, but in this case I want them to be stacked right on top of each other so the foam can be shoved right up to it.
Step 2.
Tie in as much flash as you would like. I like mine to be on the sides and on top, probably 8-12 strands.
Step 3.
I like this super glue when tying anything with foam because it holds securely on the hook shank. You can buy this at your local Wal-Mart store.
Step 4.
Like I was saying in step 1, because I stacked the marabou it will allow the foam to push up in it and make it more durable as a whole. Add a few drops of super glue right on top of the marabou you tied down.
Step 5.
Slide the foam back just how you see it in the picture. It’s important to slide the foam on right after you add the few drops of glue.
Step 6.
Tie in a big piece of schlappen. You don’t want to tie it in by the tip. How to prep it is you want to cut it from the larger end, but make the cut to be where it’s all hackle and not any of the webby marabou that looks like fluff, hope that makes since.
Step 7.
Tie it in all in the same general spot. It doesn’t matter how many times you wrap it around the hook shank, it really is how much you want. Sometimes I’ll use two different colors to make it more mottled looking so the sky is the limit.
Step 8.
Now build your thread to create a thread base for the next pee wee pop. Before sliding it back add a few drops of glue.
Step 9.
Repeat the same step as step 6. Cut off the excess off, whip finish and glue the thread head with some sort of epoxy or gloss coat.
Step 10.
This step you’ll need some hard mason mono and some Sally Hansen’s hard as nails. I like to add a little glue on the thread once I tied down the mono and attached the back hook. Let it dry before finishing the fly. That’s why I like to tie a dozen or so when tying these types of patterns. To learn more about this step click here and read step 11 and 12. As you can see the next step looks like I skipped the whole process of tying in the mono and attaching the back hook.
Just showing you a close up of how it should look after completion. You could add another bead if you want, but it’s a preference thing.
Step 11.
You can tie in some more flash before tying in the marabou. I like using the multi-color flashabou for the middle. Cut a clump of marabou and tie it on top of the hook shank. Make sure you pay attention to how long you want this to hang of the back. Notice in the picture how I did mine.
Step 12.
This is where I like to use one strand of one color and then the other one will be mottled. Give some separation to the pattern, same with the sili-legs. Tie in both strands and then you’ll tie in the chenille. All needs to be on one general area when tying all this in. In other words don’t keep going forward as you tie in the next material, keep it all back there.
Step 13.
This step I’m trying to show you everything that is tied and ready to be wrapped forward. Once this is all tied in you’ll advance your thread almost to be right behind the eye. You’ll need to remember you still have sili-legs that will be tied in up at the front of this pattern.
Step 14.
Wrap up the chenille and stop just behind the eye. Tie it down and tie one strand of sili legs on each side of the hook shank. Advance the thread forward just a little back and then fold the front legs back. Notice you should still have enough chenille to wrap up and figure eight around the eyes. Once you tied the legs down make one turn forward with the chenille and get it right behind the eyes. Now you are ready to wrap up the schlappen.
Step 15.
Now fold the chenille to lay over the eyes to get it out of the way. Next, palmer up the schlappen one by one and not together and make sure you don’t tie in the legs when winding up. It can happen if you get in a hurry. Take your time and pay attention to detail with the spacing. If the legs do give you trouble you can push them over the eye and make an over hand knot with all four strands together. Once you’ve wrapped up right behind the eye cut of the excess.
Step 16.
Make one turn right behind the eyes then do a figure eight around the eyes. The turn you made behind the eye should force the hackle to lay back just a little and that’s the look you want. Trim off he excess and glue the thread head. Finish product my friends. Good luck fishing and as always we’ll see you on the water.
