Complete White River Fly Fishing Website

Step 1.

Start the thread at the front of the hook. Remember to always leave a space right behind the eye of the hook to prevent crowding.

Step 2.

Tie in 3-4 strands of peacock herl going off the front of the hook shank. Advance the thread to the bend now. I usually tie in the herl the whole length of the hook shank when winding back.

Step 3.

Now prep two pieces of 2mm foam to shape. You can use the pre-shape cutters, but I use scissors instead because I don’t think the fish care, just the fisherman and that’s ok I guess.

Step 4.

Now twist the herl before winding it back. This will had a little more durability. Cut the excess and you are ready for the first piece of foam.

Step 5.

These tails should be short so make sure you think of that when making the fly look proportioned. I usually gage it to be tied in when the foam starts to straighten out from making the cuts.

Step 6.

Tie in the other color right on top. I usually make several turns when working with more then one layer of foam. Also lift up the foam and make a few turns right in front to secure it from shifting.

Step 7.

Now your ready to tie the sili-legs on each side. If the legs are kicking right, sometimes this can happen from not making enough of a thread dam on each side from tying in the foam. Make more wraps and have a little of a foundation and they should kick out fine. Also don’t tie them in to tight or they will not flare right. You want the legs to look more like the shape of a “V”.

Step 8.

Once you have tied the legs you’ll advance the thread up to create two segmentation for the body so make sure your spacing is correct. You’ll tie a little on the herl with the thread while advancing up, but it won’t be enough to tell. Use black thread and it will blend right in with the material.

Step 9.

Shape the sheer wing…. and you can use anything that will form a wing. Easy to cut to shape and just to be honest this isn’t the greatest wing material for these types of patterns, but I like the way it looks on this particular fly. It will fray after a period of casting, but I don’t think this really matters, but I’m still experimenting with other materials.

Step 10.

Tie in the wing. This step can be done real simple, when tying it down leave a little hanging off the front and then once tied in trim off the excess. Make a few more turns to secure and that should clean up any excess that was left.

Step 11.

Now from making all those wraps you should have another good foundation to tie in the other set of legs.

Step 12.

Once you’ve tied down the legs your ready for the post/indicator. I’m using some Z-lon, but there’s some material just for this called “para post wing” material made by Wapsi and it comes in several colors. I like white or orange the best. I leave it long when tying it down then make the cut to the desired length I want. Make sure you leave it long enough to see from a distance because it counts when casting long distances and that’s usually how you’ll pick up bigger browns.

Step 13.

Now you’ll make one more segmentation and should be right behind the eye of the hook shank. Whip finish and glue all the thread wraps (segmentations) from underneath. This will make the fly real durable and it will take a beaten from the fish and false casting. Enjoy !!

Here’s a cutthroat that got fooled on the White River down river at Wildcat Shoals.