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Fly tying: Jig hooks and slotted beads
I'm seeing more jig hooks on shelves in fly shops than I ever have before. For a while, I thought maybe it was just a fad ... a passing trend. But it appears, because of the effectiveness of jig hooks used in nymph patterns, the hooks and the slotted beads that go with them are…
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Fly tying: Micro Egg
Here's one for you patient fly tiers who don't mind small hooks and like the minutia that goes into some of these tiny patterns. For me, the term "tiny" starts at about size 18. The size 22 hook used in the pattern below? That falls into the "impossilbe" category for this ham-handed tier. Oh, and…
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Fly tying: Micro Caddis Larva
Tiny flies are the bane of my fly-tying existence, so when I come across a small pattern that is actually easy to tie, I tend to pay attention. And, this time of year on the West's wild rivers and tailwaters, tiny flies are often the name of the game. Video of Micro Caddis LarvaAbove, Tim…
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Fly tying: Zelon Musk Midge
If you're like me, any pattern that calls for a size 24 hook is a pattern best left to the experts. Tim Flagler's Zelon Musk Midge is a prime example. Video of Zelon Musk MidgeThis might be the simplest midge pattern I've ever seen. It consists of two ingredients in addition to the thread, as…
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Fly tying: Ribbing a fly
Fly ribbing is not only a great way to "segment" a nymph body, but, as Tim Flagler points out below, it's a great way to protect delicate materials, like peacock herl. Video of How to Rib a Fly and WhyI tie a few nymphs with wire ribbing, and even add wire to simple streamers, like…
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Fly tying: Using a whip-finisher
When I got my first beginning fly-tying kit all those years ago, most of the tools made sense. But there was this weird loopy, wiry thing that just confounded me. It was a whip-finishing tool. I set it aside and when I tied my first fly (likely a horrible-looking Woolly Bugger that, on its best…
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Fly tying: Adding weight with lead-free wire
Adding weight to flies can be tricky. A lot of tiers prefer to simply add a bead of varying weight to the hook before tying, which not only gives the fly some weight, but also some flash and character. Video of Adding Lead-Free Wire WrapsBut sometimes, as Tim Flagler notes in the video above, adding…
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