Fishing Wales: Flies for Wales - Fishing Visit Wales

Tying Tips

• When tying the wing, ensure that it overhangs the bend by 1½ x the hook, this creates mobility in the wing, whilst a shorter wing is lifeless in the water.
  
  
• Having tied in the Bucktail Wing, ensure that you apply a drop of ‘Superglue’ to the trimmed butts. This will stop the wing from pulling out during fishing.
  
  
• Jungle Cock is expensive to say the least! Tie them in and fold back the excess feather stalks, wind over with thread and trim waste. By using this method, your Jungle Cock eyes will never fly off during casting.

Tying Tips

• When tying the Haslam’s flat tinsel body, ensure that you wind on two layers to create a depth in body colour. Tie in the tinsel at the head, wind down to the bend and back to the eye.
  
  
• Try using the ‘Rolled’ or ‘Folded’ wing technique rather than the ‘Pairing’ method, when tying with the Hen Pheasant centre tail. This creates a thicker wing than just two slips as used when ‘Pairing’.
  
  
• When tying in the ‘Horns’, try to get them to curve inwards. If tied correctly, the ‘Horns’ should flick when retrieved across the current.

Tying Tips

• When tying the wing ensure that they curve outwards not inwards. This will help the fly to float naturally.
  
  
• If the fish start splashing at the fly, it may be fishing to high in the water. To overcome this trim the hackle flush on the bottom.
  
  
• Ensure the legs are tied on the underneath of the fly, as this will imitate a drowned or drowning fly more naturally.
  

Tying Tips

• Tie the antennae from hen hackle stalks not cock, hen hackle stalks are softer and are more mobile in the water.
  
  
• When tying(spinning) the deer hair, ensure that you pack the deer hair back so that a very dense body is formed. The more deer hair you fit on the shank the better it will float.
  
  
• If you wish to closely immitate the body of the adult caddis, tie in a length of green or yellow wool(or floss) on the underside of the body.

Tying Tips

• When you have tied in a fluorescent tail, ensure that you comb the tail with velcro so that it "glows" in the water.
  
  
• When ribbing the body make sure you shake the rib from side to side so that you do not trap any of the hackle fibres.
  
  
• The hen head hackle should be roughly 1 1/2 x the gape of the hook. This will make the fly pulsate as it is pulled through the waves.

Tying Tips

• Tie full and anorexic versions of the Diawl Bach. For the full version use 3/4 herls, and for the anorexic use 1/2 herls.
  
  
• Use red thread and rib if you wish to mimic the blood (haemoglobin) of the hatching midge and insects.
  
  
• When tying in the throat hackle, cut flush the ends of the hackle fibres before tying in. Otherwise the eye of the hook makes trimming awkward.

• Trim the bottom of the hackle flush, to ensure it sits in the surface film.
  
  
• Only Gink (treat with floatant) the upper half of the fly, so it sits low in the water.
  
  
• If tying size 12 or 14 only tie in 4 legs. Remeber that fish will not bother to count the legs, it's the silhouette thats important.

• When ribbing the body, ensure that you rib in the opposite way to the direction you wound the body hackle
  
  
• Stack the Elk hairs in a hair stacker before tying in, this will create a smart flush wing.
  
  
• If you want to "skate the sedge" trim the excess stubs a little longer than usual, this will create greater ressistance and hence more disturbance on the water.