March, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
153 
the hook, where the tying-thread stopped; 
secure with a few turns of the thread, in 
front of the wings. (In making the first 
of these turns throw it over the feathers 
loosely and do not pull tight until the end 
of thread is carried well over, away from 
you and around shank; then pull snugly 
directly down. Otherwise you are liable to 
twist the feathers over toward the far side 
of shank. To further offset this twisting 
of the wings around shank before they are 
firmly secured, hold them tivisted a little 
toward you as you are pulling this first 
loop- of the thread taut.) 
Step 4 
5.—With left thumb and forefinger (or 
middle-finger) turn back toward hook the 
ends which project below the shank; catch 
with a couple of turns of thread, behind 
the wings. Tension on ends as you turn 
them back pulls upper ends of wings for¬ 
ward, and the turns behind also pull them 
into and hold them in position wanted. 
(Long finger-nails are an asset for this as 
for other manipulations. Many -tyers cut 
Steps 5 and 6 
off these projecting wing ends, without thus 
turning them back, but this construction is 
not nearly so durable.) 
6.—With scissors cut off at a bevel the 
turned-back wing ends (dotted line in illus¬ 
tration), and cover them in with thread. 
7 -—With two or more turns of thread, 
secure hackle at butt end, placed on top 
of shank with quill lying between wings, 
the tip directed away from hook, and with 
the outer (darker and glossier) side of 
Step 7 
hackle facing you. This hackle may stand 
on edge (perpendicular plane). Carry 
thread in long spirals down to where shank 
joins bend of hook. 
8. Lay four fibers of hackle (some say 
two, or three) or other selected feather 
fibers on top of shank where it joins the 
bend, and overlapping shank about three- 
sixteenths of an inch; catch these tail- 
stylets with a 
couple of turns 
of thread; 
carry an ad¬ 
ditional turn 
behind fibers to 
cock them up. 
g. — Lay on 
piece of body 
material simi¬ 
larly and se¬ 
cure end; cut 
off surplus 
short end; 
carry thread in 
long spirals 
back to wings and with the next turn 
pressing against back of wings pull wings 
up and well forward to desired position; 
tion (A winds over and secures B). Insert 
end of bodkin in loop of thread to prevent 
kinking, pull end of thread till loop hugs 
needle, withdraw bodkin, give end a final 
pull to make all taut, and cut it off close 
with sharp 
penknife, being 
careful not to 
cut the hackle. 
With bodkin 
pick out fibers 
caught under 
turns of hackle 
or of thread. 
Some tyers 
split the hackle 
through its 
quill and use a 
half-hackle to 
mitigate this 
difficulty, but 
this is rather adding another difficulty. 
Put a drop of white shellac from the 
small end of a toothpick on end of wind- 
Steps 10 and 11 —A 
make the next turn in 
front of the wings, then 
two oblique (X) turns 
around shank and be¬ 
tween wings, thus mak¬ 
ing their position more 
, secure and spreading them slightly. 
io.—Wind body material around shank 
up to wings, and by forcing it up against 
Steps 10 and 11 —B 
back of wings further 
brace them in their up¬ 
right-forward set; se¬ 
cure with thread; cut 
off surplus body mate¬ 
rial. 
11. —Catch the point of hackle with pliers 
and wind it on, on edge, and with a slight 
twisting manipulation to cause the fibers 
to stand out nicely; make most turns of 
hackle in front of wings, two between to 
further spread them, and maybe one be¬ 
hind. Secure end of hackle; cut off sur¬ 
plus. 
12. —Fasten thread with three half¬ 
hitches just behind eye of hook, or, better, 
with an invisible knot of four or five close 
turns, working from the eye, and over the 
end passed under, as shown in the illustra¬ 
ing, to further secure and to waterproof 
it; spar varnish does not dry so quickly 
but is better protection. In either case 
avoid obstructing the eye of the hook, 
and—eureka! your fly is finished. 
A good plan is to keep a little varnish 
in a corked vial, and to have a toothpick 
inserted in the bottom of the cork. 
A friend in a rare moment of supreme 
confidence (’tis thus, one by one, that most 
of these little kinks are acquired) has re¬ 
vealed to me his “lazy-man’s trick” for 
Step 12 —A 
/ 
b 
facilitating the tying of the finishing-knot 
at the head of the fly. He folds a l'ittle 
piece of stiff paper, cuts a tiny nick at the 
center of the fold, and, first passing the 
tying - thread 
through this 
hole, then 
places the hole 
over the eye 
of the hook, 
the paper thus 
serving as a 
retractor t o 
hold the hackle 
and wings back 
out of the way. 
[The con¬ 
cluding paper 
of this com¬ 
prehensive se¬ 
ries by Dr. 
Holden, who is an authority on angling, 
contains instructions for tying wet flies, 
winding hackles, and many other steps in 
the making of the perfect fly. It will ap¬ 
pear, fully illustrated, in the April issue 
of Forest and Stream. — Editors.] 
Step 12 —B 
