Fly Tying Techniques

Adapted from the FFF booklet Introduction to Fly Tying (by Al Beatty & Bob Lay)

There are several basic techniques that a fly tier use on almost every fly. Skill with these commonly used techniques
is an important aspect of successful fly tying.

THE BASE WRAP: The base wrap is one of most important parts of a fly. Because the base wrap is the foundation
of your fly, it can be compared to the foundation on your home; it must be strong, well placed, and properly
constructed. So how is the base wrap applied to the hook shank?

(Note: The following instructions are for right handed fly tiers.)

•

Start by holding the bobbin in your right hand with about five inches of
thread extending from the tube of the bobbin.

•

Secure the end of the thread with the thumb and fore finger of your left
hand.

•

With the thread held by your left hand and the bobbin in your right hand,
place the thread over the hook shank. It is very important to have the
thread in your lert hand over the hook shank so it is nearest you and the
bobbin in your right hand is on the far side of the hook from you.

•

By keeping both hands fairly close together, apply tension to the thread
so it forms an up-side down V. The point of the V should be at the
starting point on the hook shank. Moving the bobbin AND your right
hand around the hook shank in a clockwise direction will form wraps
around the hook shank. The wraps should be tight enough to keep from
slipping around on the hook but not so tight that you break the thread
when placing them.

•

The base wrap is formed by first placing two turns of thread behind the
V, followed by placing two turns of thread in front of the V. Then wrap
back over the original two turns and continue back along the hook
shank to the start of the bend.

•

Next trim off the excess piece of thread you have been holding with
your left hand. Finish by wrapping back to your starting point and the
base wrap is complete. You will note that the base wrap consists of a
double layer of thread from the starting point, down the hook shank to
the bend, and back to the starting point.

THREAD TORQUE: When a thread under tension is wrapped around the hook, it has a tendency to pull other
materials around the hook with it during the actual wrapping process. . This tendency is called thread torque.Thread
torque will cause materials placed on the top of a hook to roll to the side of the hook away from the fly tier. In some
situations the material will even end up under the hook. There are two methods of dealing with thread torque and/or
using it to your advantage: (1) the material roll and (2) the finger-thumb tuck. The material roll is usually used with
stiffer materials like moose hair or hackle fibers and the finger-thumb tuck is used on softer materials like chenille or
yarn.

THE MATERIAL ROLL: We use this tendency of the thread to roll during the wrapping process to our advantage. It
is simple! If you want the material to end up on top of the hook, then start it on the side of the hook nearest you.
Thread torque will roll the material up on top. If you want the material to end up on the bottom, then start it on the
side away from you. It will roll under the hook during the wrapping process. It will take a few tries to get used to how
the thread torque actually rolls the material. After awhile, however, you will realize how easy it is to use this problem

to your advantage.

FINGER-THUMB TUCK: This technique is employed when thread torque still
pushes the material out of the way when the tier is trying to use the material
roll. In this situation, place the material on the hook shank exactly where it
should end up. Hold it in place between the finger and the thumb of the left
hand.

(Note: It's important that the material you're tying on the hook is tight against
the hook shank and that the material AND the hook shank itself both be held
between the left finger and thumb.)

•

Now force the tying thread up between the finger and thumb of the left
hand. This is accomplished by moving the bobbin (located in the right
hand) above the left hand and pulling the thread between the finger and
thumb of the left hand.

•

From this position above the left hand, move the right hand and bobbin
straight down, AROUND, and BEHIND the hook shank, leaving a thread
loop extending from your finger and thumb.

•

With the right hand positioned below the hook, pull on the loop of thread
that is between the finger and thumb of the left hand until it slips out
from between them. When it slips out, it will capture the material tight
against the hook shank.

•

Keep the left finger and thumb positioned in the same place on the hook
shank and repeat the process two more times. The extra two tucks will
tightly bind the material in place.

DUBBING: In the fly tying world the word "dubbing" is used in two ways; to
describe a product and also to describe a tying technique. Dubbing as a
product is formed by trimming the fur from the hide of an animal such as a
muskrat or a rabbit. This trimmed fur is then processed (sometimes in a
blender) to fluff it and intermix the fibers. A fly tier can make their own dubbing
or purchase it ready for use. In today's market synthetic as well as natural
dubbings are available.

Dubbing as a technique is what we want to cover in this section. Using this
technique, the fly tier forms a small piece of yarn around the tying thread. The
process starts with the tying thread attached to the hook.

•

Hold the bobbin with one hand with about four inches of exposed thread
between the hook and the bobbin.

•

With the thumb and fore finger of the other hand pick small pieces of fur
from a package of dubbing.

•

Place the fur on the exposed thread and twist in ONE DIRECTION
ONLY!

•

Repeat the process until you have enough fur twisted around the thread
to form a short piece of yarn ON THE EXPOSED FLY TYING THREAD;
at this point the thread is referred to as "dubbed thread."

•

Wrap the dubbed thread around the hook shank to form the body of the
fly.

Many fly tiers use a product called dubbing wax to aid getting the fur or dubbing
to stick to the thread. It does make dubbing easier.

THE HALF-HITCH: The half hitch is one of two methods used to finish the fly. It is really nothing more than a over-
hand loop that is placed over the eye of the hook and around the hook shank. When the excess thread is pulled out
of the loop, it tightens around the hook shank and keeps the thread from unwrapping. Three or four of these applied
to the hook is one way of tying off the fly.

It is applied like this:

•

With the thread attached to the hook, hold the bobbin in your left hand with about four inches of thread
between the hook and your bobbin.

•

Hold the forefinger and the middle finger of your right hand apart about an inch and, with the back of your
hand facing you, lay them across the thread.

•

Rotate the fingers toward you 180 degrees forming a loop with the thread wrapped around the fingers.

•

The thread from the bobbin crosses over the thread from the hook forming an X between your fingers.

•

Slip this loop over the eye of the hook and gradually remove the slack from the thread. As the thread is
tightened remove your finger and allow the thread to secure around the hook shank.

(Note: If these instructions don't work for you, ask your local supplier for a "Half-hitch tool". It is very easy to use.)

THE WHIP FINISH: The whip finish is really just an extension of the half hitch and can be done with or without a
whip finishing tool as follows. First apply a half hitch but DO NOT pull the slack out of the thread. While keeping your
fingers spread with the thread around them, rotate the piece of thread that is attached directly to the hook around the
hook shank in a clock-wise direction. Two or three rotations are all that is required. Now pull the slack out of the
thread removing your fingers as you go just like you did for the half hitch or use your scissor's tip to steer the loop
into place while you pull the slack out of the thread. The illustrations should help you understand this process.

GAGING HACKLE SIZE: Hackle size is determined by the length of the
individual fibers in the usable portion of a feather. You are probably wondering
how to measure the fibers and also, what part of the feather is the usable part.
We will explain!

Determining the length of the individual fibers is fairly easy. Just fan the fibers
by forming an arc in the feather stem. Then gage the length of the fiber by
measuring from the stem to the end of the fiber. There are special tools on the
market today to help with this measurement or you can use the hook to make
your comparison.

A hackle feather that is the right size for a particular hook has fibers whose
length are one and one-half times the width of the gape of the hook. To use the
hook to gage your hackle simply bend the stem of the feather around the
bottom of the hook shank

Now that you know how to determine hackle size, next you need to determine
what part of the feather you use to tie the fly. In looking at a feather you'll note
a darker band along the stem. This darker band is made up of soft or webbed
fibers. The webby portion is wide near the base of the feather and very narrow
or non existent at the tip. The useable part of the feather should have a
minimum amount web. As a general rule of thumb you can start to use the
feather where the web is no more than one-third of the hackle fiber length and
the web free part is two thirds of the length of the fiber.

GETTING STARTED: The techniques we have just described should get you started. As you learn more about the
art of fly tying you'll develop techniques of your own or learn them from another fly tier. Don't be afraid to try
something new - experiment! The worst thing that could happen is that you would have to use a razor blade to
remove your mistake from the hook and start over. Or better yet! Save some of your first mistakes and refer to them

from time to time. We're certain you'll see a definite improvement as you gain more experience. Now let's start tying
flies!