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Click Here for info on straggle - bottom of this page

<--------------- I came from here Cut a smallish tuft of deer hair away from the hide and compare it for length on the fly before trimming the butts square Position this so that it is just a little forwards of the eye, too much and you will block access for finishing the fly Loop your thread over the deer hair and position before making another couple of loose turns of thread Slowly tension the thread while holding onto the wing part, the short fibres will start to flare Continuing tensioning the thread until you get it to flare like this and then put another couple of tight loops over it before the next stage Ease back the short ends and wrap about three turns under the deer hair before finishing of with a whip finish and varnishing the thread Your finished fly should look something like this, you can cut the short stubs up at an angle but this is not really necessary as it is a surface / wake fly and this helps create the disturbance that will attract your fish. Here are a few variations of the same fly in Claret and Olive

As Tango and I have reached the same conclusion at the same time, there must be something about this fly that makes it special. You could say that 'great minds think alike' but that would only apply to Tango. There is nothing complicated in the tying and would make an ideal introduction to Deer Hair for a beginner as it is easy to improve on the technique required for this. OK - enough preamble, on with the tie! Materials - Hook - Kamasan B175 size 12 Thread - any strong thread, in this case UTC 140 Denier Body - Vampire Vippy UV Olive micro straggle Wing - Bleached Deer Hair (you can use natural and dyed varieties as you prefer) Thread up your hook to the end of the shank, I have used a dark thread to make the steps more visible, use a thread to match the body or deer hair Catch in the straggle material leaving enough length to reach behind the eye, this avoids a lump in the abdomen Cover this with thread and leave the thread behind the eye Start to wind on the straggle, you need to stroke back the fibres on every turn to avoid trapping them Secure with 3 turns of thread and cut off the excess. You will see that I have added a few more turns to make a good solid base for the deer hair to sit on. Follow me ------------------->

In fact, here is a photo of some different types Hope this indicates just a few of the varieties we have available to us here. Right to Left - Veniards Trilobal Red, Olive, Vampire Hippy Claret straggle, Vampire Vippy UV micro straggle, Artifly UV micro straggle, Generic UV micro straggle You will notice that on the Vampire samples, the core material is quite thick and this is unsuitable for small flies whereas the micro straggle is perfect for down to size 16s. (pulled the image from our forum posting)

Dennis, we are from wild natural stock and not C&R stockies! That term you used that I have highlighted in bold red, youngster? Harrumph! BTW Folks, this guy is sh*t hot at tying flies of any description and is our forum's Step By Step Meister.

Ladystrange, Straggle Fritz is a version of Cactus Chenille that we use across here, it is not as densely packed with fibres as normal Cactus is and hence the name, Straggle Fritz. I have had a few enquiries from your side of the puddle about that and micro fritz, what I can do is get a hold of more and mail some across to you. One to look out for is a brand called Vampire, they have a plain coloured straggle fritz called Vippy and a UV micro fritz called Hippy (or is it the other way around, Hippy and Vippy?)- this is becoming well known here along with the excellent Electric Range from Artifly from whom I get my micro UV fritz. Another good supplier this side is Dave Downie, the Scottish Internationalist who has his own range of materials. These are small outfits and everything is hand dyed to get perfect colouration. Artifly stopped producing micro UV fritz because he could not get a good enough white base material and therefore was not inclined to market an inferior product. Currently he is producing the Electric Range which is similar in quality. The best to get a hold of is Black UV Micro Fritz followed by Olive and Claret and possibly the bright Orange. TLs More chance of them looking you in the eye then!

Ladystrange, sometimes the soft approach, even from a woman, does not work and then you have to resort to butt kicking to get things moving! Glad to see your enthusiasm for this swap - you want to see the horror I have created for this! Go for it Girl!

Part 1 that way <------ Fold the foam back over the shank and secure with tight loops holding the foam in place with your other hand to prevent it spinning on the hook Run the thread and the fritz to behind the hook eye leaving a little space that you need to secure the head Bring the foam over again and secure above the space you left with tight turns before whip finishing Trim the excess foam carefully at the rear and head of the beetle If you have used black foam here then miss this step. Colour the foam with an indelible black marker Not forgetting the underside! Finished under view To increase the attractiveness of the beetle, give it a single coat of SHHAN, this will slightly melt the foam and will give a better colour spread as well as a gloss finish

Here is a handy little terrestrial beetle that can be used in the New Zealand style with a buzzer about 8" below it Righthanded tying assumed for this effort. Materials - Hook - Kamasan B830 size 10 Thread - UTC black Body - 6 or 8mm booby eyes, black preferable but can be worked on Abdomen - Black UV micro straggle fritz Thread up your hook to the end of the shank Select a booby eye or piece of booby cord slightly longer than the hook shank Carefully split it in two with a craft knife or single edged razor blade Tie in your fritz at the end of the shank Then catch the end of the foam by about 1 mm with the thread and pull in tightly giving 3 or 4 turns Raise the foam and run the thread up 2/3rds of the shank and follow with the fritz and secure it there Part 2 - this way ->

Shuck, here is an after thought. Our fly tying forum has a complete beginners section - Absolute Beginners - worth a look to get you on the right path. TLs

Hello Shuck, it is good practice to tie more than one of any fly but to tie dozens when you first start out is a bit extreme and you will also find it boring. You are best starting off by tying 6 of a pattern in 3 different sizes starting from the larger size and working down to the smallest size. Each time you finish a size, compare the first fly with the last and once you have done all 18 then compare the first largest with the last smallest. Doing this enables you to see your progress as you tie and helps you consolidate your skill with one fly. Here is a link to a step by step I illustrated using that very same method - Step by Step - we do a lot of this type of tying across the pond and the SBSs are to help anyone of any level in tying flies. Start with simple patterns that do not require you to go out and buy masses of materials, master these before progressing to different fly types and tying methods and you will get a lot of enjoyment as you progress and hone your fly tying skills. Some simple fly suggestions - Griffiths Gnat (without the peacock herl), a generic black fly, a simple thread and hackle spider (these are quite easy to master and you can create several different spiders just by varying the thread colouration) Search the web by all means and you will find a wealth of patterns from the basic beginner flies right up to the advanced level Salmon flies that take years to master correctly but above all, have fun doing so! TLs

You have almost hit the nail on the head with that description, when we Scots get into full drinking mode, we can only be understood by each other! As a matter of fact, I cannot understand the folks from the North East either! A different language is spoken up there and around the Macduff and Banff areas, well to me it sounds a different language!

Dryfly, that is fantastic scenery in which to wield a rod, I am envious of the range of fishing that is available to you in Canada from the small lakes in the East to the high range rivers in the West that hardly see a human being. I will need to get across there sometime in the future to experience this for myself as my only associations with Canada have been Vancouver for a weeks vacation and Montreal for work on several occasions when I was a commissioning engineer for a German company. TLs

I would think that my ass would have given it away! I am a Scot, living and working in Ireland at present. The accent is pure Scottish and is indecipherable to some!

Sarcasm? We would never stoop to such low methods! All we ask is that when you reply to any of our posts, you use a Chambers English Dictionary for spelling references. Sarcasm indeed!

Your first photograph and reply were right - a Waterboatman or Corixia - looks like it was tied with both goose biots and PT fibres to create the legs, nice hazy dubbing and shellback completes the fly

Hi Folks, my thanks to Flytyer for the advance warning to you! I am one of those people from across the pond and hope to pick up some useful tips and patterns from you guys (and gals) hopefully I can reciprocate with some stuff that you haven't seen before from our forum - UK Fly Dressers - I post under the same label there. Until then, TLs to all.