The "Art" of Fly Tying

[Old Smoothound]

Hi Guys,

I thought it would be interesting for some of you fluff chuckers out there to see some of the flies I have been tying in what little spare time I have.

I tie all forms of flies from real fish catchers to the more exotic and traditional Salmon flies.

All flies are tied with fur and feather and no camera tricks or gimmicks are used.




The "claws" of the Crayfish pattern are feathers…varnished once then a "V" cut into the feather then approx 8 coats of varnish applied to make it really hard. The leg joint is merely the feather stroked back in the opposite direction and held in place with a clip, and then varnished in the same way. The body or "shell" is from Elk or Deer hair and the underside is dubbed Seals fur.





The "eyes" are beads on mono with the ends melted to prevent them coming off. The "legs" are feathers…Partridge wound on and stroked forwards, the "gills" are again fur…..Squirrel or fine long bucktail. The "Tail" is fanned out and then varnished a few times to give it strength.
Tied on a Long shank size 10 hook. Has caught fish but does not last long when "chewed" a few times!

The second Fly is a classic traditional Salmon fly tied on a low water single Salmon hook…they are so pretty it’s a shame to use them…so I don't….just frame them and hand them on the wall.










See if you can count the number of different types of feathers used in this fly.

Classic Salmon flies have to be tied on a cold winters night with a large bottle of malt by your side…in front of a log fire with a Spaniel at your feet keeping your toes warm! Failing that the kitchen table will do!

I hope you enjoy your fly tying as much as I do.

[Miles]

Superb flies Smoothound.

Really liked the crayfish pattern. I know from my own attempts how difficult it is to tie a 'good' pattern, but I can understand how you don't want to fish some of them.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Great post and they look like a work of art

Must be very big feeling when you catch on your own flies

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Fishing Forum Admin

Great post and they look like a work of art

Must be very big feeling when you catch on your own flies

cant really add much more they are beauts smoothy

[kiwimarty]

Can only agree that it is an art. Really nice post Shaun.

Kiwi.

[A fluff chucker]

Beautifully tied flies with lots of "Art"

Great originality with the 'crayfish' and a wonderfully tied 'fully dressed salmon fly' Hand the man the Malt !

[HunterFly]

Yikes!!! Smoothy, those are gorgeous!!!! Someday I'll get there...

[Norfolkboy]

Great post, pics and flies Shaun

What would you expect to catch on that crayfish pattern fly?

[skinhead]

Oi Oi,
Love the crayfish, I used to tie a cray using the knot weave with lava lace or similar. Like you I used 'V' clipped feathers for the claws, but I clipped BEFORE varnishing. The knot weave also makes some demon lures for trout & perch, especially in yellow & black, using the yellow for the underside & the black for the back. Use black marabou for the tail. I'd post pic's but I don't have the facilities.

[Miles]

Originally Posted by skinhead

Oi Oi,
The knot weave also makes some demon lures for trout & perch, especially in yellow & black, using the yellow for the underside & the black for the back.

This knot weaving sounds interesting. I'd not really known much about woven patterns until I saw a 'free' DVD of Oliver Edwards' woven nymph that came with a magazine (think it was Flyfishing & Flytying).

Amazing stuff. Tried to replicate the segmeted woven effect myself and ended up with a 'bug from a car crash', but with practice I can see the benefits of this approach.

Anyway, the question is, what is the 'knot weave' ? Is this using a knot to form the 'legs' in the underbody ? (as opposed to just the overlocking from a straightforward weave). Sounds fiddly, but perhaps even more effective.