Bodkin / Patterns

Hex Nymph

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

InTheRiffle dressing

  • Hook Kona BGT, 6

Materials

  • Tail/Legs Goose biots
  • Abdomen Black bead chain
  • Eyes Red Painted Lead Eyes
  • Collar Brown Whiting Brahma Hen

How to tie it

  1. Clamp an alligator clip in the vise jaws. Cut a six-bead length of Black Bead Chain and crush off the end bead at each end with side cutters on the bead's seam, leaving a bare stem at both ends: one for the tail, one to attach to the hook.
  2. Clamp the chain in the clip with the tail stem out, start the thread on the stem, pinch the clip jaws for support, and take good wraps and a whip finish. Tie in a Goose Biot each side, curving inward for a better profile, trimmed almost to the notch, with loose wraps first. Whip finish using a large whip finisher to clear the materials.
  3. Take a small Brown Whiting Brahma Hen feather from near the neck of the cape, tie it in by the tip, and wrap it in loose concentric turns with the cup side to the right; you cannot pull tight against a bead stem. Whip finish, add a half-drop of superglue, and trim.
  4. Turn the abdomen around in the clip with the tail hanging inside the jaws and work up bead by bead: start the thread, tie a Goose Biot each side on opposite sides (the fly is tied in the round), then a Brahma Hen feather by the tip in concentric turns, whip finish and micro-drops of superglue. Feathers get larger up the cape, so the taper takes care of itself.
  5. At the last bead, held in the upper third of the jaws, repeat the biots and feather, then take the chain out of the clip.
  6. Mount the Kona BGT and figure-8 the Red Painted Lead Eyes on, then wraps around the base of the bundle to tighten it, and superglue. The bead abdomen is tail-heavy, so the front needs this weight to fall straight down or nose-first on the pause.
  7. Lay the front stem of the abdomen at the rear of the hook and tie it down with thread and glue only; no wire is needed because the fish hit the hook, not the abdomen.
  8. Tie in a Goose Biot each side at the front of the hook for another pair of legs.
  9. Take two large Brahma Hen feathers from the top of the cape, grip both tips in the hackle pliers, tie them in by the tips and wrap a very full collar behind the eyes; it creates a baffle so the back end wiggles more. Capture the stems and trim.
  10. Take two more of the largest feathers and figure-8 them around the eyes: wrap behind the eyes, cross over, and wrap the rest onto the eye-length left in front of the eyes. Capture the stems, sweep the fibers back and form a head, then whip finish.
  11. Push the top fibers back between the eyes, brush a dab of thin UV resin at their base and cure it so it soaks in without forming a shellback, and trim the fibers under the hook so the point is clear.

Tying videos

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