Bodkin / Patterns

Hula Damsel

Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

InTheRiffle dressing

  • Hook Tiemco 2487 and Wiggle Tail Shank, 14
  • Thread UNI Trico White

Materials

  • Bead 2.0MM Gold Tungsten Bead
  • Tail Olive ostrich herl
  • Tail2 Olive Midge Tubing or Small D-Rib
  • Eyes 3X Tippet Fluorocarbon
  • Body/Legs Olive CDC, Light Olive Ice Dubbing
  • Glue Loon UV Thick Fly Finish

How to tie it

  1. Clamp the Wiggle Tail Shank tightly in the vise (a hook with the point cut off also works) and start the UNI Trico White thread on it.
  2. Take three tips of Olive Ostrich Herl, even the tips as closely as you can, and bind them in at the rear of the shank as a tail nearly as long as the shank itself. Lock them down and snip the butts.
  3. At the same point tie in a length of Olive Midge Tubing or Small D-Rib, then tie in one long Olive Ostrich Herl by its tip. Take the thread forward to the eye of the shank.
  4. Twist the ostrich herl and the tubing together into a rope, then wrap the rope forward along the shank, re-twisting every so often and brushing the fibres back with each wrap. The aim is a slightly spiky body with a hint of the tubing's sheen. Bind both off at the eye, snip, and whip finish.
  5. If the shank's rear loop has excess wire, trim it with wire cutters as close as you can without cutting the thread. That completes the rear half.
  6. Put the size 14 Tiemco 2487 in the vise, slide on the 2.0MM Gold Tungsten Bead, and start the thread just behind the eye.
  7. Make the eyes: grip a short piece of heavy mono in hackle pliers, burn both ends into balls, and let them cool. Bind the eyes in with figure-8 wraps about one eye-length behind the hook eye, then slide the bead back against them and take a couple of wraps behind it.
  8. Flatten a short section of 3X Tippet Fluorocarbon with pliers and bind it on top of the shank. Thread the rear section onto the other end, take a loose wrap, and draw the connector down so the two flattened sections stack on top of each other. Loop the mono around the eyes and bead to lock it, then trim the mono.
  9. Cut a narrow strip of Olive Mottled Medallion Sheeting with a V notch in the end and bind it on top of the shank, working back to the very rear of the front section. Use plenty of wraps here, which is why the thin thread matters.
  10. Tie in an Olive CDC feather by the tip, wet your fingers and stroke the fibres back, and wrap it up to the bead so the fibres stand out from the shank. Bind off, snip the excess, and pull all the fibres back carefully.
  11. Jump the thread in front of the eyes, pull the medallion sheeting forward between the eyes, bind it down, trim close, and whip finish.
  12. Colour the eyes black with a Sharpie, put a dot of Loon UV Thick Fly Finish on each eye and cure it. Then wet your fingers, slide the CDC down out of the way, lay a bubble of UV resin along the back without trapping any CDC, and cure. For a more pronounced back build it in two thin coats, curing each.

Tying videos

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