Bodkin / Patterns

Northern Magic Lite

Streamer · Baitfish · Pike · Musky · Intermediate · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook Long-shank saltwater/pike hook; a vise with plenty of room around the shank helps for hollow tying

Materials

  • Rattle n/a (One, lashed to the shank)
  • Fish Hair (tail) Red buzzer wrap (A 12-inch chunk, doubled over)
  • Bucktail (three clumps, tied hollow) Black; use the shorter brown mid-tail hair for the front clump (Each clump about the thickness of a matchstick)
  • Flashabou Black holographic tinsel (A few strands behind the middle clump, plus about six strands doubled for the second application)
  • Flexament or similar flexible cement Clear head cement (A dab on each thread dam)

How to tie it

  1. Lash the rattle to the shank first with snug wraps so it cannot move. It will be covered completely later, so it does not have to be pretty.
  2. Tie a 12-inch chunk of red Fish Hair in at about the midpoint with three wraps, check the length, then double it over and bind it down so the tail cannot pull free.
  3. Take a matchstick-thick clump of black bucktail and tie it in facing forward (backwards, in the hollow-tie style), then fold it back over itself and build a tapered thread dam in front of it to control the flare and shape.
  4. Add a few strands of black Flashabou, doubled over the thread and set on top of the shank, and lock it down. Add a dab of Flexament over the tapered thread dam so it cannot slip once wet.
  5. Repeat with a second matchstick-thick clump of bucktail: three wraps, spread it around the shank, fold it back and build another tapered dam. Keep the material sparse. Too much defeats the purpose of the hollow tie.
  6. Add a second, slightly smaller batch of Flashabou, about six strands doubled to give ten or twelve, on the top half of the shank, secure it and add another dab of Flexament.
  7. Finish with one last, shorter clump of bucktail (use the brown hair from the middle of the tail, which is shorter and behaves stiffer) to hold everything in place. Add a little extra on the bottom if you want, and control the taper by wrapping more on the bottom than the top.
  8. Build and shape the head, whip finish, then turn the tail up slightly to set the profile.

Tying videos

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