As you can see my website is still under construction, due to the fact that I have a permanent job as rotational shift worker, make flies, wind on leaders, maintain my fleet of Landcruisers (I am a 4x4 freak also) go fishing and test the flies I tie, plus be a modern day male and assist with home duties (cooking, cleaning etc) also. I will endeavour to have the tying and fishing instructions of a new fly each month, with step by step pictures, instructions and also any scaly critters that I encounter whilst testing the same.

Here it is, the fly of the month for February 2005 is the flashtail 60 degree jig hook clouser minnow. To view the detailed photograph, click on the picture to the right of the instructions and it will open in a new larger window for easier viewing.

Note: I have provided detailed instructions, so new tiers will find each step easier to follow. If you have any difficulty at all, feel free to email me (flyology@flyology.com) for assistance.

2nd Note: You will notice I am a left hander. If it looks confusing, save the picture and open it with an editing program such as foto canvas lite, and reverse it.

Firstly, ensure that you have all your tools and tying materials set out, and that everything you need is close at hand. (That includes coffee, a glass or red, beer, rum etc.) If you are going to use the kitchen table, put something down so if you spill glue, head cement paint or the like, you don't get a backhander from the little lady.

Ok, here we go, start by tying a jam knot where you want to tie in the eyes for you fly. There is no specific place, it is personal preference. Just remember, the closer to the hook eye, the more "jigging" action the fly will have, as it will sink quicker nose down. Tie in two small bumps of thread, and tied in the eyes between these.

Advance the thread to around the point of the hook , keeping the wraps firm and close  together along the hook shank. This ensures the "body" of the fly is nice and uniform.

Tie in your flash material of choice, here I have used "flashabou" which you will notice is quite limp. One of the hurdles when using a very limp material is that it can tail-wrap around the hook making the fly  loose its action, or prevent it from swimming  properly at all.

Hold your material upwards and to the rear of the fly, tying it down with tight/close wraps of thread. This will tie all the material on top of the hook. It doesn't matter if you start to wrap past the bend of the hook, but don't go too far so that it will effect hooking fish.

Now tie in the under body of the fly where you finished tying in your flash material. There is no need to have an under-body, though I believe it strengthens the fly, plus gives fish that "feel" the fly in the water more chance of finding it.

You can see here that I have stopped short of the tying the under-body in from the eyes. this is because I am going to tie this clouser with a "belly" to give it extra profile. I tie the silver braid back over itself, which gives the fly a more consistent body, as opposed to having a bulge or bump where the flash and braid are tied in.

This is where having a rotary vice is a big bonus. Hold the braid gently between thumb and fore-finger whilst winding with your other hand. Keep the wraps close together, and added bonus of having an under-body is it protects the thread holding the flash for the tail.

Tie off the under-body where desired, if you are not going to have an under-wing you can continue wrapping over the eyes in a kris-cross fashion and tie off in front of them. If the tail flaps all over the place and gets in the way, just whet it down with al little saliva between the thumb and fore finger to hold it down.

Whip finish the fly here, this is the point where if you are going to tie a number of these to stop and start you next one. tie half a dozen or so this way, and they you can add different colours of bucktail later.

Add a drop of head cement, to make the fly even stronger you can coat the braided body with a clear nail polish, or even a thin coating of 5 minute epoxy.

Now take the fly out of the vice, reposition it so the tail is hanging down. Brush on a little soft dip, softex or similar silicone rubber based compound to the tail of the fly just past the hook bend. This prevents the flash from tail wrapping, which can affect the action of the fly in the water.

You can see from this photo that the flashtail of the fly is now a little stiffer, but not hard, and is prevented from wrapping around the hook bend.

Cut a small amount of bucktail, (I use white for nearly all my under-bellies), not too much though or you will prevent the fly from swimming hook point up. Rule of thumb for tying flies, a fly will swim with the majority of the material to the top of the fly. i.e.; if you want a fly to swim hook point up, tie most of the wing material to the gape of the hook.

Add in more bucktail, use a colour that imitates the bait fish in the area you intend to fish. Or, you can go all out and tie something that is so rude in colour that fish strike at in in anger......

A little more bucktail, a darker colour preferably and you are nearly finished... might be time to top up that beer, wine, rum, coffee........

If that is too much for you, then just get me to tie them for you by clicking "here"

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