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Tying a Flatwing
Saltwater Flatwings | Color Blending | Techniques | Tying a Flatwing
| R.L.S. CRAZY MENHADEN
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HOOK:Eagle Claw 253NA.
THREAD: Beige 6/0.
PLATFORM: Orange and yellow bucktail.
PILLOW: Ginger marabou dubbing.
SUPPORT: Ginger neck hackle.
TAIL: (tied in the order materials appear) 2 strands of copper Flashabou, 1 ginger saddle, 1 pink saddle, 1 yellow saddle, 2 copper Flashabou, 1 cantaloupe saddle, 2 red Flashabou, 1 pink saddle, 1 violet saddle, 1 pink saddle, 2 emerald green Flashabou, 1 blue saddle, 1 red grizzly saddle.
BODY: Gold mylar braid.
COLLAR: Bucktail, beige on the bottom, yellow and beige mixed on the sides.
WING: 15 to 20 hairs of orange bucktail followed by long, wide olive saddle.
CHEEKS: Orange, turquoise, chartreuse, and emerald green bucktail (3 hairs each).
TOPPING: Seven strands of peacock herl.
EYES: Jungle cock.
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Step #1
Wind the thread down the hook shank to just above the hook point. This foundation prevents the fly from spinning on the shank while being fished. Tie in a bucktail platform (about 30 hairs of bucktail works best) to support and suspend the saddle hackle so it swims with every touch of current. Flare the bucktail horizontally with your fingers to create a wide fan to support the hackles tied in at the tail.
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Step #2
Strip some soft fuzzy fibers from the base of the feather and dub an inch of it on the thread. Wind this dubbing on the hook shank in a little ball to create a pillow into which you'll seat the stem of your first hackle.
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Step #3
Lay a neck hackle curved-side up on top of the pillow and take two loose turns of thread around the stem. The strong spine in the hackle will assist the tail assembly and lift the hackles. This support enables the hackles to be receptive to side-to-side movement from any current. Then, hold the tip of the feather with one hand and the butt with the other hand and move the feather slightly forward to seat the stem into the soft dubbed pillow.
Setting the stem so the feather is horizontal and level ensures that the following feathers (which are always tied curved-side down) will lie flat and swim properly. Because stems are natural, they are irregular. Crushing the stem to expedite the tying process only results in a fly that will revert back to its old natural spine once it is left to regenerate in the fly box.
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Step #4
Choose long, thin-stemmed hackles that move in the water for the rest of the feathers in the tail. Remove 1/2 inch of the fibers from the area where the stem shaft changes in thickness from the heavier butt section (called the transition zone) and leave the feather at its full length.
Dampen your hackle slightly and tie it in, curved-side down. Wrap two loose turns of thread around the stem and pull the saddle hackle to seat the stem as you did with the neck hackle. Position the hackle so that it is straight and take two more loose turns of thread. After the feather is where you want it, wind a few turns up the hook shank, then pull straight down and secure the hackle to the hook. This will give you a strong bond that will not pull out or fall apart easily.
Properly tied flatwings are incredibly durable. Straight hackles that lie flat and swim perfectly are the key to an effective flatwing. Take the time to ensure that the hackles are balanced and tied in correctly.
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Step #5
For the body, wind mylar braid or silver, gold, or pearl tinsel forward with half-overlapped turns. Tie in and tie off the braid at the bottom of the hook shank for smoothness.
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Step #6
Throats and collars of single-hue and blended multi-colored bucktail are used both underneath and around the hook shank. Tie these in long and sparse to veil the body and to blend the fly into a single fusiform shape with the bucktail merging into the long hackle tail. You can tie these collars to flare dramatically and achieve a full silhouette with a minimum amount of material.
You may substitute marabou plumes for the bucktail. If you use marabou, remove about an inch of the top of the stem to create a V shape in the feather's center. Then set the plume and draw the stem until the plume's tips lie along the hook shank. This is an old salmon-fly technique that is easy to do and makes for a nice-looking fly.
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Step #7
You can form your wing by blending colors of bucktail and using additional hackle feathers.
To blend bucktail, trim the fibers close to the skin so they are as long as possible. Blend the various colors in your fingers by holding the tips of the hairs and pulling them to stack them. This is similar to shuffling a deck of cards so that they are all interspersed and thoroughly blended.
Tie the blended wing in stages if there is a lot of hair or tie it in one step if it is sparse (40 hairs or fewer). Take two gentle turns around the bucktail, position the fibers, push down on them with your finger to spread them across the top of the fly, and then firmly place another turn of thread between the two loose wraps and the eye of the hook. Pull the thread down so that the hair seats firmly on the shank.
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Step #8
Add a topping of seven strands of peacock herl, if you wish.
For the eyes, take a jungle cock feather and lay it alongside the fly. Take two loose turns of thread and pull the stem to draw the feather forward until the front part of the second eyespot just touches the back wrap of the head. Wrap two turns of thread to secure it, then repeat on the other side.
Jungle cock makes these flies sing in form and in function. Jungle cock looks better in the water than any substitute, and I believe it more completely resembles the actual energy in a real baitfish's eye. Jungle cock is a naturally fluorescent feather that is noticeable from long distances. Take a fly tied with an artificial eye and another fly tied with a jungle cock eye and have someone hold them up across a room for you to look at. The difference in presence is amazing. You will notice a fly tied with jungle cock from a long distance, and so do predatory fish.
When you finish the fly, pull the bucktail out to flare it even more. Give the fly a permanent, fishlike shape by placing it under a hot-water tap.
Hold the fly by the hook point with the fly's head facing toward the faucet. Let the hot water wet the fly and soften the fibers. The water's flow will naturally arrange the shape. Then take the fly and place it on a paper towel to dry. This procedure helps set the fly and imparts a memory within the fibers. This final step ensures that your flies always have that unified, elusive "look of life" that fish respond to.
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