video - Two Flymphs

[Hans Weilenmann]

Flymph (generic)
Hook: Tiemco 102Y #15
Thread: Pearsall's Gossamer silk, black
Hackle: Hen, badger
Rib (optional): Wire, gold
Tail (optional): Feather barbs
Body: Argentinean hare, dyed olive - in split thread

Note 1: No need to tell you this is only a flymph - provided as a template only. Select your own materials.

Note 2: Pete Hidy pre-made the body material by twisting dubbing material between a loop of silk. I get the same look&feel by inserting dubbing into split silk.

Video here - best viewed in HD, and a larger window:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDanakU2U_E

Cheers,
Hans W

[Mataura mayfly]

Thanks Hans. For me video is a lot easier to learn from or interpret than written script and I learnt from the final segment on thorax wrapping the hackle.

[jaydawg]

Great video. I sent this one to some friends as an overview to what a "flymph" is. Thanks Hans.

[gingerdun]

Note 2: Pete Hidy pre-made the body material by twisting dubbing material between a loop of silk. I get the same look&feel by inserting dubbing into split silk.

Cheers,
Hans W

Hi Hans,
Well done, as usual. This should become a standard flymph reference. Each person who demonstrates it brings their own stylistic stamp, whether it be my father, Dave Hughes, Allen McGee, Jim Slattery, or Hans Weilenmann.

I would offer a friendly quibble with your statement above, that you get the same look and feel with split thread that Pete achieved with the Clark block. The conspicuous difference is the tapering. In the large majority of the bodies Pete spun (but not all) he tapered the dubbing to be thinner at the tail. The tapering was often accentuated during the tying with extra wraps of bare thread at the tail— and by a neatly tapered head. Both Jim Leisenring and Pete spoke often about the importance of tapering, and they both left room behind the eye for the head.

Below are typical tapered bodies as spun by Pete Hidy, and a fly showing tapering at both ends.
One additional difference in your technique worth noting is that neither Leisenring nor Hidy were known for trimming off the barbs from one side of the hackle as you did in the video. You are not the only one who advocates it, for it has merit, but it definitely was not part of Pete's method.
I am not saying that Pete or Jim's methods are better than yours, not at all. I just wanted to point out that each of you has a different approach, as is always the case with master fly tiers. This is as it should be.
Wonderful video lesson, especially showing the alternative method of the thorax hackle.

Thank you!
Lance

[Hans Weilenmann]

I would offer a friendly quibble with your statement, that you get the same look and feel with split thread that Pete achieved with the Clark block. The conspicuous difference is the tapering. In the large majority of the bodies Pete spun (but not all) he tapered the dubbing to be thinner at the tail. The tapering was often accentuated during the tying with extra wraps of bare thread at the tail— and by a neatly tapered head. Both Jim Leisenring and Pete spoke often about the importance of tapering, and they both left room behind the eye for the head.

My comment was on the structure. The pre-made dubbing brushes have dubbing sandwiched between two strands of silk, then twisted. The split thread as shown does exactly that, sandwich dubbing between two strands of silk, then twist. How could it end up different structure?

With regards to the taper - I can easily do that too and have done on flies I have posted here. What I did not want to do is make the video too complex with nuances like that - it was meant to be a simple to follow, no nonsense video, showing two (one really) no nonsense simple bugs.

"leave room behind the eye for the head".... ah, there we do differ. With a few exceptions I prefer the heads on my flies to be as minimalistic as I can manage

One additional difference in your technique worth noting is that neither Leisenring nor Hidy were known for trimming off the barbs from one side of the hackle as you did in the video. You are not the only one who advocates it, for it has merit, but it definitely was not part of Pete's method.

What I am saying is that one can only make a choice, when a choice is there to be had. I cannot speak for either Jim or Pete, but something as simple as stripping away the barbs on one sidemay perhaps never have entered their tying - or perhaps it did and they decided was not for them. I find it offers me more control over the angle, and at times the distribution of the barbs, especially on sparsely hackled flies.

Wonderful video lesson, especially showing the alternative method of the thorax hackle.

Thanks. It is but a first, a primer if you will - no doubt there will be others to be shot in the series

Cheers,
Hans W

[gingerdun]

Hans,
While respect for the old tying methods is important, there would be no vitality without the kind of innovation in materials and technique that you present in your videos. And I would add, neither the traditions nor the techniques could survive and evolve without clear teaching. You are both preserving and advancing the art that we all care about so much.

I am trying to build up my nerve to make video myself, but my technique has a long way to go before it is video-worthy.

Lance

[letumgo]

Hans - In a number of your videos, when you are breaking of wire, you use the phrase "worry it off". It is a neat phrasing for the process of fatiguing the wire until it breaks. Do you know where that phrasing originated? Is it something you are referencing in older tying books? Just curious. I like it.

Nice tutorial, by the way. One of these days I am going to get the hang of mounting the thread and hackle like you do, but I ain't there yet. The only thing it has improved so far is my swearing. (humor)

I'll keep @#@$$% practicing...

[crazy4oldcars]

Ray,
I remember my father using the phrase, in another context, when I was a kid. He didn't tie flies, so I don't clearly remember where he was using it. As an electrician, he dealt with wires a great deal, so that may be the the context.

Kirk

[Hans Weilenmann]

Ray,

Old English - to touch or poke repeatedly, to harass, to bother (as well as a whole slew or other meanings along similar lines)

You may have heard of "a dog worrying his bone"?

Me just being quaint I guess

Cheers,
Hans W

[William Anderson]

Hans, thanks for the video. I would like to spend some time fooling with that technique. It really seems a great option, especially for smaller flies. The difference I see is that the body created with a split thread has 50% less silk than a body tied with any of the more traditional methods. It's a small difference, but it creates a different result. Does it matter? I rather doubt it, but I like the proportion of silk to dubbing using the "doubled" silk for larger flies, whichever way you choose to spin it. There are a number of advantages to the split thread method, I just have to get some practice to get the quality results you are able to achieve. Much thanks for the instruction.

w