Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Moderators: William Anderson, letumgo

User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by letumgo » Sun Feb 03, 2019 11:19 am

Recipe:
Image

Materials (Hackle / Dubbing / Prespun Bodies:
Image

Detailed Tying Sequence in Photos:

Step 1 - Hackle Preparation
Image

Step 2 - Tying in the hackle
Image

Step 3 - Selecting hen hackle fibers for the tail
Image
Image

Step 4 - Tying in the tail
Image
Image

Step 5 - Tying in the prespun bodies
Image
Image
Image
Image

Step 6 - Tightening up the prespun bodies during tying process:
Image

Step 7 - Wrapping the body
Image
Image
Image
Image

The master at work...
Image

Step 8 - Wrapping the hackle
Image
Image

Step 9 - Tying off and forming a nicely tapered head
Image
Image

Step 10 - Apply head cement and shape/train the hackle collar with half-hitch tool
Image
Image
Image

Finished Result - Bill Shuck's Conover Flymph
Image
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
User avatar
Stendalen
Posts: 652
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:24 am
Contact:

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by Stendalen » Sun Feb 03, 2019 11:31 am

Bill and Ray! This is just brilliant...gives me so much inspiration!

Thanks for sharing :P
"...because it enriches my soul..."
https://www.facebook.com/stendalenflyfish/
User avatar
hankaye
Posts: 6582
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:59 pm
Location: Arrey, N.M. aka 32°52'37.63"N, 107°18'54.18"W

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by hankaye » Sun Feb 03, 2019 12:01 pm

tie2fish, Howdy;

Mr. Bill, so nice to watch you tye such a wonderful looking Flymph,
even if it is in stop-action.

Thank you Ray for sharing this with us all.

hank
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949...
"Every day I beat my own previous record for number
of consecutive days I've stayed alive." George Carlin
User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by letumgo » Sun Feb 03, 2019 12:23 pm

The room was too loud to do a video, so Bill kindly explained the tying process, pausing at each critical step to let me take a picture.

Bill - Feel free to add a detailed description of key steps in the process.

Thank you for the demonstration and tutorial.
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
User avatar
swellcat
Posts: 461
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:37 pm
Location: Cowtown, Texas, US

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by swellcat » Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:57 pm

An aside, but I've never seen sexier handwriting on this forum.
User avatar
Old Hat
Posts: 4204
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 12:24 am
Location: Where Deet is a Cologne
Contact:

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by Old Hat » Mon Feb 04, 2019 7:31 am

I've tied these. It is a great pattern. Thanks guys for putting this up.
I hate it when I think I'm buying organic vegetables, and when I get home I discover they are just regular donuts.
http://www.oldhatflytying.com
DOUGSDEN
Posts: 2506
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:57 pm
Location: Sardis, Ohio

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by DOUGSDEN » Fri Feb 08, 2019 9:47 pm

Bill & Ray,
What a great combination of tying skills by Bill and photography and tutorial set up by Ray! It is clear, easy to follow, and a sheer joy to watch and learn! Bill, you need to start working on your video series of all the wonderful patterns you have gifted to us and the entire tying world!

Ray, your photographic style is distinctive and good and so well synced to the task at hand! You really did a good job in capturing the essence of the incredible talent that Bill posesses!

What can we expect to see in the future? Can't wait to see!!

Dougsden
Fish when you can, not when you should! Anything short of this is just a disaster.
User avatar
Theroe
Posts: 1450
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:42 pm
Location: New York City

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by Theroe » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:02 pm

So:
This is the first "new" flymph, which is a take on one of my all time favorite flies, the Conover. Every spring I would order a dozen #14 and a dozen #16 Conover's from Winnie Dette......true to form they would arrive about a month later from the Cottage street address, each size tucked into a very small white carton. Mary took over the duties, and I kept ordering....now its Joes turn, and just about the right time of year to order. Note: this is a very killing pattern for those of you who haven't tried it.
For the fore-mentioned reasons, seeing Bill produce this pattern holds a very special place for me, and I cannot wait to fish the Conover Flymph this year..........

Dana
Soft and wet - the only way....
NedZeppelin
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2018 2:40 am

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by NedZeppelin » Mon Nov 25, 2019 4:31 am

Just looking at this: “tightening up the prespun bodies” looks like he is suspending the spun silk just above the hook with a bodkin and presumably giving the hackle pliers a spin? Not sure about the reason for the bodkin. Any enlightenment?
User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

Re: Conover Flymph Tutorial by Bill Shuck (tie2fish) / Photos by Ray Tucker (letumgo)

Post by letumgo » Mon Nov 25, 2019 3:03 pm

Yes. Bill used to use the tip of a bodkin needle to hold the spun body away from the hook (90 degree angle), and then spin the hackle plier to tighten it up a bit, before wrapping the body forward. Easy peasy.

Here is an older photo of Bill, demonstrating the bodkin spinning technique during a prior event. In this case, Bill was showing Lance Hidy how he tightened the spun bodies before wrapping forward.

Image
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
Post Reply