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it's been a little while...

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  flytyer 
#1 ·
since i posted flies... thought i'd throw a few up for s**ts and giggles...

some stuff i've been working on, still enjoying tying the Sid Glasso style speys, and love to fish them as well... Flytyer - you might be right, sometimes its hard to put one of these on the end of a sink tip and run through a boulder garden.... but hey, they were tied for fishin' first, right????

first offering is my updated Skykomish Sunrise Glasso Spey interpretation... a couple pics attached, playing with photography effects... if you want the recipe, let me know... throat is died yellow mallard (to get the yellow and orange/red effects) and the tail is golden pheasant crest with died red tipped as a veil, again, for that yellow and orange/red effects... rest is pretty self explanatory...

enjoy, and of course feed back always welcome... still working on trying to get the wings to lay down flatter...
 

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#4 ·
Feiger

Very cool !!!! I really like the color combo and the proportions are good as well. I would fish this through any boulder garden any place, besides that just gives you the excuse to tie some more. About the wing thing, I am by no means a pro at setting hackle tip wings but can give a few pointers. When you select the hackles you like for the wing be it four or six hackles and you go to strip them to the desired length the bottom of your wing will need to be stripped back just a bit more. this will aid in the wing setting lower to the body. also always remember to flatten the stems before tie in. to get the correct curvature to the wing use your thumb nail and index finger to curve the stem to your likeing. This last bit takes some practice but is well worth the effort.... Nice fly!

Brian
 
#5 ·
Feiger,

Even though there are time I cringe when I toss a Glasso spey in a boulder garden, I still do so because they are so darn effective at ending up with a fish hanging onto to them.

This is a wonderful fly that I would not hesitate to toss in any of our steelhead rivers.

The way I get my wings to sit lower is:

1) stripping the hackle feathers (which I take from Chinese rooster necks or better yet, Whiting American Hackle capes) to almost the tie in lenght. In other words, I leave just a few hackle barbs that will be tied down when the wing is tied in and set. These extra few barbs keep the hackle from rolling out of position as you tie them in.

2) tie the far wing on first and cant (or tilt) the feathers toward you (keep the top of the feathers in the middle of the shank and the bottom of the feathers on the side of the body opposite you) with just two wraps of thread and tighten the thread by pulling up after the second wrap.

3) tie in the near wing and cant (or tilt) the feathers away from you (keep the top of the feathers in the middle of the shank right against the previously tied in far wing and the bottom of the feathers on the side of the body closest to you) with two wraps of thread and tighten them by pulling up after the second wrap.

4) check to see if both wings are the same length, if not, you can adjust them by pulling the stems of the longer wing toward the hook eye as you hold the wing in position with your left hand.

5) add two more wraps of thread toward the back of the fly that slightly overlap each other and tighten them by pulling up fater the secon wrap.

6) add the topping (if the fly has a topping) and make sure you flatten the topping at its tie down point with flat jaw pliers and bend the stem up (you already know how to do this as can be seen in the way your topping lays on the top of the wing edge) and tie it in with two wraps of thread and tighten once again by pulling up after the second wrap of thread.

7) hold the wing and topping (if the fly has a topping) with you left hand and carefully cut the topping and wing stems close to the thread wraps holding them in (for those who do not know this, the reason you need to hold on the the wing and topping stems is to keep them from moving when you cut them)

8) put a drop of Fleximent on the wing and topping stem ends and whip finish over the stems immediately before the Fleximent has a chance to set up. This finishing method produces a small head and absolutely locks the wing and topping in because each wrap of the whip finish is cemented to every other one and the wing stubs are also cemented to each whip finish wrap and the hook.

After the Fleximent dries, put two or three coats of head cement on the head with enough time between coats to allow them to dry to protect the thread and make a nice glossy head that glides through the water when fished.

This method is faster and easier than flatening the stripped hacklle stems, which is how I first learned to tie a lower, flatter wing on.
 
#6 ·
thanks man! will have to try that tonight... have been flattening the hackle stems, post stripping, has worked well. also tie the wings on in the order you described, far, than near, and have been generally successful in getting the tent shape in the two pairs of wings. i've been tying these with 2 pairs, have heard of others using 3 hackles per side. your preference?
hoping to be up your way in april to try the sauk/skagit, or what ever else is fishing at the time. will have an armory of these and heron's for that trip!!
thanks again!
 
#7 ·
A bit more on wings for those interested.

Here's a little more on hackle tip wings that might help some who may be having trouble selecting and setting in the wings. It is presented for tying a streamer wing but the basic technique applies for other styles of flies too. Just one opinion but I do not strip the tie in area for hackle tip wings, veilings (sometimes) and, toppings. I trim the barbs with scissors and this helps in two ways. First, there is a little more holding in the wing/topping/etc with the stubble and second, the stubble helps to keep the part from rolling when tying it in.

http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/atlantic/streamers/demon.html

Happy Trails!
Ronn
 
#8 ·
Feiger,

I nearly always just use a pair of hackles for each side of the wing, in other words 4 hackles total. If I tie a fly on hooks longer than the Alec Jackson Spey Hook #1 1/2 I'll use 3 hackles/side. Another thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that at times you need to put a little flexible cement (I usually use Fleximent) on the bottom hackle of the wing pair just above the place where you will tie it in and then put the top hackle of the pair on top of it to glue them together (be careful to only glue a small section of the feathers just above where they will be tied in or the wing will not be mobile enough in the water) as is done on the Carrie Stephens style (or classic New England style) hackle wing streamers.
 
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