In keeping up with the winter bull red fly theme, December’s fly of the month is one that our friend Barret likes to tie up and use when fishing for bull reds in his skiff. This SBS though is Blake’s version of that fly. For more on Barret, here’s an article that makes him blush whenever you bring it up: Barret and the Spottail Diva 

Materials:

–          Hook: Gamakatsu B10S Stinger in a size 1

–          Thread: Mono

–          Tail: Hackle

–          Flash: Flashabou

–          Head: EP Fibers

–          Eyes: Dumbbell weighted to your liking.

Step 1 – Start thread on the hook and make a thread base. I like to give this a coat of superglue to make sure it sticks.

Step 2 – Tie in some hackle feathers at the back of the hook. I like two for smaller flies and four for bigger flies. I also like to tie them with concave sides in, but you can also tie them to splay out. I used some bigger, webby hackles for this one because I was going for a deeper body. I would use something thinner if I was going to imitate an anchovy or something like that.

Step 3 – Tie in flash on either side and cut it so that it extends about ½” behind the tips of the hackle. I used three for either side.

Step 4 – Pull off some EP from the hank and cut it into 1.5” lengths. The more material per clump, the bigger the segments on the fly. The smaller the clumps, the smaller the segments  which may also cause a more mottled look on the final product.

Step 5 – Push one of the clumps over the eye of the hook and to the point where the hackle was tied in. Take a loose gathering wrap or two and pull the thread tight cinching down the EP. Bring your thread to the front of the EP and make a few wraps around the shank.

Step 6 – Grab the other color of EP and do the same as step 5. Repeat until you get to the point where you want to tie in your eyes.

Step 7 – Tie in your eyes right up against the last clump.

Step 8 – Split a clump of EP and tie half in right behind the eye on the bottom of the shank and the other half on the top of the shank. Bring thread up front of the dumbbells.

Step 9 – Tie in the last clump. I used twice as much material for this clump to fill in the space that the dumbbells takes up on the shank. Wrap a decent sized head on the fly to push the fibers back and whip finish.

Step 10 – Comb out the fibers. This makes it a little easier to trim.

Step 11 – Trim the sides first. I trim them pretty short. Trim the shape to match the bait you are trying to imitate.

Step 12 – Trim the top and bottom. I like to round off the edges also. I find it easier to do this when the fly is not in the vice.

Finished fly, enjoy.

Proof of concept: