Bead Head Stone Fly

[Spiel]

Well I spent a rather quiet Sunday afternoon here mucking about between the puter and the fly tying vise. So I thought what the hell, I'll snap some pictures of how I do it and post them here in a "Leechman" fashion (thanks Jacques).

 

Now as I mentioned in a previous post I've been away from fly tying for over 20 years.

I do remember all the basic skills but tying with jig hooks and bead heads is all new to me.

So I've been playing at this for a number of weeks now trying new materials and fiddling with ways to get it all right with the jig hooks and beads.

 

So it starts with a straight pin and some thread.

 

 

To this I add 2 segments from a goose biot quill to form the stonefly antennae. (dyed black)

 

 

Once the antennae are in place a small black bead is slid up the pin, glued in place with 5 minute epoxy then secured to the jig hook. For this fly I'm using a #6 Daiichi jig hook.

 

 

Then 2 more goose biot segments are added for the tail followed by the under body. This consists of a short section of bamboo toothpick split down the middle, secured in place with thread then coated in 5 minute epoxy. This is done to give the stonefly the correct body shape.

 

 

Now a length of very fine copper wire is added and then a loop of thread is created to accomadate the dubbing. The thread is first rubbed down with bees wax and then black squirrel fur is inserted between the threads then spun into a yarn type consistency.

 

 

The fur is wrapped foreward creating the body.

 

 

Followed by the copper wire to create segmentation.

 

 

Now this is where I've been playing. I'm using a previously unkonown material to me called Swiss Straw.

 

 

I'm using it here to create what will become the wing casing....

 

 

Then splitting another piece into thinner lengths, then knotting it to become the legs.

 

 

So here we are with 4 of the legs in place....

 

 

Now all 6 legs in place and another length of dubbed squirrel fur wrapped up through the legs to the head.

 

 

Flipping the fly over I then split the Swiss Straw and bring it forward on each side of the jig hook eye.

 

 

Secured in place with the thread I now wrap it off securely and apply finishing cement on the thread and over the wing casing to make it glossy (thats important).

 

And that's it. Here's the finished stonefly next to a quarter.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

[BillM]

Chris, that's pretty awesome!

 

I bought pins to make some steelhead jigs, but the heads were to small and went right through the beads

[tjsa]

I wouldn't let that creation near any water, too good to use.

[Twocoda]

nice job!!! its kinda funny when ya refer back to " 20 years ago" ....where the heck does the time go

 

its a relaxing day when ya have the time to tie flies

[GBW]

nice job!!! its kinda funny when ya refer back to " 20 years ago" ....where the heck does the time go

 

its a relaxing day when ya have the time to tie flies

my how time flies? ya know someone (GCD, Roy?) was going to say it...

 

That stone fly looks AMAZING! great work there.

[ChrisK]

Great job Spiel !!

I'll have to get out the vice and try tieing a couple of those....

[Ron]

Give ya a buck fifty for it Chris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, you did an awesome job on that! NICE!!!

[douG]

Doesn't look at all like the real thing, Chris.

 

 

Amazing work. Congratulations.

[crappieperchhunter]

I am starting to have trouble seeing 4LB line just to tie a lure onto it What you have done there is beyond my comprehension.

 

Even with glasses I'd fall way short of making anything look that realistic. Beauty work....well done. And thx for sharin. I never tire of posts like this.

[dannyboy]

Very nice work, Chris.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

 

Dan

[Daplumma]

Well done Chris you have some serious patience when it comes to that rod/lure making thing.

Joe

[lew]

I'll agree with all the others Chris, that's some pretty impressive work.

 

Very nice indeed !!

[mepps]

very nice!

[solopaddler]

As I said in the other thread incredible, just incredible! Very realistic.

 

(That said you might want to mix in some maribou to give the fly some movement)

[Spiel]

Thanks everyone. They are tedious and time consuming but I'm enjoying playing around with ideas and trying to create something realistic.

 

Chris, that's pretty awesome!

 

I bought pins to make some steelhead jigs, but the heads were to small and went right through the beads

 

My pins are no different Bill but what I do is build up a small ball of thread to keep the bead from slipping off the pin. I'll do 6 or so at a time then mix a small amount of 5 minute epoxy, cover the thread with it then slip the bead into position.

 

Give ya a buck fifty for it Chris.

 

For a buck fifty Ron I wouldn't even let you hold one.

 

Doesn't look at all like the real thing, Chris.

 

Amazing work. Congratulations.

 

I've saved that image Doug, I'll try to do better.

 

(That said you might want to mix in some maribou to give the fly some movement)

 

I hear what your saying Mike and agree to some extent. Honestly these are just to time consuming and are more for show than anything. For ease of construction and movement I'm more inclined to fill my box with patterns using a hackle in place of legs. Like this one.

 

[Kinger]

Very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

[aplumma]

Awesome job Chris but you should pay yourself more than a quarter for all of that work.

 

 

Art

[dave524]

Very nice, both versions. Seen those fellas crawling out of the water onto the snowbanks on shore, almost getting warm enough

Edited January 18, 2010 by dave524

[highdrifter]

Awesome fly Chris!! And thanks for the write up.

 

Time well spent while the rivers are frozen. Makes me wanna hit the bench too!!

 

Not too much longer now..

 

cheers

HD

[mattyk]

looks great!

[bubbles]

Wow nice job

[tnt]

Fantastic work!!!! Kinda makes me want to give it a go although I may just try a dew worm for my first. I already have the brown pipe cleaners Seriously though, looks awsome!

[Leecher]

Craftsmanship at it's best

Love the step by step tutorial Chris..... just amazing what you can do with a hook and material

Simply awesome work dude!!!

 

Oh and your welcome

Jacques

[Dabluz]

I have a different way of making the abdomen of stonefly nymphs. I take a large feather...any large wing or tail feather will do. I remove all the plumes from the stem of the feather and then soak the stem in warm water for an hour.

 

Then, I cut a slight nick near the thin edge of the face of the stem and slowly peel off the surface of the stem. This makes a ribbon that gradually gets larger from one end to the other.

 

I apply the ribbon to an already dubbed abdoment on the fly starting at the tail with the narrowest end of the ribbon. I tie each turn close to the previous turn until I get to the thorax of the fly. This makes an extremely impressive segmented thorax with a slight fuzz that escapes between the rolls of stem feather covering.

 

Wing feathers from crows make a beautiful black abdomen while wing feathers from turkeys make a great mottled brown tapered abdomen.

[super dave]

Very nice work Spiel.

 

Do you find that these realistic creations catch more fish? I've tied a few realistic stonefly patterns as well but oddly they don't work as well some something that looks nothing like a bug or fish.