5. Advance the tying thread to just behind
the conehead and wind the chenille in
touching turns (palmering) until just
behind the conehead.
6. Secure the loose material with the tying
thread and cut the excess chenille. Wind
the hackle up to the conehead (top right)
in evenly spaced turns. Just behind the
conehead make two or three overlapping
wraps with the hackle to form a collar.
Secure and remove the excess.
7. Whip finish (right).
4. Prepare the hackle feather by stroking
the fibers back from the tip, then tie it in
at the base of the tail. Take a section of
chenille and remove the material from
a small section at the tip, exposing the
core. Use the core to tie the chenille in
alongside the hackle feather.
3. Keeping the thread attached, invert the
hook in the vise so that it sits hook point
up.
4. Take 5-10 strands of Flashabou and
fold them around the tying thread before
attaching them in front of the eyes.
5. Take a sparse section of chartreuse
bucktail and tie it on top of the
Flashabou.
6. Trim the excess material and build a
neat head with the tying thread. Whip
finish. Another drop of superglue into the
thread wraps will help hold the eyes and
bucktail in place.
OCTOBER 2017 • NEBRASKAland 51
3. Moving your fingers off the pivot point,
allowing the tool to spin so the thread is
in the shape of a b or an upside-down 4.
4. Raise the bobbin so the thread lies
along the hook shank. While holding
the handle sleeve, move the handle in a
circle around the hook shank so that the
thread coming directly from the bobbin
is trapped by the thread turning with the
whip-finisher. Five turns is the customary
number to secure the thread, but as little
as three may be used on smaller flies.
5. To finish the knot, slip the thread out
of the guide notch so that the loop is
held only with the tool hook. Pull on the
bobbin, using the tool hook to direct the
thread into position and seat the knot.
Trim the thread as close to the knot as
possible.
