(This fly was designed to teach the basics as is named for the FFF club I support)

Tag: 3-4 Turns x-fine oval tinsel and yellow floss
Tail: Topping and Kingfisher veiling
Butt: Black Ostrich herl
Rib: Medium oval tinsel
Throat: Guinea
Underwing: Tippets (back to back)
Wing: Peacock, yellow, red, orange, blue dyed strips, & Golden Pheasant tail
Sides: Barred Wood Duck
Cheeks: Kingfisher
Topping: Golden Pheasant Crest
Horns: Blue and Gold Macaw
Head: Black

This brief paper is written in an effort to enable the beginning salmon fly tier to get into this pastime with a minimum of problems. It is not intended to be scholarly, of ultimate technical level, original, or even totally accurate. It is information that I have used with beginners that has been successful in terms of technique and concepts. It is offered with a sense of sharing and with modesty, knowing, full well, that my own journey has just begun.

Hstorically, gaudy flies (as designed and favored by the Irish and despised by the Scots) came into existence in the mid 1800's. About 50 years later the Scots gave in and a great blossoming of patterns took place. The composition of these flies was then made possible by a combination of British expansionism and the millinery trends and trade making colorful and exotic feathers available from every corner of the world. Although they were later replaced by hair winged flies because of their greater movement and translucency in water, a great deal of the spirit of the Atlantic salmon fly lives on today for many of us who remain in awe of their beauty and challenge.

If you would like to tie these flies I feel that the best preparation would be first to read the available literature, look at the great variety of style and character given these flies by both historic and modern tiers, and then begin your tying with your own concept of what these flies can be. Books to read include T.E. Pryce Tannatt, Kelson, Hale, Bates, Sawada, Frodin, and Dunham. You can also get ideas and information from catalogs and by photographing your work and trading with others. One of the best things you can do is subscribe to and read "The Salmon Flyer' and, most important participate in the group. Through it you can learn history, technique, sources, styles, and begin to meet others who tie these flies and start in the great sharing process that is so beneficial.

As you begin to read and see photographs of the classic flies u will note that, in many cases, the "recipe' given for a fly is very different from the fly as pictured. Typically, the color sequence for a wing is assumed to be from the bottom up but you will note that the tiers of the past, as well as current tiers, take great freedom in how they assemble the components. It is important for you to keep in mind that it's your fly and it's your choice, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that the more you see, know, and create, the more you will begin to have your own preferences, develop your own goals, and know what is apt to please you when you tie.

BEGINNING - Start your fly with wing and tail. These two components are the two most critical in determining the end product and should be considered first. The easiest way to begin shaping our fly before you start tying is by making a sketch of the basic shapes (hook, tail, wing, and topping) you want to achieve. You can use a copier to get an outline of the exact size and shape of the hook you will use and draw the pattern over it. You can also use that paper for notes.

MATERIALS FOR WINGS Should:

1) Marry well from butt to tip.

2 Have sufficient length.

3) Have bright colors.

You will want to have turkey, goose, or swan that has been dyed red, yellow, orange, blue, and green. You wall also want turkey in cinnamon, speckled, & gray. Peacock shoulders and Golden pheasant center tails are also commonly called for with the latter being the most difficult to acquire because they do not often marry out to the tips of the barbs.

MARRYING - Hold a feather by the quill with the good (convex) side facing you. Barbs from the left side of feathers will constitute the right, or near wing and those from the right side will form the left, far, wing. Please note that, in most instances, you will need to use a pair of feathers to make up your wings because barbs on one side of the feather may be too short. A dubbing needle may be used to both count and separate the number of barbs you want to use before you cut them off. As you cut these slips of feather be careful to keep the lefts separate from the rights or you will have problems assembling the wing. I build the right wing first starting at the bottom and working toward the top extending each "slip" of feather about 1/64th of an inch past the preceding slip. On the near wing the concave side should face away from you (tips to the left). I do the left wing in the same way but with the concave side facing me. If you use the same number of barbs for each color, the wings will be of equal width.

MATCHING - After wings are completed, hold them over the outline of the hook and shape (hump) to taste. At this point, select and shape the tail to match up to the wing. Do all of this on your paper and you can reduce your chances of "surprises".

TAILS Desirable qualities.

1) Good barb count

2) Correct length.

3 Good color that matches topping.

4) Good shape.

Select your tails so that you will tie in on the pulpy part and remember that it will be part of the base for your butt.

TAILS & TOPPINGS - When you get a good crest, pluck the feathers you may use as tails and toppings and put them in a bowl of warm water and woolite, leave overnight, and then rinse several times. When dumping the wash or rinse water you can use a strainer but be careful because these small wet feathers can go right through. Best bet is to use your fingers to get them out after pouring off some of the water. Then using a tweezers, pick up the feather at the butt and lay on a flat surface to dry with its natural curve. After drying sort out the best in size and color and shape for your show flies and put the rest in a container for fishing flies.

Choose feathers for tails and toppings that meet the size requirements for your fly and do further shaping as you see fit. If the shape is close you can "work it" the rest of the way. I often like to open up the curve a bit which shows more barbs and catches more light. Gene Sunday uses a hair drier and tweezers to shape and open up his toppings, Wayne Luallen uses his thumb nail, Paul Schmookler uses a steam iron, and Al Cohen looks for the feather that has the "just the right shape" naturally. Practice with some bad toppings and see what works best for you. Do not try to make a poor feather fit because it will probably never look right. When you have the feather shaped and measured, you can strip off the fluff, flatten the tie in point with pliers, and even shave some of the quill off with a scalpel or razor blade to further reduce the bulk at the tie inpoint. Do not prepare the tie in point, however, until you are ready to tie in. Remember, you want to accomplish the following:

a) Shape the topping to follow the wing and meet the tip of the tail so that they barely touch.

b) Have the topping center on the wing so that the barbs will drop on both sides of the wing.

c) Have the butt end of the topping match the hump at the front of the wing as well as flattened and shaved to avoid a bump when finishing the head.

CHEEKS & SIDES - If using a whole feather for a cheek, side, or tail veiling, you can make its installation a whole lot easier by gently stroking the unwanted portion toward the butt and applying a bit of vinyl cement to that portion and stroking and holding it once more to compact and flatten it. Once it is dry, you can flatten the tie in point and trim it by cutting off all that will not be tied in. If using a section of barred wood duck or combination of feather sections a neat way to prepare it is to tie it with an overhand knot around the slip of feather, hold the feather and knot between your thumb and forefinger, and gently draw it tight at the tie in point. I use thread on a bobbin and anchor the bobbin so that I can pull with just my right hand and hold the feather (and the knot) with my left. Then you can trim it as above and even put a tiny touch of cement there as well.

HORNS - Most patterns call for blue/gold macaw. Take one barb from each side of a center tail or from two side feathers making sure they will be long enough to go as far as the tip of the tail. More on this later.

TYING THE FLY After you have done all the preliminary assembly and preparation procedures it is time to begin the assembly process of the fly.

Mounting the hook in the vise (after you have shaped it to your liking) is probably best done by cutting a small square of paper from a business card and folding it over that portion of the hook that will be held by the vise. This eliminates marring the finish of the hook. The hook shank should be level i.e. parallel to the tabletop.

If you are using a blind eyed hook, now is the time to tie m the gut. There are several ways to do this. The most widespread method is that described in Pryce-Tannatt. The way I do it is to take three short sections of gut that have been well soaked, lay the ends on the far side of the hook, and tie them in with thread wraps moving forward to within a 16th" of the tip of the hook. I then twist the gut using a strong hackle pliers or hemostat and then loop it around a heavy needle or nail and tie it in with wraps moving toward the rear. After the gut is tied in I untwist, "shave", and manipulate it until it forms the shape I have chosen. Then, I whip finish the black thread and go to the next step.

I use primrose thread for the rear half of most flies because that portion is usually made up of lighter colored materials and the primrose is less visible than the black if it ever shows through. Some folks use white. You can use whatever you feel is appropriate but I suggest a light tone for the reason above. Start this light colored thread at the point where you have stop with the black thread after tying in the gut and work back toward the bend with smooth, even wraps remembering to untwist the thread regularly. When you get to the point on the hook when the thread plumb-lines" directly over the point of the hook, tie in the tinsel for the tag. Tie the tinsel on the underside of the hook and keep it in that position as you wrap back. When you get to a point where your thread "plumb-lines" over the point of the barb, take four wraps forward and wrajp forward with three or four wraps of tinsel or until you feel you have a wide enough band. Then tie off the tinsel so that it is pararrel and above that which is already bound to the hook and keep it in that position as you carefully wrap forward to the spot over the point of the hook.

Now tie in the floss. Loop the end over your thread and slide it up and under the thread on the far side of the hook. Tie the floss on with as many wraps of thread as you like but count the wraps. We count the wraps in this and some other proceedures because we then know just how many we can remove in our efforts to control unnecessary bulk in the construction. Gently stroke the floss down and away from the tie in point. Constant careful stroking will help give you a flat ribbon of floss that will result in a smooth tag. Wrap back until you reach the tinsel and then carefully reverse to wrap back to the tie in point. When you reach the tie m point, unwra the same number of thread wraps used to tie m the floss and then retie the floss with two even, flat wraps forward.

Tying in the tail is next. It is important to prepare a flat even base of about 1/16 of an inch located above the point of the hook otherwise, when you begin tying the butt, the herl will go off at strange angles and look open instead of dense. Lay the stem of your measured, shaped, and prepared tail at the tiein point and wrap four to six flat wraps forward. Now look at the tail to be sure it is mounted as you wish and, if not, take it off and do it as many times as necessary until it is right. Do not go any further until the tail is exactly the way you want it!

Once you have the tail mounted, take your prepared veiling and trim the tie-in point so that it fits the base you are creating. Now, catch the edge of the veiling and wrap back, holding it in place until you reach the left edge of the base. If the veiling doesn't look right, do it over. This goes for any part of your fly. Any problem at the early stages seems to get magnified later on. If you remember this one rule I know I will have helped you a lot.

In tying in the butt, prepare the ostrich herl by stripping the fuzz off the butt end of the herl. Then, tie it m with the quill edging forward and wrap the herl forward to the right edge of the base, trying to achieve a nice dense butt, and tie off with two wraps.

The next step is to tie in the tinsel for the ribbing. Leaving about an inch of tinsel to the right, pull the tinsel under the thread and against the lower, far side of the hook. Now, wrap your thread forward, keeping it as flat and as even as possible, and keeping the tag end of the tinsel in a fixed position and same direction against the hook. Wrap the thread to within a quarter inch of the eye and whip finish. Now tie in, again, with black thread and wrap back to the onethird point of the body. Tie in the floss as before and proceed with the body section in the same manner as the tag. Now dub the forward two thirds of the body as you would a shaggy nymph stopping about 3/16ths of an inch short of the eye. Here's another place to be extra careful. If you get too close to the eye things will become very difficult. Believe mel With your dubbing needle, "pick out" the dubbing on the lower half of the body to get a nice fuzzy look that will blend with the throat m a nice transition. Thin things out a bit just before the eye.

Now is the time to wrap the rib. Carefully space your wraps so that you get five wraps on the body, ember that you want the same angle on the back as well as the front of the fly. Tie off the rib on the underside of the fly and trim. Five wraps is believed by some to be traditional but you'll notice all sorts of variations as you read and see work by others.

In most books, the next step is to tie in the throat but this is where I like to tie m the underwin because it reduces the amount of material in the hear Take feathers from opposite sides of a golden pheasant neck and carefully place them back to back. Judge where you want the bars of the tippet feather to line up with the body and begin to reduce these feathers until they become the right length. Things will go easier if you take a little extra off the top and forward portion of the bottom. Then, if you make a double bend n the shape of the letter Z so that the tie in point is on the bottom of the Z, you will be able to tie them in (after flattening the tie m point with pliers) and overcome any difference in height between the body and the tie in po int. Often, when I do this, I pre-trim the butt ends so I donlt have to trim after tying in. Gene Sunday strengthens his Z bend with Zap a Gap. A consideration here is the amount of open space (between the wing and the body) that you want to fill with the underwing. Getting the underwing to lie parallel and close to the body is usually desirable.

In putting on the guinea throat I first choose a speckled leather (not the large polka dot) and then strip the left side (good side facing you, quill down). Be sure that the length of the barbs is going to fit your fly as you see it then tie it in at the tip, at the tie m int of the underwing, and wrap it forward. You will d that the stem of the guinea is quite thin and allows the wraps to be closely done. Another way of doing this is to "fold" the hackle instead of strip pmg one side. Try it both ways and see which you like best. Once the hackle is tied in you'll want to stroke it down and back until it configures to the shape you want and then secure it in place.

Tying in the wing is, at once, the simplest and quickest procedure we do in a salmon fly but also the scariest and most likely to end in disaster. The less one dwells on what could happen and proceeds with this very basic maneuver, the easier it seems to accomplish. The point is to treat attaching the wings just as you do a wet fly quill wing. After humping the wing to shape it to the configuration of your desired end product and overcome any difference in between body height and tie in point, position it just where you want to attach it, come over the top with a loose loop of tying thread, come half way around again and pull straight up. While you are pulling on the thread, you will feel the thread moving through your fingers, feel the wing beginning to compress, and then feel it turn into a small "bump" between your thumb and forefinger. What you need to have going through your head as this happens is that you need to hold the wing in place so that it does not move from the tie in point back, but that the portion forward of the tie inpo mt must move or you will either cut right through the wing with your thread or break the threadl If you handle this move carefully you will reduce the pressure with which you grasp the wings. slightly toward the fingertips, or forward of the tie m point, and at the same time, roll your fingers out and away from the top of the wing down as the thread compresses the wing. The only way this can be done is not to hold the wing with the finger tips. The "spot" to hold the wing is about 3/8" back from the finger tips so you can have the space to reduce the pressure. When you feel that the thread has "bottomed" out, do not release your. Grasp of the wing but put on a second snug wrap. Still grasping the wing with your left hand, grasp the butts with your right and "rock" the wing towardyou and away from you so that you feel it is seated dead center on the top of the hook.

Now, Still grasping the wing with your left hand, put one more wrap on the tie in po int and carefully release the wing and look at it. If it looks good, grasp the wing and wrap about ten wraps at the tie in pomt. never wrap back to the left of the tie in point because doing so will begin to move or ruin your wing. Look at the wing again. If it still looks good, unwrap all but a few wraps, put some head cement on the tie m point, allow it to dry tacky, and then, grasp it again with your left hand and carefully trim off the butts as closely as you can to the last wrap of thread. This last wrap of thread should mark the approximate center of where our head will be. It is very important from this point your to use a minimum of carefully placed wraps in order to achieve a small head. At this point I will usually put a second small amount of head cement on the butt of the wing, walk away, and let it dry completely.

Putting on the woodduck sides and Kingfisher cheeks may be done with three wraps of thread. The first side is captured with the first wrap of thread and then that wrap is lifted to capture the second side thereby installing both with one wrap. Follow the same procedure for the Kingfisher cheeks and then add a wrap.

The next step will be to put on the topping you have selected and shaped. You might, at this point, find that you need to do a bit more shaping to fit it perfectly to your wing. After doing so, determine the length you need, re"mash" the tie m point on the pithy portion, shave it as thin as possible, and then cut it so that only enough of the tie m section is left to tie in. I try to tie m with a maximum of three wraps and then adjust it so that it sets on the fly iust the way I want it and then put a small amount of head cement on to keep it there.

The last addition to this, and most other flies, are the horns which are generally taken from blue and gold Macaw tail feathers. Although most of the literature specifies the center tail, you will find that the side tails will provide longer material and are easier to get but that you will need a left and a right feather. Select a barb for each side of the fly, measure to the tie in point, and tie in with one wrap for each side.

Now is the time to create the head of the fly. Most of the literature suggests that the head should be small and neat. I agree. The problem is that the way many tiers have interpreted this direction is that what is wanted is "small and tiny" and I do not agree. Maybe the reason I do not agree is that I have a very cult time tying "small and tiny" heads over the combined build up of throat, underwing, wing, sides, cheeks, topping, and horns. To achieve these very small heads the tier must "cheat" the materials forward and use minimal wraps of thread, as I also have suggested in this attempt at a "how to".

Some tiers compress the head for weeks to get it small, some soak the materials under the head with cement and then "shave" the head to a small size, and still another method is to not build a head with thread but to do it with black paint or lacquer of some sort. Whichever method you select will work but you need to determine how much effort should be put into this. The truth is that most of the Atlantic Salmon patterns being tied today are "show and tell" flies. They are framed for the wall or go into collections. If you intend to fish with your product you are going to end up with more thread used, trimming that is not super close, and a head that is "reasonable" if you do it right .... but not tiny.

When you paint the head of your fly you can do the whole thread or only the material colors that "peek" through. Whatever your method, now is not the time to rush. Let it dry thoroughly! Leave it a week! Now put on one or more coats of clear and let them dry. Now you can mount and frame your fly and enjoy it on your wall or have the satisfaction of knowing it is being enjoyed on some other flyfisher's wall because of your kindness and generosity.

Some t words about materials. Get the best you can afford. Some may even be free! The fact is that good materials are where you find them. My supply of Spanish gut came from a store that sold more minnows, worms, and crickets than anything else! Keep your eyes oj)en. When you find something exceptional buy extra if you can and give it away to a friend or even just an acquaintance who you know is in to salmon flies. The results are almost biblical. Once you begin to "give", you begin to "receive". I have purchased almost none of my "difficult to find" materials. They began to come to me once I began to live. Sharing not only feels good, but, in the long run, it will help your tying, and help you to gather the materials you seek to tie these most beautiful of all fishing flies.