Tag: whip finish

If you tie your own flies, you've been in that situation before. You're just finishing up a great fly, getting ready for tomorrow's trip, and you can't find your whip finish tool. Or, if you're one to take your tying kit with you on trips, it's the one tool you left at home. Regardless, it pays to know how to whip finish by hand, which is why this piece...

This is a variation of Forrest Dorsey’s Manhattan Midge, which is, in itself, an enhanced version of other patterns in the Dorsey family of flies. What makes this version a little different is the red Umpqua U-Series, size 20 scud/pupa hook. Although the hook isn’t terribly small, plunger-style hackle pliers make handling them much easier. Just secure...

This Sunken Trico Spinner is kind of a mash-up of two patterns - one from Colorado great Ed Engle and the other from Pennsylvania fly fishing legend Charlie Meck, both advocates of sinking a trico spinner even with fish are still rising. I start with an Umpqua U202 scud pupa hook in size 22. After getting the hook firmly secured in the midge jaws of my...

The Black Beauty Midge is a Pat Dorsey pattern that works especially well on tailwaters in the west, and during the winter here in the East. It’s super easy to tie, even in the smallest of sizes. Here I’m going to tie a Black Beauty on a size 22 Lightning Strike SE5 hook. Small hooks like this are easily handled with plunger-style hackle pliers as...

This is Jeff Blood’s White Death, a well known Great Lakes steelhead pattern. It’s for all intents and purposes nothing more than an easy-to-tie Zonker. Here, I’ve taken some liberties with Mr. Blood’s materials and tying sequence but the overall fly is pretty much the same. For a hook, I’m going to use a Mustad 9672 in size 10. After getting the...

This is Jeff Blood’s Blood Dot fly. It was developed for use on Great Lakes tributaries but works really well whenever eggs are on the menu - probably because it looks so realistic when wet. For steelhead, I like a Lightning Strike SE3 hook in size 10. Begin by getting the 2X heavy, 2X short hook firmly secured in the jaws of your tying vise. For thread...

"On even somewhat simple flies it's kind of remarkable how many times in the tying process you end up using your primary tying scissors to cut or trim materials both on and off the fly. So it makes sense wherever possible to keep the scissors in your hand rather than continually putting them down on your tying table and picking them up again. Having the...

This is Dave McKenna’s Rumble Bug. He designed it to help out a buddy after a tough day of competition, and it worked on the Raven’s Fork in Cherokee, North Carolina. Since then, it’s worked just about everywhere else. Dave starts with a Fulling Mill size 16 barbless jig hook. To this he’s going to add a 7/64” silver colored slotted tungsten bead...

Dave McKenna travels a lot, especially throughout the continental United States. Over the years, Dave has developed a number of patterns he’s found work nearly anywhere, at any time. So rather than carry a myriad of locally specific fly patterns, he can just carry a few in a variety of sizes and colors to fit most of his needs. This Sexy Walt’s Worm...

IN THIS video, Tim Flagler demonstrates how to create a whip finish without using a tool. Tightline Productions specializes in unique views of fly fishing, whether it's underwater video of free-swimming trout or ultra close up POV shots of fly tying.