How to Tie a Hare’s Ear Wet Fly

Producer: Tim Flagler

Here’s a classic for you guys, a Hare’s Ear Wet. They look cool and fish great but those Mallard slip wings have always driven me crazy. I do have a couple tricks however that make them easier.

For a hook, I’m going modern with a Fulling Mill 5105 in size 14. I begin by getting the hook firmly secured in the jaws of my tying vise then load a bobbin with a spool of black UTC 70 Denier. Get the thread started on the hook shank, leaving a little space behind the eye, and take a few wraps rearward before snipping off the tag.

Small-sized, oval, gold French Tinsel is used to rib and segment the fly, a 6” length will make numerous flies. Anchor the tinsel to the underside of the hook shank and begin taking thread wraps to bind it to the underside of the shank, back to the start of the hook bend. Then advance your thread forward to about an eye-length and a half behind the hook eye.

A nicely colored, brown Indian neck is used for both the tail and the hackle of the fly. For the tail, pluck one of the larger feathers out by the edge, free from the skin. Pull down a dozen or so fibers perpendicular to the stem and strip them off, keeping their tips aligned. Pass their butt ends to the fingers of your right hand. Measure to form a tail a hook shank in length and transfer that measurement rearward to the start of the bend. Take wraps with your tying thread to bind the fibers to the top of the hook shank, once again, all the way back to the start of the bend. Then position your thread just in front of the hook point.

Light Hare’s Mask dubbing is used for the body of the fly. Pull a small pinch free from the packet and use it to make an inch-and-a-half long, thin dubbing noodle on your tying thread. Begin taking wraps with the noodle so the dubbing begins right at the base of the tail. Then take touching wraps forward up the hook shank to create the body of the fly. Try to end about an eye-length-and-a-half behind the hook eye.

Get hold of the tinsel and start making open spiral wraps with it over top of the dubbed body to rib and segment the fly, 5 or 6 turns usually looks pretty good. When you reach your tying thread, use it to anchor the tinsel, then snip the excess off close.

A single, smaller feather, from the same Indian neck as the tail, is used to hackle the fly. Its fibers should be just less than a hook shank in length. Strip all the lower fuzzy fibers free from the stem, then gently pull down a bunch perpendicular to the stem, thus exposing the tip. This you can snip off to form a small, triangular tie-in anchor.

With the shiny side of the feather facing you, lay the anchor against the near side of the hook and take thread wraps to secure it. The anchor helps to keep the slippery stem from pulling free. Pick up your hackle pliers and use them to get hold of the stem. This will allow you to fold the hackle fibers back. Take wraps with the folded feather to form a sparse hackle collar on the fly, 2 or 3 turns should be plenty. Use your tying thread to anchor the stem, then snip the excess off close. Preen the fibers down and back and take thread wraps rearward to hold them there. This will leave a small open space on top of the hook shank that will act as a landing pad for the wings.

You can purchase matching pairs of mallard primary feathers but I like to start with whole wings from either side of the bird. The primary feathers are the long ones at the leading edge of the wing. Each wing should have 5 or 6 good ones. Pull a single feather free from each. These should be mirror images of each other. Lower down on the feathers, if there are any messed up portions, snip them free. Then align the tips of the feathers and even the other feather up to match the first. The idea is to get absolutely matching, mirror image feathers.

I like slips that are a hook gap in width so I actually use one of the hooks to create them. Just butt the shank against the lowest fiber and insert the point to separate the slip from the rest of the feather. You can then snip the slip free from the stem.

Wet fly wings can be oriented in many different ways. I like the concave sides facing in with the fibers curving down toward the back of the fly. Lay the first slip against the near side of the hook with its very tip extending about halfway down the tail, and take a single loose thread wrap to secure it. This is only temporary. Then, prepare the slip from the other feather in the exact same manner as you did the first. Again, this slip should be the mirror image of the first and be placed against the far side of the hook in line with the first slip. Rather than taking thread wraps to secure it, first unwind your tying thread one wrap, get the butt of the slips correctly oriented, then take two loose collecting wraps, followed by a couple of very tight pinch wraps, to kind of accordion the fibers down. Ideally, your wings should match.

Take a few more thread wraps forward then lift the butt ends up and snip them off close, using the angled hook eye as a guide. Take thread wraps from front to back, to cover the butts and build a neat little head on the fly.

Get hold of your whip finish tool and use it to complete a 4 or 5 turn whip finish, seat the knot well and snip or cut your tying thread free. The wings don’t have to be perfect but should be fairly even and sit tent-like on top of the fly. To insure your thread wraps don’t come unraveled, it’s a good idea to apply a small drop of head cement or UV cure resin to them.

Once you get the hang of matching and securing the wing slips, a Hare’s Ear Wet is actually rather fun to tie.