How to Tie the Saltwater Frozen Fox

Producer: tightlinevideo

I call this fly the Saltwater Frozen Fox. Although it’s significantly different than the original Freshwater Frozen Fox Streamer shown here, most of the tying methods used in both are pretty much the same. The Saltwater Frozen Fox is a good bit larger and is tied with dumbbell eyes, so it rides hook point up, with a jiggy motion like a Clouser.

The fly begins with a 2/0 Mustad 34007 hook. This is a fairly large hook and it’s important that it be really well secured in the jaws of a capable tying vise.

The primary ingredient in the Saltwater Frozen Fox is pretty standard craft fur, here I’m using white. Snip a square-inch clump free down close to the backing. While gripping the midpoint of the clump, begin gently pulling the shorter fibers from the butt ends and placing them perpendicular to the edge of a raised surface, such as a book. Use the fibers to produce a thin layer, between 4-5 inches in length. While you’re at it, pluck out a few more fibers into a small pile on your tying bench, you don’t need many. Then set the remaining cleaned clump, with fairly aligned tips, aside as well. If necessary, you can even out and further align the craft fur fibers sitting atop the book.

Minnow Belly Ice Dub is used to add just a little shimmer to the body of the fly. Pull very small slips free from the packet and place them on top of and in alignment with the craft fur. Silver Ice Dub then gets laid down in a really light layer.

Although not essential, I like to snip just a small amount of red craft fur, then pluck out and dispose of the shorter butt ends. Place the remaining small clump at the lower end of the fiber layer you just produced. In this way, the red will end up at the head of the fly. Put a straight edge over top of the fibers at their midpoint then gently slide half the fibers off the edge of the book. Using a long chip clip, get hold of the fibers right up by the ruler then gently remove the ruler. The chip clip is now loaded and ready to go. Set it aside within easy reach for later use.

For thread, I load a bobbin with a spool of white UTC 140 Denier and crank the thread tension up pretty good. Get the thread started on the hook shank behind the eye and, after taking a few wraps rearward, snip off the excess tag. End with your tying thread a little more than an eye-length behind the back edge of the hook eye.

Pick up the really small clump of craft fur from your bench and use it to create a slender, 2-3” long noodle on your tying thread. You’ll be amazed at how well the stuff actually dubs. Takes wraps with the noodle to form a short, little segment on the hook shank, ending with your tying thread at the midpoint of the segment.

Large, pearl dumbbell eyes are used to add weight and contribute to the fly’s motion. Lay the eyes at an angle to the hook shank, above your tying thread and take cross wraps to secure them there. Invert the fly so the underside of the hook faces up. Pick up an ample drop of super glue or here, Fly Tyer’s Z-Ment, and apply it to the dubbing wraps between the eyes. You can then reorient the fly back to normal. Do yoke wraps over top of the eyes but underneath the hook shank on either side of the fly. This will set the adhesive and help lock the eyes in place. Pick up another drop of super glue and this time apply it to the thread wraps on top of the dumbbell eyes. Now, take flat circular wraps below the eyes but above the hook shank. These will draw all the previous wraps in and set the latest application of super glue. Take thread wraps down the hook shank, then end with your tying thread right at the start of the hook bend.

Pick up the larger clump of craft fur with the roughly aligned tips. While holding the clump by the butt end, snip the butt end off square. Place the butt end on top of the hook shank and take a few tight wraps of tying thread to secure it. Make sure these are nice and tight. Reach for your trusty super glue one more time and apply a really ample drop to the thread wraps holding the craft fur. Take forward thread wraps through the adhesive to set it, then continue taking wraps all the way up to the back edge of the dumbbell eyes.

For a little flash in the tail, snip three strands of silver Krystal flash free from the hank and find their midpoint. Place the midpoint against the near side of the hook, behind the eyes, and take wraps of tying thread to secure it first there, then down the near side of the hook to the base of the tail. Pull the forward-pointing portion of the material back and secure that on the far side of the hook at the base of the tail. Then continue taking thread wraps forward, first to behind the dumbbell eyes then back to the base of the tail, finally ending with your thread hanging a little ways in front of the hook point.

Now for the fun part. Pull down on your bobbin to expose about 5” of tying thread. You’re going to make a dubbing loop long enough to sandwich the fibers in the chip clip. Place the tip of the middle finger of your left hand onto the tying thread at the tip of your bobbin. Then bring the bobbin up to the hook shank and take a wrap around the two thread strands to hold them together in a point. Take another wrap or two of tying thread around the hook shank to lock the loop in place. Open the loop with the thumb and index finger of your left hand. Pick up the loaded chip clip and insert the craft fur between the two legs of the loop. Push the clip all the way up to the thread loop then gently release it. The midpoint of the fibers should be sandwiched between the two strands of thread, like so.

Reach for your favorite dubbing whirl and hook it into the bottom of the loop then remove your middle finger. Give the whirl a clockwise twist, as if you’re looking down on it, to twist the trapped fibers into a super fuzzy rope. At this point, it’s a good idea to use a bodkin to tease out any fibers trapped in by the thread. Rather than wrapping with the whirl, I like to use plunger-style hackle pliers. Do make a complete turn around the hook of the hackle pliers with the bottom of the dubbing loop. You can then snip the whirl free knowing the thread can’t slip beneath the hook of the hackle pliers.

Take rearward wraps with your tying thread to anchor the dubbing loop back to the base of the tail, then advance your tying thread forward to the back edge of the eyes or even in front of them. Start taking touching wraps with the dubbing loop, preening the fibers rearward as you go. If you haven’t already, advance your tying thread to behind the hook eye. Continue taking wraps with the dubbing until you reach the back edge of the dumbbell eyes. Then, make diagonal wraps, both top and bottom, between the eyes to cover up all the thread wraps that anchor them. With all the dubbing wrapped, anchor the end of the loop to the hook shank with tight wraps of tying thread behind the hook eye, and snip the excess off close. Preen all the fibers rearward and take a few more thread wraps behind the hook eye to clean the area up. Trim away any fibers that might block the hook eye, then take a few more thread wraps to continue building up a head on the fly.

Reach for your whip finish tool and use it to do a 5-or 6-turn whip finish, seat the knot well and snip your tying thread free. Get hold of a dubbing brush or here, an old toothbrush, and use it to really fluff out the body of the fly. It’s supposed to look rough and sparse, just like this. If there are any overly long fibers, they can be trimmed off, but it really isn’t necessary. Get hold of some head cement, here, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, and apply an ample coat to the exposed thread wraps behind the hook eye, to make sure they don’t come unraveled.

And that’s the Saltwater Frozen Fox streamer. The craft fur sheds water extremely well so, despite the fly’s size and weight, it’s fairly easy to cast. Where it really shines, however, is underwater. As you can see everything is in near-constant motion with the fly riding hook point up. Talk about enticing.