Extended body flies are much easier to tie with an attachment to the vise to hold the tailing material as a beam for wrapping the body. An image of a homemade attachment is below the instruction list.
MATERIALS LIST
- Hook - Dai Riki 310, Daiichi 1339, 1330, 1480, Mustad 94838, Orvis 1509, Tiemco 921. Size 8-26. Standard length dry fly hooks will work.
- Thread - 8/0 or 12/0 Uni-Thread Smaller is better
- Wing Post - Light gray antron yarn fibers.
- Tail - Micro Fibetts
- Body - Antron yarn fibers - I use "Lure Flash Antron" for the long fibers
- Thorax - Beaver dubbing
- Hackle - Brown rooster neck
- Head - Tying thread
TYING INSTRUCTION
- Insert the hook in the vise and apply a two layer thread base.
- Wing/Hackle Post - Tie in at normal wing position (the 2/3 abdomen by 1/3 thorax proportion works), with tight thread wraps a 1 inch long Anton yarn strand, of appropriate thickness for hook size, parallel to the hook shank. One end of the yarn to the hooks eye the other end to the hooks bend divided equally. Pull both ends of the yarn strand to vertical position above the hook and at the base of the yarn post material immediately against the top of the hook shank make 5 or 6 tight thread wraps around the yarn then one wrap around the hook shank. Proceed wrapping the post ie: 5-6 thread wraps around the post, 1-2 thread wraps around the shank until sufficient stiffness and height to accommodate the hackle wrap is achieved. About 50 to 60 thread wraps are needed to achieve a solid post. The thread wraps around the hook shank after each post wrapping keep the thread from slipping off the post too far "back" into the process. The final 8 to 10 wraps are in the Counter Clock-Wise direction.
- Tail - Tie in tha Micro Fibetts behind the wing post with extending beyond the hook's bend sufficiently to accommodate the extended body and fly's tail. Double the butts back and secure with two or three wraps of tying thread and trim the excess. Doubling back will keep the tail from pulling loose when wrapping the body.
- Body - Attach a strand of "Lure Flash" immediately behind the wing post and on top of the hook's shank. Wrap the body rearward along the hook's shank, past the hook's bend onto the tail/beam for sufficient extension length and back to the wing post. Secure with tying thread and trim the excess. When wrapped from the wing post, to what will be the butt end of the fly and back to the wing post an appropriate amount of the strand of "Lure Flash" will form a proper body diameter for the hook's size. For Size 22 flies use slightly less than 1/2 strand. For size 10 flies use nearly 2 full strands.
- Thorax - Dubb the area immediately behind,under and in front of the wing post with figure 8 wraps.
- Hackle - Tie in the hackle on the far side and at the front of the hackle post concave side down tip to the rear. Wrap a 5-6 turn parachute hackle, secure with tying thread and trim the excess.
- Head - Build a tapered head with tying thread, whip finish and cement if you like.
NOTES
Extended body flies are extremely effective and will move the most difficult fish. Though a bit tough to tie at first a little practice works wonders. The tool below or something similar is essential. The size of the fly is one size larger than the hook size i.e. Size 10 fly is tied on a size 12 hook and prorortions may be better when tied on 1X short hook. This set of instruction can be adapted to any species of any size.
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