Zulu (Wool Bodied)

[scotfly]

The Zulu is a very old fly with a great many variations, all of which can be very successful on any given day.
But this step by step is not so much about the fly as it is about the material used. In many books, particularly older books, the pattern will often state .. Body ? Seal?s fur or wool. Wool is rarely used as a dubbing medium today, but given the imminent ban of Seal products and the implications that ban may/will have on us fly tyers, it may find favour again in the not too distant future. That aside though, wool does have certain advantages over seal?s fur. It is cheap, easily available, it is available in a wide range of colours and is very user friendly. This step by step shows you its application and appearance only, the actual techniques involved in its preparation will appear shortly in a special step by step? Watch this space!

Instructions assume right-handed tyers.

HOOK ? Kamasan B175 #12
THREAD ? Black 8/0
HEAD HACKLE ? Black Hen
BODY HACKLE ? Black Cock
RIB ? Flat Gold Tinsel
TAIL ? Red Wool

STEP 1
Attach the thread, make 2 or 3 wraps and tie in the head hackle.



STEP 2
Make 3 more wraps then tie in the body hackle.



STEP 3
Tie in the rib.



STEP 4
Tie in the tail.



STEP 5
Cover the tail butts by wrapping the thread to the shoulder, then back to the tail. Then apply your dubbing to the thread.



STEP 6
Wrap the dubbed thread to form the body. Make the final turn of thread in front (to the right) of the body hackle.



STEP 7
Wrap the body hackle to the tail in even turns.



STEP 8
Use the first wrap of the rib to catch in the hackle tip.



Then continue wrapping the rib and tie off in front (to the right) of the body hackle.



STEP 9
Wrap the  head hackle in touching turns, finishing at the body hackle. Then take the thread in open turns through the hackle to the head.



STEP 10
Form a neat head, Whipfinish and varnish for the completed fly.



And there you have it, a wool bodied Zulu.

[River Chatter]

VERY nicely tied and great SBS. 

[sandyborthwick]

Nice SBS Scotfly,

Very interested to see how you prepare the wool for dubbing.

Sandy B.O.

[scotfly]

Nice SBS Scotfly,
Very interested to see how you prepare the wool for dubbing.

Thank you.
You will see quite soon, the long since promised dubbing techniques sbs which includes a section on preparing wool, and other materials, is all but finished. Just a bit of tweaking to do when I come back from my hols. Should be up by end of August.