A simple foam daddy. This is a rough and ready tying that works. Dead easy, no bells and whistles I should have tied the foam in a bit closer to the eye. It won't make much odds other than looking less pleasing to the eye the way I have done it. Fish don't care about things like that. My flies are tied with simplicity in mind and I never worry about what Wyatt rightly calls irrelevant "fly tying stuff".
Materials:
Thread - grey or tan – any non garish colour would do
Size 12 long shank hook – an ordinary hook would be fine, just the body will be shorter
2mm strip of 2mm thick tan foam
ginger cock hackle
flexifloss for legs – I have used olive – would have used brown or tan if I had any – don't think it makes much odds
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Lay down a rough base of thread as shown. Don't worry about neatness.
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Tie in the foam strip at the eye and bind it down right to the end of the thread base.
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Securely tie in the hackle at the point where you estimate the foremost body segment will be then take the thread back to the bend.
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Pull the foam back over the hook and tie in at the bend as shown.
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Take the thread progressively, on the underside, up towards the eye, tying the foam down in segments as you go. Stop when you have made the foremost body segment.
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Tie in the legs on each side
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Wind on the hackle between the legs and tie off.
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Take the thread to the eye and whip finish.
You might want to clip the hackle underneath – Bob Wyatt style. This will make the fly sit lower in the water, but it will be harder to see.
You could also add a light dubbing of tan fur and make an under-body between steps 3 and 4. I think the most important thing is to keep it slim. Real daddies are skinny bugs.
Nice tying Fred.
As to sighting. Tie in the foam at the head and using the end as a post, tie in the legs at the side and the hackle then run the thread down the shank, tie down the foam body in open turns returning to the head, wrap the hackle around the post and tie off. The foam post would act as a sight indicator.
That's right Sandy. You can vary these simple tyings as you feel. I'd tie in a white yarn sighter just above the legs
Here's a version with a sighting post and a light brown dubbed under-body. Slightly more fiddly to tie, but still simple ehough.
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Tying the hackle parachute style round the post would also make it lie on the surface rather than have to trim the hackle underneath to achieve this.
I'm using this foam now.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120998552593?var=420097905836&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120998552593?var=420097905836&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648)
A few quid gets you a lifetime supply
Was going to tie some of these but didnt have any flexifloss,so I nipped round my mates house to raid his huge collection of materials.Came away with 3 packets of wapsi stuff he had never used.On opening it up though its buggered, just falls to bits-I suppose flexiflos must degrade with time(these packs were about 12 years old he thinks).
Will need to splash out on some fresh stuff, just a warning if your looking to buy some.Probably best to go for a shop with good turnover if you can.
That's a problem with tackle shops. Stuff can lie around for a long time, sometimes on display, before it's sold. What you really have to be wary about is old nylon.
That looks fine Jim, it will catch fish. :D
What's that foam like Fred? I bought some thin sheets from hobbycraft and it's crap, not all that buoyant, likely a bit too thin and probably not enough air contained in it.
Seems fine Scott. It is only 2mm though - but you can double it up. I used flies tied with it the other day and they floated well.
I've been having trouble with buoyancy too, it's all about the foam IMO. So, I'm all ears as to the best foam for the job :D
Two points to remember about foam.
1) It has to be closed cell foam as any other type just lets the water in.
2) Don't compress or stretch it while tying in as this reduces the floating ability of the fly.
The piece of foam you have over the back of the fly Jim looks too thin and stretched. It should look fuller than in the picture.
I tend to use 2mm foam for flies like detached daddie's.For chernobyl type flies and beetle's the blocks of plastazote are good.
Chris.
I'm not sure where the problem is here.
Tie the fly, stick it in a glass of water. If it sinks it's no good. :lol:
These foam flies tend to sit low in the water, you really should include a sighting post (as in my second version in this SBS) if you can.