Wyatt's flies

[Bob Wyatt]

Hi guys,

Thought I'd hit two birds with one stone here and answer a couple of queries about the DHS and DHE.

DHS
Wing colour.  I use medium grey deer hair.  I find elk a bit stiff.  Roe is okay in small sizes but it tends to matt when wet.  Coastal blacktail is a bit better.  The lighter wing is mostly for a sighter for the angler, it shows up well on our dark waters.

I've fished this fly for almost fifty years, and the trout haven't wised up to it yet.

Here's a photo of the standard dark claret version we use to such effect up north.  For some reason the dark claret seal's fur body is just deadly in a mayfly hatch. I often had trout take this fly from among perfectly good natural green drakes on the water, so go figure.  About a 70/30% mix of black and claret. I recommend natural seal's fur though, not that nasty synthetic stuff.  


DH Sedge (photo Hans Weilenmann)
http://www.danica.com/flytier/

DHE
Don't try to tie in too much hair.  Keep it a bit on the sparse side.  Tie it in with the tips facing over the hook eye, then trim the butts in a tapered cut toward the bend and tie them down neatly with thread.

Originally, I tied in the dubbing at the lower end of the hook bend and wound it toward the wing. Then I would use the tag end of the tying thread as a counter-wise rib up to the thorax.  

Now I dub the tying thread at the wing base and wind the dubbing back around the bend, and then just wind the tying thread back up the body as a rib.  It's quicker and everything is wound in the same direction so things hang together better.  You want to start the dubbing noodle off quite skinny so it doesn't build up too much bulk over the wing butts.

For the thorax, I dub the waxed thread quite thickly with spiky hare's mask at the eye and wind back to the wing base, this forces the wing upright.  I give a good couple of turns of the dubbing at the wing base then take the thread forward again through the dubbing to the eye.
Use any colour dubbing you wish for the abdomen.  I tend toward the buggy greys and natural hare's ear myself.


DHE (Hans Weilenmann photo)
http://www.danica.com/flytier/


Remember to gink only the wing , or at most the top of the thorax, so the DHE fishes correctly.  If you get floatant on the abdomen the fly will often float on its side.  Which is wrong.  :wink:

That's it.

I use the DHE as a static fly, but sometimes use it with a Sedge on the bob.  Sometimes two DHEs.  Sometimes two Sedges.  If I am working the flies at all, I use the Sedge, or two.  Three is taking it too far.

I'd like to say here that although I've fished the no-hackle Deer Hair Sedge most of my life there are similar flies out there, so I don't think of it as 'my' fly. It's just my variation on a theme. But I appreciate your enthusiasm for these flies, boys.  Go get 'em. Tight lines.

Bob

[drumgerry]

A very well timed topic for me as I'm tying up my first ever DHS's for the new season.  I'm not a stranger to deer hair and tying it in but I'm having real problems replicating the look on the fly in the photo above.  That is where the wing is pretty separate from the body and only comes into contact with it where it's tied in at the head.  Most of mine have hair splayed around the sides to some extent.  And I guess that might be a problem when fishing the fly as the body might not sit quite right in the surface film as it should.  I've used elk and roe and it's the same problem with both.

And tips?? - kind of thread used, how much tension to tie the deer hair in with and anything else that might help?

Cheers

Gerry

[drumgerry]

Thanks Swithun - Ok so maybe my pinch is defective thinking about it!  How do you avoid the Muddler effect when cranking down on the deer hair.  When I really give the deer hair some tension it invariably spins round the hook.  BTW - if breaking thread is a problem I can recommend Moser Powersilk - excellent stuff which takes some breaking!

Cheers

Gerry

[Wildfisher]

That DHE in the photo above is a work of art. The photo is superb too.

[Bob Wyatt]

Drumgerry,
Swithun is right about the pinch, but it's just as important to make at least two complete, fairly snug, wraps with the thread before really tightening down on the deer hair.  It will flare, but shouldn't spin too much.  Don't worry about hair splaying out at the sides too much, it's not critical, and you can trim these when you are shaping the semi-muddler head if it is too bushy.  It's a mistake to use too much hair.  The big thing about these flies is the body profile in the surface, not the wing.  Less hair makes a more natural looking wing profile anyway, lets a little light through.

When I have the hair cinched down good, I roughly trim the butts just a shade longer than I need for the head, then take the thread right through the flared butts in two tight turns to the eye and whip finish.

Don't worry about wrapping down the butts, the thread will go right through it cleanly and it really makes the head and wing secure. I usually spin my bobbin a few times to twist the thread so it goes through the hair cleanly.  

Then shape the semi-muddler head with the scissors.  I then turn the fly upside down and apply a good dollop of cement to the underside of the muddler head.  Let it soak right in to the thread.  The fly will now be pretty well bullet proof.  The wing won't twist.

I use Benecchi 6/0 and 8/0, depending on the size of fly.  Put as much pressure on the thread as it will take.  You'll break a few times until you get the feel for it.  You can just feel the thread fibers start to separate before it breaks.  Back off before then.  I find Uni-thread separates and fuzzes up more than Benecchi.

[drumgerry]

Thanks for that Bob!  

Up till now I've been pulling the butts back and wrapping my thread in front of them a la Muddler style before clipping.  I'll need to try your method now!  I have some Benecchi thread so I'll try that as well - one thing about the Powersilk is that feels very slippy and I wonder if the thread base for the deer hair is a bit insecure.  And I think flaring rather than spinning is more what has been happening when I've been tying the DHS.  The hair doesn't go underneath the hook but out to the sides and in a wid-ish fan from top to bottom - not the lovely compact wing shown in your photo!

Cheers

Gerry

[rabbitangler]

BTW - if breaking thread is a problem I can recommend Moser Powersilk - excellent stuff which takes some breaking!

Cheers

Gerry

For gods sake watch how hard you pull powersilk! It will not break, ! It will however bend your hook, slice through your fingers if it can and most importantly, will give you theee neatest edge to your deer hair you have ever seen. Only problem is it will leave no trace of a wing or head.

the moral?? pull carefully!!

Peter

[Bob Wyatt]

Drumgerry
"The hair doesn't go underneath the hook but out to the sides and in a wid-ish fan from top to bottom - not the lovely compact wing shown in your photo!"

Like I said, don't worry about that.  Just make sure it's all tied down nice and tight.  You can trim the hair at the edges to get the body to sit flat in the surface.  Just snip the side hair at the head.  A bit of a wide fan is OK anyway, and in a big wave will help support the fly.
 
Don't worry too much about appearance.  As long as the fly stays together for a few fish. Hell, I even tie the things with rubber legs!

[Bob Wyatt]

Swithun,

You haven't been listening carefully enough.  

I'm not changing my mind, the pinch IS important.  So is the right amount of hair, too much and it slips all over the place.  What's the point of a really thick wing? A sparse DH Sedge isn't a bad thing and I tie lots of them skinny too.  Remember, we always have Gink to keep them floating.

Look at that photo.  That's about the right amount.

[Wildfisher]

Bob,

did you tie these flies in the photos or was it Hans?