Tying the DHE

[zeolite]

Tried tying a DHE last night and I couldn't get the deer hair to sit right. So what is the sequence of putting it in and what direction do you tie it in?

cheers

[Wildfisher]

Ian, most important thing is  that the wing is the first thing tied in, facing forward like Swithun says  and getting the proportion right. After that it’s an easy fly to tie. Remember too when you cut off the deer hair,  stack it so all the tips are in the same plane. Do this by using  a hair stacker, or like I do, the cap from a wide felt pen. Just stick the hair into it tips down  and tap it on your desk. Works a treat

[bluezulu]

OK- I am several years away from even attempting to tie something like this.

but i am interested in how you    fish  this style of fly...

[bluezulu]

bluezulu: it isn't actually so hard once you've seen someone else tie it a couple of times.

thats easy for you to say -after all  you keep yourself in sea kayaks and wet suits from the proceeds of your fly tying  

As for fishing: near static is the accept view for the emerger I think

thanks- i thought it might be .  so now for an even more stupid question...if you are fishing a fly static would you fish it on its own or still as part of a team? and in the case of the DHE presumably it would be top dropper if in team?

The deer hair sedge - the cousin, can be dapped, pulled or fished static though.

yes-i like the sound of this fly. again, in a team it would be  the bob fly i presume?

[bluezulu]

sorry to revive an old topic but i spent an hour and a half tying two DHE's last night. I'm not even going to attempt to photograph the results- not pretty but according to mrs bz they looked "just like" the photo. (she's a terrible liar)

but definite progress was made- and swithun's instructions were really very useful. in another five years i might even catch a fish with one i've tied. a small and very stupid fish , obviously but a fish nonetheless.

[Harpo]

but definite progress was made- and swithun's instructions were really very useful. in another five years i might even catch a fish with one i've tied. a small and very stupid fish , obviously but a fish nonetheless.
[/quote]

Hi there....why don't you take your fly to a stocked pond and catch a large very stupid fish  :lol:
I can't even comprehend tying my own flies......in fact I sometimes have enough trouble tying the flies I have bought onto my leader !

Cheers

[Wildfisher]

Getting it to float properly is, like Swithun says,  all about applying the floatant properly and very carefully. Assuming it has been tied reasonably: wet the abdomen thoroughly – then gink the wing or if you want it to float higher, the wing and the thorax. MAKE SURE YOU GET NO GINK ON THE ABDOMEN. Wetting it first helps a lot. Dry the gink then  wet the abdomen again. Make sure the wing is fanned out properly. Test it for correct floating. Too much false casting will dry out the abdomen and may cause it not to float correctly. Same applies to all these hair wing patterns – ? hogs etc

[Bob Wyatt]

Hi guys,

The DHE isn't the easiest fly in the world to tie, no question, but it gets easier.  There's a couple of tricks. 
1.Don't make the wing over long.  I used to but now keep it fairly short.

2.Use medium fine deer hair (coastal blacktail or roe) and not too much of it.

3.Tie the wing in (first) well back on the shank, not like you would a normal dry fly.  leave a good section of hook shank ahead of the wing base.

4. Trim the hair butts on a long sloping angle and wrap them down tightly for a nice tapered 'hump'.  Give the wrapped butts a touch of varnish before tying in the abdomen dubbing.

5.  Start the abdomen well down on the hook bend.  Make your dubbing 'noodle' fairly thick where you tie it in, and tapering to very thin, so it doesn't bulk up at the wing base.  Don't use too much dubbing.  Keep the abdomen slim.  I usually use the underfur of the hare's mask for the bodies. It soaks up water well.

6.  Wrap the tying thread tag quite tightly, counterwise to the dubbing.

7.  Wax the thread and form a rather thick noodle of spiky hare's mask for the thorax.  Start wrapping the thorax at the head and work bacwards toward the wing, then take the thread back toward the head in tight turns.  Tie off.

Tied like that it's pretty much bulletproof.

I like either deer hair or snowshoe foot hair for the wing.  Don't like polyprop much and hate CDC.  They both work but one looks like shit and the other works for one fish.  In northern Scotland, where you might catch forty or fifty trout in a day, that's a handicap.

If you do as Swithun says, wet the abdomen and just gink the wing and maybe the top of the thorax, the DHE will sit perfectly.  All day long.  Thing is, it's not a true dry fly.  It's supposed to sink low into the film.  Just the wing above the surface, sometimes just the wing tips.  Don't worry about that.  if you want a high riding dry fly you can see, use a Royal Wulff.

If the DHE is too hard to tie, try the Dirty Duster.  It does almost the same job and is pretty rugged too.  easy as pie to tie.  It doesn't ride quite a slow as the DHE, of course, and I like the DHE better for a real emergence.

Don't be afraid to use a big DHE up north.  I mean on a size ten K-100.  Looks scary but they just eat it.

Tight lines boys.  Go get 'em.

BTW, I'd use the dark claret DH Sedge up there this time of year. Big ones.  Maybe two of them.

[Wildfisher]

Thanks Bob

I don't know how I forgot about this - the illustrated sequence is in the June 2006 edition of Fish Wild

http://www.fish-wild.co.uk/index.php?database=1&getpage=flytying&pid=3

Great photos by Hans Weilenmann that show the proportions etc along with Bob's instructions

[Bob Wyatt]

Fred,

The wing in Hans' photo of the finished fly is sitting at a bit of an angle to the rear.  It usually has a slight forward slant to it if anything.

Like this

http://www.danica.com/flytier/rwyatt/dhe_rough_olive.htm