BWO Extended Body

Call me obsessed, nutso, or whatever - but when I'm not workin and my mind is at ease, I tend to think of different ways and methods to tie. Most of 'em end up in the wastebasket but lately I've been thinking of a better way to tie extended bodies on small dries. In the past, I've never been too happy with the needle method  and it's durability. Also wrapping the dubbing around moose main had it's problems for me too. For the Classic Swap, I tried the following method and was happy with it. Fished them this past weekend with no problems. You do need a rotary vice for this though. Here it is - hopefully I can explain it well enough.


Here's the fly I tied for the swap - I used a dryer sheet your wife uses for the wings. For this tute I used medallion sheeting for the wings.



1. Insert the hook into the vice and start the thread as shown - any light wire curved hook will do. Here it's a size 16.



2. Tie on a 6" piece of 3x tippet with the natural curve of the material up and away from the shank. It helps to center the tippet material if you insert it into the gap in the vice that's left from securing the hook. Then tie it in. Next tie in the same manner - 3 strands of microfibbetts.





3. Work the thread to the bend of the hook shank and take a few wraps around the tippet and microfibbets only. Dub on the thread the color of choice - leaving about 1 inch of bare thread.



4. Grab the tippet material with a pair of hackle pliers and pull straight away from the hook. Let your bobbin hang free over the edge of the table and turn the jaws of your vice - wrapping bare thread around both materials only. The weight of the bobbin will supply the thread tension. You can slide the dubbing up or down the thread to adjust. You want to start wrapping the dubbing around these materials at the tip or correct length of the tail and work back to the hook shank. Do this while holding tension on the tippet material with the hackle pliers.







5. Remove the hook from the vice and insert it as normal. Cut off the tippet material even with the end of the body and tails. Apply a small dab of head cement to the tip of the body to secure and seal it. Wrap the thread forward and around the front end of the tippet material to post it upright.




6. Tie in a single strand of thread, cut out the wings (folded in half). In the center of the wing base, poke a small hole with a needle and thread the wings onto the tippet material. Slide the wings down to the hook shank and pull the thread over the center fold of the wings and tie in front. This secures the wings to the hook shank. Dub forward in front of the wings.









7. Tie in the hackle and wrap parachute style. The tippet material supplies the post for this. Wrap close to the hook shank. Cut off the tippet material between the wings close to the body. Apply a small amount of head cement to seal it. Whip finish off.





Should've used the right color thread for this instead of black! ........Oh Well...

that is sweet.

HC - so far no problem with durability - that's what I like about it...and you can finish off the fly in any matter you like.

I'll take a dozen, please, steely34!