The fly that we are trying next is also for steel head, it is the one that I have been tying different variation of for 10, 12 years now. And it is just got some real classic lines that I really enjoy and like in a Steel Head Fly, this particular size is good for our waters around here in the Sacramento in our little brother Trinity. And some of the times when it is clear water and you need a smaller fly, thing is good during the early fall or late fall for the October catus works well. It is called Bill’s Bead Butt Burlap – four B’s and the way I put the bead in there is little different than others. And it just to give a little of weight but I don’t necessarily like the looks of the bead on a Steel Head Fly – there are very few of them head that way.
So what I like to do is take that bead and I put it back here in the back. Sometimes just way back here, I don’t want to close up the gap here but I want it to put it on the back. If it is heavy enough, depending on how the flies are tied, there will actually make the fly right like this on the water. Which is not bad sometimes and sometimes I will tie a fly and put heavy weights back here, if I don’t want to close up that gap, then they can barbell weights don’t tie it in right here. And then I will make that fly swing across the water looking just like this as it goes across. They also keep pointing up in really rocky bottoms so it doesn’t tend to hang up so much. But this was just enough weight to make it go down a little bit, it is easy to cast, easy to fish.
So we are give this a tie right now, tie that up – gold hook just because the color combination and weight. The way it looks in the clearer waters and fall waters and it looks good like that. Butts are on here we are going to put this Cyclops eye on here and under these eyes, there is a small side here and there is a large side on the back. And that large side so when you put this on, you put on the small side on first and when you swing it around the edge. It has enough of a radius that it will swing around in the corner. You can have a fairly large bead if you didn’t have a large and a full back here – it won’t get around the corner of some these fly. And some flies have different bends on them and it makes them more difficult with flies on or the beads on to. So we are going to put this on first, slip into here and then kind of butt it right around the corner like that.
We have been tied flies the spaces like that but two beads so that they can not bounce back together like that and make some noise. That will be on the center we got a fish on those but I have done it before just to see what would happen. I have use 6R units thread in a tan color here. I want to start this get that down here, just right above the hook point right there. Burlap is just place down this burlap; I want to take a piece right out of here and spun your burlap. Put this end right here, tie it very tight, move this forward and we wrap this around here. From the point, here and then once back over the back of it here, so I want to build that up, so that it won’t slip over to the top of it. And come right back over here and tie it down.
Now cut that off, now this is ready to be pushed up like so that we are going to be sitting. I am going to tie this up to now I put the thread afterwards, I want to tie this off, don’t have to do this but I like to. Just keeps everything together there, those threads and sometimes I take a bead underneath that just put a little bit of finish on there. Push that right over the top and just in here wrap it right in front of it. Remember that hole smaller at front so you don’t have as much material in front to keep it from sliding around. But here it is then turn it back to here. This is peasant loop and I always look for these ones with a really long fiber on them like that and they really good stay fly. Sometimes you can’t find them this way so when I do find them I usually get them is because you can use them later on. Like this way and they dyed ones you can get so I like to get them most of the time, not all the time. Most time and months of these thread is all sweep back on here so it gets good looking when in here.
And always you are on the risk when we do this like of the stem breaking. Because we need to tie in from the tip end first and the small up here but we are just take our chance and see what happens. So we try to grab these center pieces here right along that tip and fold it back like that. Just leave it in there; we got the stem cup side down and not that way that is down really tight. Let me wrap the Burlap forward, what I use to use in this is I did to put the bead in there and I did use Burlap. What I use was – and I still do, I use dubbing and in different colors, dubbing different colors of decant hackle here but this in a natural color with a natural tan dubbing is what I use most of the time.
We will have just to see if we get this without breaking otherwise I have to take it all apart and do it again here. Just kind of peels right on back, just make it full better, just down here. And we will fold bring this up, put it back off here and bring a little closer there. And we try to fold this down and back like this, most of this underneath, couple of error stick up there you can whack those guys off. Now our flank here in your dive bell flank if you have colors again. This is natural and it goes with the whole color scheme here, I will pull the fuzz off.
Check it for length, this is back just I will pick a little bit more off. And this could be tight at very short hackle here and then the top can be very short like this – like that long. Or you can tie it longer like this one; flatten out the stems so it will flat across the top which is what I want. And we will put this right along the hook shank – so I can see and I will fold that down around the sides. Take an easy turn, move better one, move tighter, little tighter – there. Here we go we are finished – a little finish on that end and I am also going to put a little back on the feather there. Hold that feather in, get it around here and am going to tell you I just did this here. Most of the flies that I am tying, I could catch a fish and I just did that it was handy I am telling you. So there it is right there, see a lot of movement it is good fall, late fall, low water fly, it is good to have a nice profile to it.
With over 45 years of experience working in 40 countries, the South Pole and North Pole, the Watts present their travel, fly fishing and cooking videos.
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