A)
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Wind the thread 1/2 of the way down the hook shank
in touching turns..
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Take 2 bean bag beads of the same size and holding
then in a fold of stocking material and tie the stocking material onto the
hook shank.
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Separate the eyes using figure of 8 wraps of the
thread to define the individual eyes and lock them into place on top of
the hook shank and just behind the eye of the hook.
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Either now or later pain eyes on the beads.
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Everybody knows that head cement dissolves the foam that the bean
bag beads are made from. Often overlooked however is the fact that even
the esters coming of the head cement of other flies in your fly box will
dissolves foam booby eyes. For the sake of convenience I generally tie
up half a dozen or more eyes at a time and give them a coat of PVA craft
or woodworking glue so as to make them more robust and to protect them
from the esters.
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B)
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Now continue winding the thread to the bend of the
hook in touching turns.
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Tie in a tail of rabbit fur or marabou making sure that the tail
is between a half hook shank and full hook shank in length.
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C)
- Return the thread two thirds of the way along the hook shank.
- Prepare a length of closed cell foam that is as wide as the gape of
the hook and about two and a half times as long as the hook and has a
tapered leading edge.
- Smear a little PVA glue or contact cement on the first part of the
closed cell foam.
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D)
- Tie in closed cell foam very tightly at the two thirds
position.
- At about
half compression tie the closed cell foam along the hook shank in with
separated wraps of the thread.
- At the bend of the hook, just behind where the tail is
tied in, tie the foam down very tightly. Not only does this form an
underbody but it also attaches the foam to the shank of the hook
without squeezing out all its buoyancy.
- Tie in a length of the estaz chenille at the bend of
the hook. (You can use two contrasting Estaz chenilles for the body as
on option. If your doing that uses the darker chenille in the rear two
thirds of the body and the lighter contrasting chenille in the front
part of the body).
- Take the thread forward along the underbody to just behind the booby
eyes, at about half compression, with 3 or 4 separated wraps of the
thread.
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E)
- Wind the
body material forward to the eyes in touching turns.
- Tie the
body material off but don't trim the excess.
- Hang the loose end of the body
material over the front of the fly between the eyes.
- Pull the
closed cell foam over the back of the fly and tie it off just behind
the eyes.
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F)
- Trim the excess foam and trim the excess.
- Take a single wrap of the body material over
the front of the eyes, under the eyes, across the back where the closed cell foam is
tied in and back in front of the eyes so that it can be tied off.
- Whip finish a couple
of times but don't
varnish the head as even if you don't touch the eyes with varnish the
fumes from the varnish may dissolve the bean bag beads.
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G)
- Thread the leg
rubber onto a darning needle and push the darning needle through the
estaz chenille and foam underbody of the fly one one diagonally. The
legs should be in the front half of the body of the fly.
- Reload the darning
needle with leg rubber and this time pass the needle through the fly on
the opposite diagonal.
- Trim the leg
material off so that the legs are even on each side and about as long
as the shank of the hook.
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