DRY FLIES
HAIR WINGED HUMPY
For me the hair winged humpy is a great
prospecting and indicator fly for fast water.
The combination of materials and the
structure of the tie provide a fly that floats well and has a good buggy
appearance. I don't tie them
as representations of any particular
Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect but I do try to
either select appropriate coloured materials to match various
terrestrials that may find themselves on a trout's menu or to add a hot
spot or to to solicite an inquiring strike.
I generally stick with natural deer
hair and white calf tail wings because together they make the fly easy
to see even in fading light and fast water. Having said that its worth
experimenting with other colours of deer hair and hair wing to suit the
waters your fishing. My black version has replaced the traditional
"black gnat" that I used to carry.
As well as fishing well alone hair
winged humpies also are great indicator flies
fly fished in conjunction with a
second dry such as a small red tag, nymph or
stick caddis.
MATERIALS:
Hook
-
10 to 14 (Tiemco 900BL)
Thread -
To suit
Wings
-
Calf Tail
Tail - Moose or deer hair
Body
- Peacock herl, seals fur or UV-Ice dubbing
Hackle
- Matching or contrasting
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A)
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Wind the thread in touching
turns to the bend of
the hook and then in wide turns back to the 75% position.
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Tie in a bunch of white calf tail hair for the
wings with the tips pointing out in front of the hook a distance equal to about
75% of the length of the hook.
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Trim the butt end of the calf tail hair wing at an
angle to the hook shank so that there isn't any obvious ridge.
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B)
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Stroke the tips of the calf tail back behind the hook and
tie and stand them upright by tying several wraps of thread
directly in front of where the calf tail is tied in.
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Separate the calf tail into two wings and lock them position
with figure of eight wraps of the thread.
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The finished wings should be around 1 1/2 to 2 times as long
as the gape of the hook and should face a little forward with
the gap between the wings being about 60 to 90 degrees.
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A)
-
Tie in a tail of around 10 deer or moose hairs firmly behind the
wing. The tail should extend beyond the bend of the hook a distance equal to
the length of the hook shank. Hold the deer hair flat along the top of the hook
shank and lock it into position with a couple of softer wraps of
thread. Avoid tight wraps of thread around the hair tail as you
approach the bend of the hook because tight wraps of thread will
cause the hair tail to flare out too much.
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B)
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Stroke the but ends
of the tail material back along the body of the fly and lock it
into position with firm but not tight wraps of thread. If you
don't feel that there is enough of the longer butt fibres to
create the back of the body you can of course add a couple of
extra at this stage.
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C)
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Create a nice plump body
using either dubbing or a herl rope and position the thread in
front of the wing.
-
Wet the wings prior
to the next step as it will help to avoid getting the wings
trapped as you tie the back of the humpy down.
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D)
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Pull the hair for the
back forward so that it sits along the top of the hook and
between the wings.
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Tie it off in front
of the wings and then behind the wings.
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Trim the
excess hair that extends beyond the back of the eye of the hook.
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Tie in a hackle directly behind the wing. The barbs of the hackle
should be about 1.25 times the gape of the hook.
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Take the thread
forward to just behind the eye of the hook.
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D)
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Wind the hackle forward taking
5 turns behind and 5 turns in front of the wing but stopping short of the eye of
the hook so as to leave room for the head.
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Tie the hackle off and trim the
excess.
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Build up a neat head, whip finish and varnish.
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D)
Front view of a hair winged humpy.
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