Step 1

Start the thread at the front and wind until you get to the bend of the hook.

Step 2

Add some dubbing to the thread. Make sure it’s sparse because you don’t want a big body. Wrap up until you get almost to the eye of the hook. Everything else will be tied in right there. So pay attention to your thread wraps.

Step 3

See how fine the hair is. That’s the key when tying small flies that require deer hair.

Step 4

Cut a small clump of deer hair. Pick out any guard hair at the ends. I don’t stack mine because I don’t want the hair to be even. Tie it in at the top with a few turns and then push down to force it to go around the whole hook shank. These will act as the legs instead of using hackle. Note: I like my hair to be a little past the bend of the hook.

Step 5

I like using natural hen because of the mottled look it gives off. One thing you need to make sure when using scotch tape that it’s transparent and not cloudy.

Step 6

Apply the scotch tape on the underside of the feather. Make sure when selecting the feather that it doesn’t have a curved stem in the middle. It needs to be straight because you’re going to fold it in the middle.

Step 7

After you make the fold. Make a cut in the center of the feather in the shape of a heart. When you make the cut you can’t stop in the middle of the cut and recut it or you will see where you stopped and restarted. It has to be in one motion so get on the back of the scissors and start the cut.

Step 8

The scotch tape should be on the outside. Now fold it the other way where the scotch tape is on the bottom side when you tie it in. This will give off the sheen when the trout looks up at it. Also make sure you cut the wing to proportion the size of the hook.

Step 9

Tie it in where the point is butted up right behind the eye of the hook. Tie back on it a little bit. And the goal is to tie a big part off the wing so the wing doesn’t lift up when you cast it. This will create it to helicopter in the false cast and could spin the tippet and fray it. Or it could also pull the wing right out if you don’t tie it in enough.

Step 10

Now dub the front portion of the thread base you created when tying back on the wing. Make sure it matches the dubbed body in the back.

Step 11

Make an even cut on the butt side of the hair (the side your tying in) and make your first turn loose. The next few turns you will add a little more tension with each turn. This will keep the hair from shifting. Don’t let go of the hair until you’ve completed this step. I make a few more turns and now I’m ready to whip finish.