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Bird’s Stonefly
Bird’s Stonefly
Tying Instructions
1. Flatten the barb of the hook with your vise and secure the hook at the bottom of the hook bend. Attach the thread at the 1/3 position of the hook shank wrapping a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
2. Select about 6-8 stiff hackles from a spade hackle. You can procure these hackles from the sides of a cape or purchase a tailing pack with these hackles.
3. The length should be slightly longer than the hook shank. Attach the tailing fibers at the bend of the hook and wrap the tag ends to about the 1/3 position. Clip off the tag ends of the tailing fibers.
4. Select a 1/4 inch section of Turkey T-Base for the wingpost. Note how the T-base has a flat and even tip. You should clip this section with a cut that is parallel to the tips.
5. Keeping the tips aligned, roll the segment and position the tie-down at the area in front of where you trimmed the tailing butts. The wing post should be the length of the hook shank.
6. A.K. likes to hold the segment at a 45 degree downward angle in front of the shank. With 2 soft thread loops, the bundle will position itself on top of the shank upon tightening the thread.
7. Trim the butt ends of the T-Base and wrap to cover the clipped butts.
8. Try to wrap an even taper. Lift the wingpost tips and wrap 7-8 turns against the front of the wingpost to hold the wingpost upright.
9. Wrap 7-8 times around the base of the wingpost to give support to the hackle. This is easily done with a rotary vise rotating the wingpost towards you.
10. Select a hackle stem and clip the guill where the diameter of the quill is about the same as the diameter of the shank.
11. This clipped tip is then attached to the side of the hook shank and secured with thread wraps to the tail tie-off position.
12. Wrap the quill forward. At the wingpost, secure the quill with some tight thread wraps behind the wing post.
13. Then, bring the quill underneath and tie-off the quill in front of the wingpost.
14. Clip the butt and wrap over. Apply some UV Clear Fly Finish, Flow to the quill body.
15. Harden the coating with a UV lamp.
16. Select a stiff Dun Hackle about one size larger than the hook size. Clip three hook-eye lenths of fibers from the stem shiny-side up. This helps keep the fibers from twisting the hackle. Tie the butt end in front of the wingpost nearest you. Also put a couple of wraps around the base of the wingpost to anchor the hackle to the wingpost.
17. Build up a thread thorax and head covering the hackle and quill body butt ends.
18. Wrap the hackle 4-5 turns around the wingpost proceeding in a downwards direction. Wrap the thread at the base of the wingpost just above the tag end of the hackle 2-3 times to secure the hackle wraps.
19. Bring the hackle tip over the hook eye and underneath the thread. Bringing the thread over the hackle tip will lock the hackle into place. Wrap the thread around the hackle tip two more times before trimming the tip. Lift the hackles from above the hook eye and wrap to further secure and cover the hackle tip. Apply 2-3 half hitches.
20. Apply some head cement at the head and also at the base of the wingpost. The finished Quill Parachute, BWO.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 2302 #4-8 |
| Thread | Danville Orange 6/0 |
| Body | Burnt Orange Floss |
| Tail | Two Heavy Moose Hairs, lacquered |
| Antennae | Two Heavy Moose Hairs, lacquered |
| Ribbing | Furnace or Brown trimmed Saddle Hackle |
| Wing | Fox Squirrel Tail |
| Hackle | Brown Saddle Hackle |
Cal Bird
Bird’s Stonefly
Bird’s Stonefly was developed by Cal Bird in the mid 1950’s on the banks of Burney Creek in Northern California. It has become a standard Salmonfly pattern for over 50 years, particularly due to the marketing of Dan Bailey of Montana. The heavy hackling represents the whirring wings. Cal’s original pattern trimmed the hackle on the top and bottom with some lacquering to keep the collar projecting out at the side, forward of the wingbase. This tends to compliment the ribbing, also being clipped, and gives the appearance of a darkish orange body, segmented, with whirring wings.
The ribbing is actually 2-3 sections of clipped hackle along the midshank. Often, you will see the rib palmered through the body but this is a variation of Cal’s original pattern. Cal passed away in 1999. He spent his last 25 years living in Reno, Nevada primarily fishing the Truckee and Lake Tahoe region.
Matarelli Dubbing Tool
Cal attended numerous fly fishing shows demonstrating his creative fly tying with the Bird’s Nest, Bird’s Stonefly Nymph, and Bird’s Caddis. Frank Matarelli developed a dubbing tool of Cal’s design which is marketed throughout many fly shops across the nation.