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Extended Body Mayflies
Blue Wing Olive
Tying Instructions
Tying Instructions: Extended Body Mayfly, BWO
1. Cut a piece of Olive Hollow Tubing, Standard size about 3/4″ in length. Slip three microfibetts inside. (You may have to do this one at a time, it’s a small hole). By evening the butt ends, the tips should be even and adjust the fibetts to the length you desire. 1/2″ to 3/4″ is good.
2. Place the tubing in a serrated pliers. (I’m using a leatherman tool). Be sure that all of the tubing is within the pliers. The microfibett tails will be hanging out the end of the jaws. Place a flame at the base of the pliers for a short time interval, 10-15 seconds. Do not allow the flame to get near the microfibetts, they’ll shrivel at once.
3. Place the scud hook in the vise and attach the thread behind the eye laying a small thread foundation for the extended body.
4. Attach the body to the hook shank. I adjusted the length of the body to be about 3/8 inches. Note the markings from the heated pliers leaving a segmented appearance. The marks will be more pronounced toward the tip of the body since the thinner portion of the plier jaws will convey heat more quickly.
5. Next, place a drop of superglue to the thread wraps that attach the body. Use a bodkin needle to smooth out the drop evenly over the wraps. Make sure that no glue gets over the eye of the hook.
6. Separate the fibetts and apply another drop of glue to the base of the fibetts where they emerge from the tubing. Again, use a bodkin to apply and spread the glue evenly to the area.
7. Select two Hen Cape Hackles and remove the basal fibers from the bottom of the quill until you get the length you desire. The hackle length equaling the length of the extended body is a good proportion.
8. Attach the hackles with the shiny side facing outwards, to the top of the tubing about midway on the shank.
9. Wrap the thread behind the pair of hackles to prop them in a vertical position. Apply a couple wraps in front of the pair to keep them from going forward. Trim off the butts of the quills and secure with some additional thread wraps.
10. Next, split the two hackles into a 45 degree angle by applying an x-wrap of thread between the pair. Do this with only a few wraps at the base.
11. Attach a dry fly hackle by the exposed quill to the side of the shank facing you. This should be behind the hackle wings with the dry fly hackle fibers facing upwards. You want the shiny side of the hackle facing the front of the fly as you wrap forward.
12. Apply some Superfine Dry Fly Dubbing to the thread at the base of the thorax. Use only a small amount of material and push the twisted fibers up the thread to the shank. Give one wrap to lock these fibers in and you can twist the material further for more compactness.
13. Wrap a tight body on each side of the wings. Don not crowd the eye. This dubbing forms the base in which we will wrap the hackle around.
14. Wrap the hackle with three wraps behind the wings and three wraps in front of the wings. Secure the hackle from beneath the hook behind the eye. You can minimize trapping fibers by pulling the hackle upwards and locking in the quill with the first thread wrap, then bring the hackle downwards to allow the thread to go over the exposed quill without trapping the top fibers. Do this technique about 3 times to ensure a good anchor.
15. Trim off the excess hackle and secure with some thread wraps behind the eye. Whip Finish.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 2487 #16-18 |
| Thread | Uni-Thread 8/0 Olive |
| Body | Olive Hollow Tubing, standard |
| Thorax | Blue Wing Olive Superfine Dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Olive Microfibetts |
| Wing | Medium Dun Hen Cape Hackle |
| Hackle | Grizzly Dun Hackle |
Extended Body Mayflies
Extended Body Mayflies are not difficult to tie. They add an element of realism to the dry fly presentation that is often a trigger mechanism for the trout to strike. There are a number of techniques to create an extended body. Perhaps the simplest is the use hollow tubing that comes in a number of colors and diameters.
Small Mayflies
This is particularly useful for extended bodies on smaller mayflies such as Blue Wing Olive and PMD’s. For the Blue Wing Olive, I use this material and create a segmented appearance by using a heated plier that marks the tubing. Another simple technique is to apply Superfine dubbing to a needle and add Loon’s Soft Head to the material. Twist the material with your fingers and remove once dry. You can create segments by pinching the material with a serrated hemostat. This is the technique I used on the PMD.
Larger Mayflies
Extended Bodies are generally more common on larger Mayflies, such as Green Drakes, Gray Drakes, and Hexagenia. On these patterns, I use a needle base in which the material is tied around a needle with thread and slid off the needle to attach to the hook. On the Western Green Drake, I attach 3 moose mane fibers to a needle with thread wraps. Ending my thread wraps where the abdomen body would end, I attach a piece of ultra chenille with 4-5 overlapping thread wraps and spiral wrap the chenille to the other end. The thread is whip finished to secure and trim.
The Gray Drake extended body is a little more involved. First, I apply dubbing wax to the needle and then lay a small amount of z-lon over it. Attach two microfibetts for the tails and lay a good thread foundation over the material. Bring the thread back to where the end of the abdomen should be and attach a dozen deer hair by the tips to the base of the tailing materials as well as a piece of thread for ribbing. The deer hair will be a halfback to the abdomen. Next, dub a tapered body and pull the deer hair over the top. Secure with thread wraps. Then, pull the deer hair over the top and secure with some additional thread wraps. Whip Finish. Apply a good dose of Head Cement over the body and pull the body away from the needle.
Variations
PMD
| Hook | TMC 2487 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-Thread 8/0 Yellow |
| Body | PMD Superfine Dubbing with Loons Soft Head |
| Thorax | PMD Superfine Dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Olive Microfibetts |
| Wing | Woodduck dyed Mallard Flank |
| Hackle | Dun Hackle |
Western Green Drake
| Hook | TMC 2487 #12-16 |
| Thread | Uni-Thread 8/0 Light Olive |
| Body | Caddis Green Ultra Chenille, micro |
| Thorax | Green Drake Superfine Dubbing |
| Tail | 3 Moose Mane Fibers |
| Wing | Olive Henback Hackle |
| Hackle | Grizzly Dark Olive Hackle |
Gray Drake
| Hook | TMC 2487, #10-14 |
| Thread | Danville Flymaster 6/0 Tan |
| Body | Hare-Tron Dubbing, March Brown |
| Back | Natural Brown Deer Hair |
| Ribbing | Danville 6/0 Brown |
| Tail | 2 White Microfibetts |
| Wing | Medium Dun Hen Cape Hackle |
| Hackle | Dun Saddle Hackle |
Tying Instructions
Tying Instructions: Extended Body Mayfly, Gray Drake
1. Attach a needle or thin bodkin to the vise and apply some thread wax to it.
2. Place some strands of Z-lon to the needle. This material will be a base to the extended body that will make it easier to slide off and will provide a core to attach the extended body to the hook shank.
3. Secure the Z-lon to the needle with thread wraps.
4. Attach 2 micofibetts to the base of the body with thread wraps and split the pair with a thread wrap between the fibetts.
5. Next, attach a thread ribbing and a small clump of deer hair by the tips at the tail tie-in position.
6. Now, apply dubbing to the thread and wrap a tapered body towards the base.
7. I like to apply small amounts of dubbing for better control. You might need 3-4 applications to get to the end of the body. The body length should be about 2 x’s the shank length.
8. Pull the deer hair over the top of the body and secure with thread wraps. Next, wrap the ribbing with evenly spaced spirol wraps and secure this too.
9. Trim off the butt ends of the hair and the ribbing tag end. Secure these with thread wraps. Next, apply Head Cement to the body. This will help strengthen the body and keep everything together. Let it dry before pulling off the body from the needle.
10.Attach the extended body to the hook shank. Note that I am attaching the threaded core to the shank itself with the dubbed body firmly against the base of the hook shank. Trim off the excess Z-lon and secure with thread wraps.
11. Select a pair of hackle tips. I’m using Hen Cape hackle tips in a dun coloration. Remove the lower fibers until you get the lenght you desire. The length of the wing should be about the length of the body. Attach the wings to the midpoint of the hook shank along the top. The wings should have the shiny side facing outwards.
12. Wrap behind the wings to stand them upright and apply some thread wraps between the pair to separate them.
13. Attach a hackle to the side of the shank behind the wing. Have the shiny side facing upwards, so that this side will face the front of the hook while being wrapped.
14. Apply dubbing behind the wing and in front to create a thorax. Make sure that you dub right to the extended body for a smooth transition. Use your hackle pliers to wrap the hackle over the thorax. Wrap three times behind the wing and three times in front. Do not crowd the eye.
15. Secure the butt end of the hackle just behind the eye with thread wraps and trim. Wrap a few more wraps and whip finish.
