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Spanflex Buzzer – new material to an old pattern
Black/Gray Spanflex Emerger
Tying Instructions
1. Slide a Glass Bead onto the hook.
2. Bring the bead back out of the way, and attach some White Antron Fibers behind the eye for gills. Sometimes, the bead holes are quite small, and you might need to keep all of the thread wraps just behind the eye allow the proper placement of the bead. Use a Whip Finish to secure the thread wraps and slide the bead into position.
3. Reattach the thread behind the bead and apply some wraps to snug the bead to the front thread wraps.
4. Attach some White Antron Fibers just behind the bead to the top of the hook shank.
5. Also attach two strands of Spandflex to the top of the hook shank. I’m using Cream and Black for this buzzer.
6. Wrap the material back to the bend of the hook. Note how compressed the material is to maintain a slender body. Wrap the thread forward with tight close wraps back to just behind the bead.
7. Wrap the two strands of spanflex forward. By applying little stretch, you can get a segmented appearance. By stretching the material tighter the spanflex will flatten out with thinner segments. Secure with thread wraps just behind the bead.
8. Trim the shuck material and build a thread dam behind the bead that is tapered and almost to the width of the bead. Secure with a whip finish. Then reattach the thread in front of the bead and finish it the same way. Apply an acrylic coating such as Sally’s Hard as Nails to the entire body and thread wraps.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Black and Gray Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Crystal Glass Bead |
Spanflex Buzzer
Chironomids are one of the most important food sources in stillwaters. They can represent 25-50% of the food source for trout, depending upon season. There are three stages to consider, the larvae, pupa, and emergers. Colors range in frequency from Black, Brown, Red, Tan, Green, and Cream. Many of the larvae will have a reddish appearance as they retain hemoglobin within the oxygen-poor depths. These larvae are often called bloodworms. The larvae are also quite larger than the pupa or emergers, sometimes up to two hook sizes. Generally, the largest chironomids will be during the Spring and will decrease in size through the Summer and Fall.
Blagdon Buzzer
Lake Flies and their Imitation
The earliest mention of a buzzer pattern was in England during the 1920’s. Dr. H.A. Bell created a Blagdon Buzzer for fishing the Blagdon Reservoir. It was tied on a small hook and had a black wool body with a flat silver rib with a tuft of white wool behind the eye of the hook. It was very similar to theTDCpattern that Richard Thompson designed in the 1950’s. Buzzer patterns fell out of favor until a resurgence of popularity in the 1960’s when English reservoirs were opened to public fishing. C.F. Walker wrote about Buzzers in his book,Lake Flies and their Imitation, in 1960 and the use of Buzzer’s for stillwater fishing became quite popular once more.
Spanflex Material
TheSpanflex Buzzerbecame a popular pattern within England, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada with the introduction of a stretchy synthetic material, Spanflex. Spanflex is a very tough, stretchable material made by Wapsi in Arkansas and has a registered trademark with Wapsi. There are similar products such as Flex Floss and Midge Stretch Floss that can be substituted and some of these products are often referred to as “Spanflex”.
Spanflex is often used for legs, tails, and ribbing on larger flies. It makes great bodies on smaller midge flies. By applying somewhat little stretch to the material you can get a pronounced and broad segmentation. By applying considerable stretch, the segments will become quite small and flat. Two different colors of the Spanflex will add a mottled effect to the body. Also try spacing the Spanflex wraps over the thread body, this allows the thread color to show through and provides another mottling effect.
Semi-translucency
The material is semi-translucent, so that the underbody of thread color will greatly affect the body coloration. For instance, the bloodworm Spanflex Buzzer uses a Ginger colored Spanflex which comes across quite red due to the red thread underbody. Also, note how the cream spanflex comes across as a mottled gray over the black thread body of the Black/Cream Spanflex larvae when it is stretched tight. A covering of an Acrylic such as Sally’s Hard as Nails (Clear) will provide a tougher surface and protect the thread wraps around the bead. Loon’s UV Fly Finish, Thin or Flow, will also provide an epoxy protection.
Variations
Black/Gray Spanflex Pupa
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #14-22 |
| Thread | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Body | Small Black and Gray Flex Floss coated with Loon Fly Finish, Thin |
| Underbody | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Crystal Glass Bead |
Black/Gray Spanflex Larvae
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #12-16 |
| Thread | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Body | Small Black and Gray Flex Floss coated with Loon Fly Finish, Thin |
| Underbody | Black Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
Bloodworm Spanflex Buzzer
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #12-18 |
| Thread | Red Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Red Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Body | Red Flex Floss coated with Loon Fly Finish, Thin |
| Underbody | Red Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
Gray/Gray Spanflex Emerger
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, #16-20 |
| Thread | Gray Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Black Bead |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Gray Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Gray Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Ribbing | Black Wire |
Orange/Gray Spanflex Emerger
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Gray Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Silver Bead |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Orange Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Gray Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Amber Goose Biot |
| Ribbing | Black Wire |
Brown/Black Spanflex Pupa
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Dark Brown 8/0 |
| Head | Dark Brown Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Body | Brown and Black Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Uni-thread Dark Brown 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Red Glass Bead |
Orange/Brown Spanflex Emerger
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Brown Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Orange and Brown Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Brown Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Olive Glass Bead |
Orange/Olive Spanflex Emerger
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Orange and Olive Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Red Glass Bead |
Olive/Olive Spanflex Emerger
| Hook | Daiichi 1120, sizes 14-22 |
| Thread | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Head | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Gills | White Antron Fibers |
| Body | Olive and Insect Green Flex Floss |
| Underbody | Olive Uni-thread 8/0 |
| Shuck | White Antron Fibers |
| Wingcase | Crystal Glass Bead |