The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference

Title: The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference
Author: Ted Leeson, Jim Schollmeyer
ISBN-10: 1571881263
ISBN-13: 978-1571881267
Pages: 444
For me this is the reference book that I keep on my desk: this is not about patterns, discussions about what to tie for different species or rambling about non-essential things, but to the point descriptions about specific techniques that you need for achieving the best result. Each technique is presented short, but with a very clear description accompanied with pictures for that specific part of the fly. In addition to the main explanation that has pictures with blue background there are also alternate steps (for achieving the same result) on some of the techniques to show how it can be done with a different approach.

I use this book as a reference when tying (very good when looking at online videos where quality is not that good all the time) and for sitting down and learning new techniques – Just pick a section (Extended Bodies) and implement all the different techniques in a training session.

The book contains 400+ tying methods presented with 3000+ color pictures, and have chapters like:

Hook Preparation
Thread Handling
Tails and Trailing Shucks
Dubbed Bodies
Woven BodiesUpright Wings
Parachute Hackle

and many more. The full index and some of the material is available for preview if you click on the cover on the book at amazon.com

Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge

Posted on 12 April, 201312 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide #30 gamakatsu midge tiny tmc varivas

If you read towards the end of the excellent book “Tying Small Flies” the following pattern shows up in the “32s!” chapter: Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge.

I’ve tied some flies on the TMC #30 before, but I had a package of Varivas #30 Ultra Midge and Gamakatsu C12-BM #30 that I hadn’t tested out yet, so this ended up as a showcase between the three hooks.

All flies tied with Sheer 14/0 for body, CDC as wing tied in with TMC 16/0

TMC 518

I like the 518: it has a nice hook-gap and good strength in the hook that can deal with “some” force. The eye is small, but that is only to expect in these small hooks. For standard dry-fly in the #30/#32 this is my preferred choice.

Varivas 2300

First time I tie on the Varivas 2300. Compared to the 518 above this must be handled with a delicate hand! The hook is really light and bends with only the smallest amount of force. On the positive side: the hook-gap is slightly larger than on the 518. I have not fished this yet, but my initial thought is that I would trust the 518 over this hook, but that is to be seen later this summer.

Gamakatsu C12-BM

It is barbless, curved and has a extra large eye. The feel of the hook is now better again: it feels strong and can deal with some force. The extra large eye makes this a better choice for attaching it with cold fingers when you are out next to the river.

The hooks

All hooks together to show the big difference in eye size:

The packages together with their respective midges on top:

The pattern itself is easy to tie in on these small hooks. The 518 is still my favourite, but the Gamakatsu is a very good runner-up after this round, so I will experiment some more with that hook before the summer (it is also the only barbless I have seen in this size)!

Dubbing: Hare’s Ear Plus Dubbin

Posted on 11 April, 201311 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide dubbing hareline

When I first started tying flies I went and bought a little bit of everything, testing out material and figuring out their properties is easy when you can go into a store and feel it, but it is harder when you are trying to order online – you never quite know what you get. So: this is the first post for looking at dubbing: this material that you can find in so many variants (and not to talk about blending your own…). For now I will try to look at different types of dubbing as they appear directly from the package.

Hare’s Ear Plus from Hareline consists of rabbit fur combined with Antron, making it a very good blend for wetflies and buggy nymphs (but also emergers that needs a bit of life)

A little bit of dubbing: you can see the roughness of it, this is a nice and coarse blend.

Tying in on a Mustad 9480 #14

A lightly dubbed hook – will generate a lot of life in the water:

Wrapped a wire around the hook and lightly brushed the dubbing. With so little dubbing you can see it doesn’t add much to the version above:

A trimmed version of the one above: the colors makes a roughness to the body that I like. This is how I apply this to emergers:

Applied a very generous amount to a D-R 135 #14 hook with wire twisted around the hook and brushed it a lot to show how it can come out for nymphs:

#32: Tiny Midge Adult With Upright Wing

Posted on 10 April, 201310 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide 32 cdc tiny tmc

Hook: TMC 518 #32
Body: TMC 16/0 for attaching the CDC, Sheer 14/0 for the body
Wing: White CDC

This pattern comes from the “Tying small flies” book by Ed Engle, a very good book about just that: tiny small flies in all its variants.

Practising with #32

Posted on 9 April, 20139 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide 32 tiny tmc

Hook: TMC 518 #32
Body: TMC 16/0
Hackle: Smallest hackle from a Whiting Bronze dyed brow

I really enjoy the challenge of tying on a #32, here I practice on tying in the smallest hackle feathers I can get of my Whiting cape. To take a idea and bring it down from #12 to #32 challenges both your imagination, your stock of material and your eyesight!

This pattern is one of the simpler to tackle in this size, as long as you can get the hackle small enough.

Month: April 2013

The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference