How to Tie a Light Spruce Fly
- 1). Clamp the bend of the hook in the vise with the barb underneath. Make sure the shank is horizontal.
- 2). Lay down a base of black thread by wrapping the thread around the shank closest to the bend.
- 3). Select six peacock sword fibers that are 1.5 times the length of the hook's gape. Lay the fibers on top of the base so that they extend over the bend. Wrap thread around the fibers and base.
- 4). Lay the end of the red floss on the shank near the base thread and wrap the black thread around it. Tie several half-hitch knots with the thread and trim it with scissors.
- 5). Wrap the floss around the shank just past the halfway point between the bend and the eye. Wrap two or three more times, reversing the direction each time. Tie a two-turn whip-finish knot in the floss and trim it with scissors. Tie the black thread back onto the shaft and wrap it around over the whip-finish knot.
- 6). Wrap thread around the remaining shank to the eye. Lay eight peacock herls on the shank and wrap it with thread from the eye to the floss. Pull the thread straight down, and wrap the herls around it to make a chenille. Wrap the chenille around the herls on the shank almost to the eye. Unwind the remaining chenille from the thread, then tie off the thread and trim it with scissors.
- 7). Select a pair of matching silver badger hackles no more than 1.5 times the shank length. Strip the feathers off the stems of the hackle about an inch. Place the hackles together so that the curves and patterns match, lay the stems on the shank between the chenille and the eye and it wrap with thread.
- 8). Strip the feathers off the stem of another hackle as before, lay the stem on thread between the chenille and the eye and wrap it. Attach pliers to the hackle tip and wrap the hackle around the shaft twice. Hold pliers above the shank and over the eye, then secure the hackle to the shank by wrapping it with thread. Release the pliers from the hackle and trim excess feathers.
- 9). Wrap thread several more times between the hackles and eye, and tie it with a whip-finish knot. Cover the knot with clear nail polish.
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