Halfback Question

[HBGMarine]

I've been trying to tie up a halfback pattern but can't seem to get the front legs right. I fix the wing case in with two wraps and then pull the pheasant tail back and down then follow with a few more wraps but it won't come out evenly distributed or at the correct angle. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

Here's the picture I was using as a guide....
http://www.westcoastflyfishers.com/fly_patterns/halfback/halfback.html

 

[afishinado]

Marine,

I looked at the tutorial and I don't think you're actually doing anything wrong. It's just not easy to do. It reminds me of tying a humpy, where you need to have the exact amount of hair to cover the back and create wings of the proper length.

Try tying it as per the instructions except cut off the ends of the PT instead of trying to use them as legs. As you final step, tie in a small clump of PT on each size as legs. HTH.

 

[littlelehigh]

It's not you that was a PTA for me too I always had the same problem. Now I use Orvis Spectablend dubbing, oversize the thorax and pull out the sides for the legs. The rainbow last Sat didn't mind.

 

[MKern]

Legs like that are hard and take a ton of partice if not patience.

what works for me is tying them in as close to teh eye and"doubleing" back to the back of where the head would be.

I would like to add that that pattern could be done a whole lot easier and quicker:
Tie in the Pheasant and leave it long,
Tie in the peacock,
Wrap the peacock to the head,
Cut peacock,
Pull over wingcase (remaining section of PT)
Form legs,
Form head and finish.

 

[GreenWeenie]

To make great legs for nymphs take a soft hackle partridge feather. Snip the stem about 3-6 barbs down the stem’s tip so you have a feather than has a hollow ‘V’ tip. Then go down about 4-7 barbs (depending on nymph size) and strip the remaining barbs from both sides of the feather.

Tie the nymph as you normally would do except just prior to pulling the wing case forward and tying off, tie the prepared partridge feather to the shank. To do so, place the feather ‘V’ tip over the top of the shank and push it snug up against the upright wing case. Secure the feather with a few turns of thread at the front at the front of the hook and then pull the wing case down and forward and tie off.

The first few times you do this it may not look perfect. You need to simply get the feel of the correct size feather and most importantly, the proper fit of the ‘V’ against the upright wing case. If jammed too hard into the wing case the feather will bend when you pull the wing forward and if not snug enough, the legs will move side-to-side because you’re really relying on the pressure of the rear end of the wing case pinching the legs in place. After a few times you’ll get the hang of it.

 

[JustFish]

GreenWeenie wrote:
To make great legs for nymphs take a soft hackle partridge feather. Snip the stem about 3-6 barbs down the stem’s tip so you have a feather than has a hollow ‘V’ tip. Then go down about 4-7 barbs (depending on nymph size) and strip the remaining barbs from both sides of the feather.

Tie the nymph as you normally would do except just prior to pulling the wing case forward and tying off, tie the prepared partridge feather to the shank. To do so, place the feather ‘V’ tip over the top of the shank and push it snug up against the upright wing case. Secure the feather with a few turns of thread at the front at the front of the hook and then pull the wing case down and forward and tie off.

The first few times you do this it may not look perfect. You need to simply get the feel of the correct size feather and most importantly, the proper fit of the ‘V’ against the upright wing case. If jammed too hard into the wing case the feather will bend when you pull the wing forward and if not snug enough, the legs will move side-to-side because you’re really relying on the pressure of the rear end of the wing case pinching the legs in place. After a few times you’ll get the hang of it.

IMO that is the easiest way and the best even looking. I do this for all of my nymphs that I want legs for. I even do it for stoneflies. You can pretty much use any feather to do this.

Also, to add to the above, when you get the feather into place you can manipulate the feathers with your fingers before cinching it down to get them where you want them.

 

[GreenWeenie]

Justfish is right. It can be used for stoneflies as well.

If you really want to get fancy, for stoneflies use longer barbed feathers and take some flex cement and twist 3 or so barbs together so they stick together and form one leg. You can make 3 pairs of legs and vary position by the size of the feather you use and which barbs you twist together (you may need to cut 2-3 barbs between pairs of legs). When the barbs are drying you can also bend the barbs around the point of a dubbing needle so when it sets it has a jointed look but this isn’t necessary.

Since the leg pair thing is a little time consuming, I generally decide how many nymphs I’m going to tie and prepare the feathers all in advance.

 

[afishinado]

GreenWeenie wrote:
Justfish is right. It can be used for stoneflies as well.

If you really want to get fancy, for stoneflies use longer barbed feathers and take some flex cement and twist 3 or so barbs together so they stick together and form one leg. You can make 3 pairs of legs and vary position by the size of the feather you use and which barbs you twist together (you may need to cut 2-3 barbs between pairs of legs). When the barbs are drying you can also bend the barbs around the point of a dubbing needle so when it sets it has a jointed look but this isn’t necessary.

GW, I make stonefly legs just like that. But try this, tie in a webby hackle feather tip first (tip facing the front of the hook) just behind the thorax. Dub the thorax and fold down the hackle feather over it and tie it in with a few wraps near the front of the hook. Now wrap your wingcase over the hackle feather and tie that in. The hackle will be sticking out of both sides for the entire length of of the thorax and will be angled back. Now you can trim some of the hackle barbs if necessary and put some flex cement on the bases of the hackle to form 3 distinct legs on each side as you mentioned above. Give it a try.

 

[GreenWeenie]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.