Mini Jam BWO emerger leg problems?

[joeypm]

Hi all,

Ive been trying to improve my tying of Lefties BWO emerger he showed us at the minijam. I cant seem to get the legs to lay nice like in his picture. Does anyone remember the sequence to tying in the legs?

Thanks again,

Joeypm

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Hi Joey - Do you mean the nymph he tied?

If so, he ties the legs in at the sides after dubbing half of the thorax, then completes dubbing the thorax. This results in the legs coming out of the thorax at the midpoint.

Hope this is what you were looking for....

H.A.

 

[afishinado]

Another method for tying in legs to the sides of the thorax is to tie in a fairly small hackle feather in by the tip.

Tie in your wing case material as usual and let it hang back towards the rear of the fly. Select a hackle feather with fibers of the correct length for legs for your fly. Before you tie it in, preen back the hackle fibers back, and tie it in at that point by the tip to the rear of the thorax. Wind your dubbing or other material around your thorax and end your thread towards the eye as you normally do. Fold over your hackle feather so it lies on top of the thorax an tie it in. Now fold over your wing case tie it in and whip finish. The legs are positioned on both sides for the entire length of the thorax and angling back. On larger flies you can trim off some of the hackle if it appears too heavy. It makes for a very realistic fly. This works best on nymphs down to size 16 or perhaps 18. Give it a try.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

That is close to how I tie legs on nymphs, but I take an appropriate size hen or partridge feather and trim a bit of the tip off. I then tie the stem in at the front of the hook with two wraps, and pull the stem forward until the legs are the preferred length. This allows a bit more flexibility in the size feather chosen, since you are "adjusting" it to length.

Like in this tutorial by Loren Williams.

 

[afishinado]

Nice Ed! I'll give that a try.

 

[jayL]

I do it Ed's way too. I am 99% sure that I learned the technique from the tutorial he posted.

 

[MKern]

The one thing I do different that Loren's link is have the points of the partridge rest above the eye (as show), but point down toweards the belly. They like to twist this way, but it puts the legs more on the sides than the top of the fly; relying on the wingcase to push them down.

Another easy way to do legs and have them stick out to the side is tie them straight up like a parachute. Then split and dub a figure 8 (harder way); or let the wing case push them to the sides.

The hardest way to do legs, but the best looking IMO is tie in the windcase and then the partridge just infront of the case. Pull the partridge over the shank like a wingcase and then start to dub. when you get to a spot where you think the hind legs should stick out seperate a couple from the partridge feather and dub in front. Then do the same with a middle set of legs, and finally a front set.
Using very little dubbing (double the thinkness of the thread) is key.

 

[troutslammer]

u can cut the hackle feather to make a "V" and lay it ontop of hook shank then pull wing case over it and it makes nice legs

 

[joeypm]

Thanks to all.... Ive got some hooks coming in soon and ill give that a try on some 16's....

It was great meeting you all at the mini jam.... I broke my Sage rod tip just as I was about to start casting... went home to get my orvis but instead started looking for a back up 5wt. Found a Lefty Kreh TFO and I am sending back my Sage to get fixed. Thats why I didnt say goodbye to all.... sorry maybe we will see each other soon...

Joeypm

 

[OldLefty]

As a refresher, I tie in my leg material as the 3rd step in the tying process - fist step is attach thread, second, tie in tails . I tie enough fibers for both sides and secure them right behind the eye of the hook. Length is approximately equivalent to the distance from just behind the eye to the hook point.

By tying in my leg material early I don't have to concern myself with allowing enough space to tie in when I'm ready to deal with the legs. They're already in place. All I have to do is divide the clump, sweep back on both sides, and secure with a couple wraps of thread.

Dave R.

 

[Festus]

One of these days, Old Lefty is gonna put on a tutorial or demo about how he makes his gills on his GD nymphs. I don't care if it's in the middle of Siberia, I'm there.

 

[jayL]

He's done it, and all you had to do was go to the lehigh valley.

 

[Festus]

He's done it, and all you had to do was go to the lehigh valley.

I hope somebody took notes.:evil: