Techniques

• Attaching the thread: Starting the thread on a bare hook with a jam knot.
• Laying a thread base: Touching turns of thread along the shank, so materials grip and the body is smooth.
• Tying in a material: Fixing a material to the hook with firm turns of thread: the pinch wrap.
• Tails and tags: A bunch of fibres or yarn tied in at the bend, sticking out behind.
• Dubbing a body: Twisting fur onto the thread and wrapping it to form a fuzzy body.
• Herl bodies: Winding peacock herl to make a bronze-green, fuzzy body.
• Ribbing: Open turns of wire, tinsel or thread over the body: for segmentation and strength.
• Wound bodies: Bodies of floss, tinsel, chenille or fibres wound in touching turns.
• Winding a hackle collar: A hackle wound in close turns behind the eye, so the barbs stand out all round.
• Palmering: Winding a hackle in open turns along the body, often secured by the rib.
• Soft hackles: One or two turns of a soft feather such as partridge, sweeping back over the body.
• Parachute hackles: A hackle wound horizontally round an upright post, so the fly sits low in the film.
• Upright wings and posts: Wings or a post standing up from the shank, for visibility and silhouette.
• Hair wings: A clump of hair tied on top as a wing, flaring as the thread tightens.
• Feather wings: Whole feathers or quill slips tied on as wings.
• Beards and throats: A small bunch of fibres tied in under the hook, behind the eye.
• Wing cases and shellbacks: A strip pulled forward over the top of the body and tied down.
• Bead heads: A metal bead slid onto the hook before the thread, for weight and flash.
• Weighting: Turns of wire under the body to make the fly sink.
• Dumbbell and bead-chain eyes: Eyes tied across the shank with figure-of-eight turns; heavy eyes turn the fly point-up.
• Spinning and trimming deer hair: Clumps of hollow hair spun round the shank and clipped to a head.
• Tying off: Securing a wound material at the front with firm thread turns and trimming the waste.
• Whip finish: The knot that finishes a fly: turns of thread laid over their own loop.