Thursday, February 18, 2016

Royal Wulff Tute

Royal Wulff Tute

Hook; Mustad 7957B or 2x long hook
Thread; black 6/0
Tail; white calf tail
Wing; white calf tail
Body; peacock herl/red floss/ peacock herl
Hackle; coachman brown
I’m using a #10 hook for this tie

1. Thread base hook shank and bring thread to bend of hook. I make a few extra wraps at the eye gap to make sure it is closed.

2. Tail; Cut off a small clump of calf tail. Hold the tips together and pull out any under fur or short hairs from the butt end. Calf tail is pretty unruly so it is hard to get the ends straight but I do put it in a hair stacker to try to even them out. The length of the tail will be the same length of the hook. Tie tightly in at bend. I trim the butt ends about 1/3 up the shank at an angle. 

3. Bring thread to about 1/3 behind eye of hook. Measure a small clump of calf tail hair the length of the hook. 
 
 3a. Wing; Tightly secure wing with thread wraps building up thread in front of the hair to stand it up. Trim the butt ends at the point you tied in the tail overlapping just a bit.

 3b. Wind thread, securing wing butts, to bend of hook. Notice there isn’t much of a lump where the tail butts and the wing butts meet.

 4. At bend secure two peacock herls. Make sure you trim off the fragile tips of the herl before tying them down. Peacock herl has longer fibers on one side than the other. I match the long fibers up and tie them on the hook shank facing downward. When I wrap these around the shank they actually will spin outward.

 5. Rump; Make a few wraps for the rump of the body with the herl. This is a judgment call as to how long to make this. A little practice will help in the judgment. After making the rump lay the herl against the side of the shank and secure it up the shank with thread wraps leaving a gap behind the wing. Bring thread back, right up against the herl rump.

 6. Mid Section; I use three strand of red floss for this tie. Tie down as shown right up against the rump than, overlapping, wrap forward to wing. Trim at herl.

 7. Body Front;  Holding the herl upward, I wind the thread in front of the herl to the wing before completing the body. Wind the herl forward, leaving a small gap behind the wing, before securing it down and trimming. 

 8. Secure the hackle, behind the wing, to the side of the shank. Secure the butt of the hackle in front of the wing. 

9. Bring the thread half way between the wing and the eye of the hook. Wind the hackle behind the wing, one wrap in front of the other. Bring it under the wing and wind a couple of wraps towards the eye stopping at the thread. 

 10. Trim hackle, secure and make a thread head.

 I dap the thread head with head cement and coat the red floss with rod varnish. The rod varnish is self leveling, adds a little gloss to the floss and coats the fibers to strengthen them.

You will notice, as you tie, calf tail hair will spring up out of nowhere. You can trim them as you go along or just deal with it at the end and trim the unruly hair then.

Big flies for river fishing.

~doubletaper

 

 



 

 

2 comments:

  1. Nice how-to on tying a royal wulff, One of my favourite patterns.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. It's a good fly to cast in the rivers for me.

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