Twist of Lemon - Stream flies for sea trout and steelhead - Global FlyFisher

GFF logo




    

Twist of Lemon

Stream flies for sea trout and steelhead


An oldie pattern from GFF

By Martin Joergensen

This fly uses a special technique where a strand of floss and a strand of tinsel is twisted together before the combo is wound on the hook shank. The rope - if twisted regularly enough - will form a nice segmented body with built in ribbing. The name of the fly is divised from this technique and the fact that it's made mainly from yellow materials. A similar fly without the twisted body is Orange Twist.

Hook 6-2 Bartleet salmon fly hook Twisted body
The finished twisted body
 
Thread Yellow/white and Black
Tag Narrow flat silver tinsel
Body Oval silver tinsel and yellow floss twisted
Thorax Red flash dubbing
Hackle Yellow hen hackle
Head Black

  1. Cover the hook shank with a smooth layer of light thread. Let the thread hang down to reach the hook point
  2. Tie in a strip of narrow silver tinsel and wind it to reach a point above the point of the barb and back
  3. Tie down and cut surplus
  4. Take a strand of yellow floss and a similar strand of oval silver tinsel
  5. Tie in both at the tag
  6. Wind the thread forwards, form a smooth foundation of thread for the body
  7. Twist the floss and tinsel counterclockwise using a hackle plier.
  8. The twist should form a tight and even rope
  9. Wind the rope fowards in close and even turns to a point 1/4 shank length behind the hook eye
  10. Tie down and cut surplus
  11. Dub some red flash dubbing on the thread and form a short, dense thorax
  12. Tie in a yellow hackle, tip first and hackle stem upwards
  13. Wind the hackle clockwise in wet fly style, folding it over and stroking barbs to the rear of the hook
  14. 2-3 turns will suffice depending on the hackle
  15. Tie down and cut surplus
  16. Whip finish the light thread and tie in the black
  17. Form a nice, small head from black tying thread
  18. Whip finish and varnish


Add comment  Go to article start
User comments
GFF staff comment
From: Martin Joergensen · martin·at·globalflyfisher.com  Link
Submitted February 20th 2013

John,

When I make floss bodies of any kind, I don't treat them. But on the other hand I rarely fish them, and the problem is that they are fragile. Many tyers who tie synthetic floss bodies on fishing flies will coat them for durability. You can "fuse" them with acetone (it kind of melts some types of synthetic floss) or use varnish or some light curing resin for the purpose.

Martin


From: John Murray · john.murray·at·whfirstchurch.org  Link
Submitted February 19th 2013

Silk fly bodies, either floss or thread,do you treat with any cement or coating?



Want to comment this page? Fill out the form below.
Comment
Only comments
in English
are accepted!

Comentarios en Ingles
solamente, por favor!
Your name Your email
Anonymize my information. Name and email will not be shown with comment.
Notify me on new comments to this article on the above email-address.
You don't have to comment to start or stop notifications.

All comments will be screened by the GFF staff before publication.
No HTML, images, ads or links, please - we do not publish such comments...
And only English language comments will be published.
Name and email is optional but recommended.
The email will be shown in a disguised form in the final comment to protect you against spam
You can see other public comments on this page

 
More stuff to look at on The Global FlyFisher
These other stories on "Steelhead - The sea run rainbow trout" might also interest you:

Branchu

L'orange: Branchu is the Québecois word for wood duck, and a very suitable name for this fly with its characteristic wood duck wing. It's originated by Jean Guy Côte of Uni-Products, but has been slightly modified by GFF partner Martin Joergensen for his fishing. See the pattern description here

The Zuddler

Steelhead fly: Question: What to you get when you combine elements of a Muddler Minnow and a Zonker? Answer: A Zuddler - an excellent steelhead fly. Joe Emery and John Rode have combined a zonker strip, a muddler head and a cone head into a killer pattern. Read their story in the Patterns section

More about Steelhead
A few random articles for your entertainment

The Bloody Zonker

This fly is a bright and tasty looking bite of feathers and fur that can sometimes be the key to luring a big trout. It's a variation of a variation of the Bloody Butcher.

June 26th 2011

Diane Michelin

Canadian watercolor artist Diane Michelin has been painting for 15 years. "Basically, in each painting, I try to tell a story that represents the day to day events that fuel our passion." as she says in this article presenting her paintings.

December 28th 2006

Uncharted Waters

The account of a fantastic fishing trip to the atoll Bassas da India, a place in the middle of nowhere between Africa and Madagascar. The fishing is fantastic, the food seems delicious, the beer is cold and the spirit is high

July 9th 2012

Fishing with friends

Travis Swartz spends a lot of time on the water alone, but this past weekend he spent a couple days on the Big Wood River in Ketchum, Idaho fishing with his friends Reese, John and Zach.

July 11th 2012