Angel Body

Shiny tubing materials are widely used as body material on streamers. So is ordinary tinsel. Here is a new way of making glittering, but more volumnious, pulsating and living bodies for your streamers using Angel Hair or a similar material.

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Kasper Mühlbach

Back in 2003 I wanted to tie some silver bodied black zonkers for a trip to Bornholm. I didn't have any silver mylar tube for tying them, and it just had to be today.

I went through my box thinking "Mixed Synthetic Dubbing" and pulled out a bag of some kind of silver angel hair.

I cut the fibres into 1-2 cm of length (3/4"), mixed the fibres and put them in a dubbing loop. It worked well.

One of the advantages of this type of body is, that you can make your own color variations and make it grade from light to dark. You can also utilize the short fibres and trimmings, which you did not know what to do with.

Besides that, you can taper the body and make it more or less volumnious by trimming it after you have spun the hair or after you have turned the dubbing brush on the hook.

Here is a short guide and an example of a simple no-name fly.
Kasper Mühlbach

Angel Body Zonker

Streamer
Kasper Mühlbach
sea trout (sea run)
smallmouth bass
Hook Streamer size 4-6
Thread Black
Tail A few red feather barbules
Body Angel hair spun in a dubbing loop (silver/gold/copper/optional)
Wing Zonker strip (black/olive/dark brown/optional)
Front hackle Red hen
Head Tying thread
  1. Start the thread at the bend of the hook

  2. Tie in a few red barbules as a tail

  3. Prepare a narrow zonker strip

  4. Split the zonker strip right over the rear end of the body. Wetting it might ease the process

  5. Make sure its front end reaches the front end of the hook

  6. Tie the strip down with 10-20 tight turns of thread

  7. Leave it there for now

  8. Create a large dubbing loop

  9. Cut Angel Hair or a similarly fine flash material into 1-2 cm (3/4") long pieces

  10. Place in the loop and spin

  11. Wind to just behind the hook eye to form a body. Leave room for hackle and head

  12. Tie down and cut surplus dubbing loop

  13. You can trim the body now or when the fly is finished

  14. Pull the zonker strip tightly forwards, trim right in front of the body and tie down

  15. Tie in a hackle, stem first, curved side forwards, in front of the strip and wind it 2-3 turns forwards

  16. Tie it down and cut off the hackle surplus

  17. Create a head and whip finish

  18. Varnish the thread to the rear and the head

  19. Trim the body if not already done

Medium
Kasper Mühlbach

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