Kate McLaren

Step by Step's

Step 1

Catch in the thread a little way from the hook eye.

Take a bunch of golden pheasant topping and catch in on top of the hookshank, secure along the hookshank with thread. Make sure that the golden pheasant topping is pointing upwards at the tail end. Finish by running the thread back up to the eye.

Step 3

Run the thread back down the hookshank securing in some fine oval silver tinsel on the way. Try and keep the tinsel on the underside of the hookshank when tying it in.

Step 4

At the position where the golden pheasant tippet was tied in, start to dub some seals fur onto the thread. Try small amounts, if it doesn't cover the hookshank enough then you can perform another winding over the top.

Step 5

Wind the seals fur up the hookshank and secure the thread a little way off the eye. Use a dubbing needle or piece of velcro to pull some of the seals fur fibres out which causes a nice buggy effect on the body.

Step 6

Catch in a Black cock hackle with barbs that are just over the width of the hook gape and wind the hackle down the hookshank in open and even turns. If you want a bushy hackled body use a genetic cock hackle with a high saturation of barbs.

Step 7

When you reach the lower end of the hookshank ie. Where the tinsel is tied in. Take hold of the cock hackle with your left hand using finger and thumb or hackle pliers and hold the oval tinsel with your right hand. Keep the hackle taught horizontally and wind a rib with the tinsel back up the hookshank trapping the palmered hackle in as you go. It helps if you move the tinsel from side to side as you wind on the rib, this prevents having as many hackle fibres trapped under the winding. If you still find that too many hackle fibres are trapped , just use a dubbing needle to pick the trapped fibres out.