1) Attach the hook to the vise. The barb of the hook should be in front of the jaws, not within it. Attach the thread a couple of eye lengths behind the eye and wrap a thread foundation to the tail tie-in position. On a curved hook, I like this position to be about halfway down the curvature of the hook, somewhat above the barb. |
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2) Clip about a dozen fibers from a dyed Mallard Flank, keeping the tips even. Bundle the fibers together with your fingers. |
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3) Place the bundle at the top of the hook shank at the tail tie-in position. I tend to have the bundle at the side of the hook initially as the thread tension will bring the bundle to the top of the shank as I apply the next few tight wraps. |
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4) Adjust the fibers so that the length is about the hook gap. |
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5) Secure the butt ends of the tailing fibers along the top of the hook shank to the thorax region with thread wraps. Clip off the excess. |
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6) Attach the wire ribbing to the bottom of the hook shank and wrap the thread to the tail tie-in position. |
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7) Apply the dubbing to the thread by twisting it in one direction around the thread. Slide the dubbing up the thread until it touches the hook shank. |
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8) Wrap the dubbing strand once around the shank to lock in the fibers. Then, twist the material to tighten the strand against the thread. This will give you a thin dubbed strand of material to dub the abdomen. |
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9) Dub a slim tapered body up to the thorax region, about two eye lengths behind the eye. |
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10) Wrap the wire ribbing forward with 5-6 wraps and secure just in front of the abdomen. Clip off the excess wire. |
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11) Hen necks will have hackles with thin quills. |
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12) Select a hackle that has a fluffy base that is about the same length as the hook gap. |
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13) Use wetted fingers to preen the fibers back where the fluffy base transitions to the hackle fibers. This is where you want to clip the hackle quill using the upper thin part of the quill to anchor to the hook shank. |
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14) Attach the hackle to the top of the hook shank in front of the abdomen with the fibers facing upwards. Secure with thread wraps. |
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15) Wrap a thorax behind the eye that is about 1/3 the total length of the body. |
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16) Pull the hackle over the top of the dubbed thorax and secure the hackle to the hook shank just behind the eye. You may want to dampen your fingers to stroke the fibers back to create a section where you can secure the hackle behind the eye without trapping other fibers. |
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17) Cut off the excess hackle and wrap a small thread head behind the eye. Whip Finish. |
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