# Musky fly Steb by Step



## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I was asked to do a SBS for another site on an articulated musky pattern I have been tying this winter. I figured I'd copy it over here, too. It's a little lengthy, lots of photos. It's really not a difficult tie, in my opinion, but tedious with a lot of steps. Here's the recipe:

Rear Hook

Hook: Gamakatsu SP11 3/0
Thread: Orvis G Series thread chartreuse
Tail: Synthetic yak orange and chartreuse (barred with black Sharpie)
Tail Flash: chartreuse Flashabou and peacock Krystal Flash
Body: hollow-style bucktail and flash of your choice (alternate colors chart/yellow/orange)

Junction: single strand steel (I use 44lb test single strand)

Front Hook

Hook: Gamakatsu SL12 6/0
Thread: (same as above)
Body: hollow-style bucktail and flash of your choice (3 clumps, chart/orange/chart)
Head: spun craft fur, either in dubbing loop or a dubbing brush, chartreuse
Eyes: 3D molded eyes, I think these are 5/16" diameter (could go bigger) glued in place










So let's get started. Rear hook in the vise, wrap a thread base and take the thread to the hook bend. 










Tie in the tail by taking small lengths of synthetic yak and doubling them over the thread, then tie them in securely. I used orange over chart. for this one.










I like to bar the tail with a black Sharpie, then add some flash. I used chart. Flashabou and peacock Kyrstal Flash for this one, then cement the thread wraps. I like Hard as Hull as my cement, but other products will work. I'm trying to make these as tooth-proof as possible.










Tie in the first clump of bucktail. To tie in hollow-style, tie it in by the butts with tips facing forward. Work the hair around the hook for 360* coverage and cinch the thread down tight. The butts should flare a little.










Use your fingers to fold the hair evenly back to the rear of the hook. Get the thread in front of the hair (towards the hook eye).










Build a thread dam (conical in shape) up against the bucktail. This is where you can control how broad or narrow the profile will be. Build the thread dam up to force the bucktail to lay down to the profile you want.










Now add some flash. Leave a decent length tag towards the hook eye to fold back over the bucktail. Try to distribute the flash over the top half of the thread dam so not all the flash is in a pile right on top of the fly.










Fold the tag ends of flash back over towards the tail and wrap over them. After securing all the flash, cement the wraps on the thread dam.










You will repeat this process of adding bucktail and flash (can also add hackle feathers if you want like the Hang Time minnow) to fill the hook. My next bucktail color here is yellow and some flash.










Continued in next post.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Followed by orange and some orange flash.










Followed by yellow and flash again.










And chartreuse and flash again.










Cement the head very well. The rear portion is completed, set it aside.










Put the 6/0 SL12 in the vise and lay a thread base. Coat the thread base with cement well.










Secure the wire junction in place by tying in the single strand. Leave a short tag towards the hook eye, long tag towards the rear. I usually use a length of wire about 8" long. You'll cut off excess. Add the rear portion to the wire (hook point down) and double the wire back over the front hook and tie it in place. Leave a tag end again towards the eye. The rear hook should trail by at least 1/2-3/4" behind the front hook. You'll fold those tag ends back towards the rear and tie them in securely.










Cover the wire junction tied onto the front hook well with thread, then cement it with a good coating of cement and allow this to dry.










Now you will add more hollow-style bucktail. I try to use the longest bucktail I have for this step to help conceal/fill the space between the two hooks. Tie it in tips-forward as before.










Force the bucktail tips back towards the rear and hold it in place with the thread dam. Add flash as before, and cement your wraps.










I add orange as the next color, and more flash.










Continued again below.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Followed by chartreuse again and some more flash.










This is where you have an option. You can spin the craft fur head in a dubbing loop, or use a dubbing brush machine to make a brush of craft fur to wrap for the head. This is what I have done. I make the brushes with a stainless steel wire core for durability. Here is the brush on my machine after making it.










Either tie in a dubbing brush or create a loop and insert craft fur to spin and wrap for the head. Wrap forward being careful not to trap too many fibers.










I like to use an old toothbrush or comb and brush the fibers back a little to tame any of the wild fibers and untangle any trapped fibers. Then add barring if you want with a Sharpie.










Then glue your eyes in place. I use thick gel super glue to tack the eyes in place. They'll likely get torn off if they get attacked, but it's an easy replacement.










There's your finished articulated musky fly.


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## MikeC (Jun 26, 2005)

Thanks for sharing that. Nice Work.

pm sent


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Sweet tie!!! I'll have to try to crank one up one of these days. One of my goals for this year is to get a pike on the fly and I'm sure this one will work great. A musky wouldn't be bad either


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## fishmerf (Mar 28, 2008)

Fantastic tutorial, Jeff! Thank you very much for sharing.


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## wrc2121 (Aug 16, 2010)

Awesome Fly!! I was also wondering if you made you brush machine or purchased? I remember at one point you add some post about either making or buying one. If you made it do you happed to have link to the plans? 

Thanks Rob c


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Excellent SBS and is a beautiful tie.


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## sbreech (Jun 6, 2010)

That is AWESOME Cream!


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

wrc2121 said:


> Awesome Fly!! I was also wondering if you made you brush machine or purchased? I remember at one point you add some post about either making or buying one. If you made it do you happed to have link to the plans?
> 
> Thanks Rob c


I don't really have a blueprint for it, but my dad and I combined forces and made it. He had all the wood working tools, I had the specs in my head and the parts. I can give you some rough measurements to give you an idea how big it is and attach a pic of the machine. Here is the pic:










The material table that hinges up or down is about 13" long. A lot of the commercially available twisters do a length of material shorter than that, I wanted more length to produce a brush that would tie multiple (bigger) flies. A key is that inside the support that the spinning block attaches to is a roller blade bearing. A dowel rod runs through that bearing snugly (and glued in place carefully) that lets the wheel spin very smoothly and more effortlessly. That's really all you need: a hook on one end, a material table that can be raised/lowered, and a spinning wheel with hook on the other end. 

As for the wire, I have used the small sized Ultra Wire for some brushes and it works really well. It's brass wire so it is soft and spins nice and tight. For these bigger brushes for musky flies, I have been using a stainless steel craft wire I grabbed at Joann Fabrics. I can't recall the diameter off the top of my head (comes in different gauges) but I can check when I get home.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

fishmerf said:


> Fantastic tutorial, Jeff! Thank you very much for sharing.


Ask and ye shall receive, Merf.


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