In classical fly tying, materials are lashed to the hook, and any excess waste end is trimmed away before the materials are wound or otherwise manipulated to form a specific part of the fly. In production tying, such management of the waste materials is in itself a waste, a waste of time. Production tyers pre-trim the waste end of the material before tying it in. This not only saves time, it makes the fly much cleaner and neater.

For example, when tying a Down & Dirty Hex dun (this tactic works for the duns of any of the larger mayfly species, too), the thread is attached at the rear of the hook (Figure 1) and several pheasant tail fibers attached for the tail of the fly. These are pre-trimmed to the correct length so that they can be swiftly and easily secured in the tail position (Figure 2). The thread is wrapped to the eye (Figure 3). A clump of yellowish deer hair is pre-trimmed to the correct length by cutting the butt end of the clump neatly and squarely across. The clump is laid on top of the hook with the trimmed butt end right at the eye (Figure 4). The thread is looped gently over the butt end twice, very near the end. The thread is then pulled tight, while simultaneously pushing the clump down and around the hook shank. Look at that neat little head (Figure 5). It would be impossible to trim it that neatly with scissors, or even a razor blade, and would certainly be a huge waste of time trying to do so. But by pre-trimming, the head can be made very quickly and with great precision. The thread is wrapped several times at the head and then spiraled back over the deer hair toward the tail. At the rear of the hook, the thread is spiraled unto the deer hair, forming an extended body (Figure 6). At the rear of the body, the thread is wound around several times to lock all the hair very securely, and then the thread is spiraled forward to the thorax. At the thorax, the thread is wrapped very tightly over a short section of the body to created a base upon which the wing will be seated (Figure 7).The wing is a clump of deer body hair, natural color. The hair can be stacked, but typically I don’t, since the fly performs just as well without stacking the hair. I pull out any extra long hairs, and then secure the clump on top of the hook. Hold the clump very tightly by the butt ends as the clump is secured with 8-10 tight wraps of thread (Figure 8). Still holding the butt ends of the hairs, cut the butt ends off about 1/8 inch behind the tie-in point (Figure 9). Now, wrap the thread through the cut butt ends, about 6-8 turns. This further secures the wing. Pull the wing fibers up and wrap up tight against the front of them another 6-8 turns to prop them up just a bit. The Hair wing should cover the top 180 degrees of the hook, with most of the fibers sticking “up.” A few should stick out to the sides to make the legs (Figure 10). Finish the “head” by tying off just in front of the wing. Trim the hair away from the pheasant tail fiber tail. Coat the body with thin, flexible head cement, and place several drops of head cement into the base of the wing and the trimmed butt end of the wing (Figure 11). Now, go back and re-read these direction, looking specifically for the point of thread attachment, the way the hook shank is covered with thread and with how many layers, and for any and all bi-directional tying.

Figure 1. Attach the thread at the rear of the hook and prepare a thread base for the tail.

Figure 2. Pre-trim a half dozen or fo pheasant tail fibers and tie them in for tail.

Figure 3. Wind forward to cover the hook shank with thread.

Figure 4. Select a clump of yellow deer hair and pretrim the butt end square. Tie in just behind the eye.

Figure 5. Push the hair down aroind the hook sdhank as the thread is pulled tight. Wrap a half dozen turn of thread very tightly to secure the head.

Figure 6. Spirat the threaed rearward and form an extended body. The pheasant tail fibers should be in the center of the extended body.

Figure 7. Secure the rear of the extended body with a half dozen tight wraps of thread, then warp forward and form a thread base at the thorax.

Figure 8. Tie in a clump of deer body hair for the wing. Hold the butt end of the clump securely and do not allow it to spin.

Figure 9. Cut the butt end of the wing about 1/8 inch long and wrap a half dozen times through the butt ends of thee wing hair.

Figure 10. The wing hairs should mostly stick up with a few to the sides to act as legs.

Figure 11. The finished D & D Hex Dun is a highly effective imitation.