The search for more genetic chicken feathers has lead to the development of some rather stunning hen saddle capes which are useful for a wide variety of flies, one of which is the Hen Matuka (which see). These capes are available from Dave Roberts at featheremporium.com/index.html. Have a look. Dave also offers a great many other feathers.

Now here's a stunning hen saddle. I used this on to dress the Hen Matuka that appears on this blog.

A great Coq de Leon hen saddle showing the classic speckling that makes them so desirable.

Hen saddles come in a great variety of natural and dyed colors.

Volume 3, Long Flies, in our series, Fly Fishing, is reaching its final writing destination. Here’s a short excerpt from Long Flies on a design I call the Hen Matuka, It harkens back to the original fly tied with the feathers of the matuku bittern.

The Matuka, a New Zealand imitation, solves the wing/hook-bend tangling problem in a very unique way. The feather wing is secured to the top of the hook with a thread, tinsel, or wire rib, wound through the fibers of the feather from the tail to the head of the fly. Originally, the fly was tied with feathers from a bittern native to New Zealand, and called the “matuku.” This bird is on the protected list, now, so its feathers are no longer used. But just as well. There’s nothing like a serious search for substitute materials to get a fly tyer off dead center. Such experimentation often yields results that exceed the design with the original materials.

The development of genetic hackle and the search for its many variants has lead to the development of hen saddles of Coq de Leon, Chickabou, Brahama, and others that make fabulous mataku-feather substitutes. The body of the Hen Matuka is made with palmered feathers, the wing is two feathers faced cup side inward (or outward for even more action) and ribbed to the body, and the collar is a made from one feather wound as a hackle at the head. These flies have incredible action and form in the water.

Attach the thread and leave a long tag end for a rib. Tie in a hen saddle feather and spin it in a thread loop. Palmer the feather over the rear half of the hook shank. The loop serves two purposes: (1) it strenghtens the feathers, and (2) it gives you something to hang onto while palmering the feather.

Add a second hen saddle feather to finish the body.

Use two hen saddle feathers for the wing. These can be cup faces inward, as shown, or for more action, cup faces outward. Use the tag end of the thread to secure the winging feathers to the top of the hook. a la the original Matuka.

Wind another feather at the head for the hackle. These flies have great color and intense action in the water.

The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo was held this past weekend at the National Sports Center in Blaine, MN. The event’s founder, and my good friend, Tom Helgeson, died last year, and his family dug in and pulled the Expo together for this year. They did a great job! They had to change venues, but still managed to put the Show together in the new facilities in a way that was pleasant for all involved. Tyers were tying, vendors were vending, speakers were speaking, and the audience was large and lively. The weather was typical early April in the upper Midwest, though not unpleasant. A great time was had by all.

Vendors vending: The crowd was steady and pleasantly abundant all three days.

I hung out at Glen Blackwood's Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company, tying flies and signing books like a wild man (about 80 total for the weekend).

The crowd crowded into rooms to hear the speakers. This is half the crowd in the "tent" to hear my presentation on "Fishing the Film."

The other half of the great group of fly fishers ready to listen to me discuss Fishing the Film.

Fly fishing is all about control, and learning to control the fly line is a major part of the overall process. One aspect of line control must occur when shooting line. If you’re simply casting and fussing around, not actually fishing, then what happens to the line during the shoot is not critical. But while fishing, the angler must have continuous and instantaneous control of the line at all times. This is achieved by using the “O”-Ring Line Control system.

Rather than simply dropping the line during the shoot and losing control of the flowing line, the caster forms an “”O” ring by touching the tips of the forefinger and thumb of the line hand and allowing the line to flow through it.

As soon as the shoot is over, the fly rodder simply closes the line hand and grasps the line.

The line hand then moves over and places the line under a finger of the rod hand.

The line is retrieved by stripping from behind the finger of the rod hand.

I’m just back from the Great Waters Expo in Minneapolis to find a nice email from Jane Grivna asking for more details on the Marabou Damsel Nymph.

Damsel nymphs are very strong swimmers, moving through the water with a strong side to side sweeping motion of the abdomen and tails. They don’t rip along like minnows might, but they certainly show plenty of action as they head from the weeds beds of the lake to the shore, or a rock, or a log, or a reed, or an angler, and there to crawl out before the adult emerges.

While a damsel nymph held in the hand might suggest a 3XL hook as the foundation for an imitation, one seen swimming in the water offers a totally different solution. A fly dressed on a 3XL hook looks like a small stick darting along in the water as the angler retrieves the fly. So to better suggest the swimming form of the insect, I dress the imitations on a standard length, size 12 wet fly hook. The wet fly hook has a stronger wire than a dry fly hook, and I often encounter big fish during the damsel hatch, making the stronger wire a most welcome addition to the Marabou Damsel Nymph.

Hook: Size 12, wet fly hook
Thread: 6/0, olive
Tail: Pale olive marabou topped with medium brown marabou, a bit longer than the hook shank
Body dubbing: Pale olive marabou mixed with medium brown marabou.
Wing Case: Peacock herl or dark green flash product
Legs: Olive hare’s mask guard hairs spun in a loop along with the dubbing for the thorax
Weight: Lead wire wound under the thorax or a tungsten bead at the head

I fish the fly with the Strip/Tease Retrieve or with a series of very short strips (1-2 inches long). More on the Strip/Tease in an upcoming blog.

The Marabou Damsel Nymph is the best I've every used to simulate the strong swimming action of the natural.

Well now, what does my friend Marc Petitjean offer us in a bobbin with a name like “The Bobbin of Bobbins?” One thing that no one else has ever done, make a bobbin that really has no tube, and which can be threaded and ready for tying with only a couple of quick hand movements. No bobbin threader, no sucking the thread up through the tube, no frustration, only rapid ease of loading. That’s easily worthy of the name. But there’s also a slide lock that allows the use of a variety of spool widths and adjusts tread tension, very handy indeed. Then Marc has made a nifty notch on the “tube” of the bobbin so that the bobbin can be used as a spinning tool. It’s fully stainless steel with a very smooth, non-glare, non-distracting finish.

This bobbin has to be seen to fully comprehend all that Marc has done in its design. So, go to www.petitjean.com/shop/en/tying-accessories/mp-tt-bobbin.html# and watch the video of Marc demonstrating the bobbin at the Somerset Fly Fishing Show this past January.

Marc and I sharing a fun moment at the International Fly Tying Symposium last fall.

The MP-TT is the easiest to thread bobbin in the world.

I sat down for breakfast on the first day of Chuck Furimsky’s  International Fly Tying Expo last fall with Faruk Ekich, whom I had just met on the elevator. As we talked, I learned that Faruk was not just a fly tyer, but a creative bobbin designer as well. I spent a while with Faruk later in the show so I could get a demo of the bobbin from the man himself. It was obvious that he is passionate about tying and about the great bobbin design that he manufactures.

First and foremost, know that Faruk really understands, in depth, the need for a very precise and constant tension on the tying thread, especially when tying very tiny stuff. He did not design his bobbin just for the minutiae of the tyer’s world, but let me tell you, that’s where I really enjoy it. It provides a constant 33 grams of pressure on the thread, allowing me to dress size 28s without worrying about breaking my 17/0 Trico Uni-thread. And boy does that make me happy. Of course one can use the bobbin with all thread sizes, but being able to lay down wrap after wrap of 17/0 with no fear of breakage makes the bobbin worth every penny of its cost. If you tie small stuff, look into this bobbin.

The bobbin takes all plastic thread spools that have slotted ends (solid wooden spools are not usable). There is a retraction spring that allows the thread to be rewound automatically, which makes it ideal for rotary tying, too. One can draw out 24 inches of thread before the tensioning spring has to be reset. Resetting is easy and possible with one hand. In addition, Faruk has made threading the bobbin so very easy. The tube is set so that one can lay a threader against the leg and the tip glides smoothly into the bottom end of the tube. Fast, simple—my kind of stuff!

And then there’s the precision work and overall, almost excessive attention to quality. For fly tyers like me, who love really well made tools, this bobbin is not only highly functional, but a thing of beauty as well. It’s really a fine piece of fly tying machinery. You can see it at www.automaticbobbin.com/. Be sure to check out all the various aspects of the bobbin, including the video guides and written info. You will be impressed. I am.

Faruk and I discussing his Ultimate Bobbin last November at the International Fly Tying Symposium.

Faruk's Ultimate Bobbin loaded with 17/0 Trico Uni-Thread ready to tie size 28 midges.

In the hand, the bobbin is easy to control and dispenses thread at a uniform 33 grams pressure. To add more tension one only need press a finger against the spool.

The Great Waters Expo in Minneapolis is this coming weekend. I will be there to give presentations and demonstrations. If you are in the area, come and say hello. My new book, Fishing the Film will be available, and I am alwyas happy to inscribe them to you.

You can get more info at their site www.greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/Home.html

See you there!

This bobbin was designed by Norm Norlander as a complement to his Nor-Vise, a true rotary tool. It allows the rotary tier much greater control of the thread than any standard bobbin because it will retract the thread that has been pulled out. The bobbin kit comes with 3 extra spools and a winding hub that allows the user to readily wind thread onto the precisely made aluminum spools. Winding can be done with an electric drill or with the vise. Both are fast and easy.

In rotary tying it’s essential to pull the thread out and hank it over a post out in front of the vise so that it doesn’t wind back up while using the rotary vise feature to apply chenille, yarn, hackles, etc. If the bobbin doesn’t retract the thread, then the tyer is faced with mechanically re-winding the thread after every operation. That’s a real pain in the you-know-where. With Norm’s Nor-Bobbin, the thread is easily pulled out and easily retracted, making rotary tying not only fun, but efficient, as well.

Notice in the photo below that the thread is wrapped a couple of turns around one of the legs of the bobbin. That’s to provide just enough friction to prevent the bobbin from rewinding by itself, when you hang it down while tying. Extra thread tension is achieved by touching the spool with your finger(s).

Cutting the thread can be a problem unless you know how to use the bobbin. Pull it out about 14 inches and the clutch engages, allowing you to pull out extra thread that won’t be rewound. Then when the thread is cut, it will still extend beyond the end of the ceramic tube. One can also hang the bobbin on the thread post before cutting.

While designed specifically to work with Norm’s great rotary vise, the Nor-Bobbin can be used independently, giving the tyer the ability to retract thread swiftly and easily.

When you buy a Nor-Vise kit you not only get the necessary thread post with the vise, but you get the Nor-Bobbin kit and a very nicely done DVD explaining how to use all the parts of the Nor-Vise Rotary Tying System.

The Nor-Bobbin is an essential, easily used part of the rotary Nor-Vise System

These bobbins are manufactured by Merco Products, and come in several iterations, including a newly introduced version that allows the tyer to make half hitches and whip finishes using the bobbin tube. Really slick! You have to watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8uJssaV0k.

The Rite bobbins have some distinct advantages for the tyer: (1) Light weight, (2) Only one leg allowing easy orientation of the bobbin in the hand. (3) Very accurate and smooth thread tension adjustment; in fact no other bobbin offers a more easily used and wider range of tension adjustment.

I like the tension to be set so that the thread stretches just a bit before the spool begins to turn. This is obviously below the breaking strength of the thread, but when the thread stretches, it makes a much tighter and more secure fly. One of the big problems with silk thread is its lack of stretch. Nylon and gel-spun threads do stretch and offer the tyer a much greater ability to really bind materials to the hook. The Rite Bobbins all offer this ability to adjust the thread tension most precisely.

The single disadvantage of these bobbins in time required to install a new spool of thread. Admittedly, not a very serious problem for the hone tyer. You can see their entire line of bobbins and vises at www.ritebobbin.com.

The one-legged, Rite Bobbin is easy to orient in the hand.

The 4-pointed star adjustment allows very precise tensioning of the thread.