The Blue Charm

The fly that began it all for me was probably the blue charm, so I thought that it would be a good place to start off some tutorials. I began tying flies afew years ago when I was given some fly tying materials passed down through the family. I found the internet a very helpful way of learning, but I could never really find a good guide to tying some simple patterns. So hopefully I can resolve this issue for some new comers, or a veteran looking for some new flies.

Lets start with materials:

• #6 Mustad salmon fly hooks (up eye)
• Squirl Tail
• Blue Saddle Hackle
• Golden Pheasant
• Uni thread 6/0
• Uni Floss Black and Yellow
• Uni French (Tinsil)
• Hair Stacker
• Couple different types of scissors

The first step would be to start the thread at the eye of the hook and work your way down to the end and tie on the tinsil and make two or three wraps. Then go ahead and tie it off. A crutial step is to add a drop of head cement to where ever a material is added or cut off. This makes the fly very durable.

Secondly, the yellow floss can be added. The best is to make three layers, start at the back, go to the front, then to the back, and lastly go to the front and tie off. Dont forget the dab of head cement!

After the head cement we can go along an add the Golden Pheasant. So all that you need to do is pull out acouple of strands from the top and tie them on. Using your forefinger and your thumb to hold the G.P against the shaft of the hook.

For the next step do not cut off the excess G.P. Also add the tinsel and black floss and tie flat all the way up the shaft.

This is where the fly starts to take shape. Start by making 3 layers of black floss leaving the tinsil at the end with the G.P. Once the floss is wraped, go ahead and bring up the tinsil. Make sure the wraps are even, makes it look professional ;)

Now you can flip the hook over or just work on the bottom. Take some of the blue saddle hackle and attach it to the bottom of the hook with a couple wraps of thread and a dab of head cement.

 Now take the squirrel tail and cut off a pinch. The best is to use a small comb to out all of the underfur and use a hair stacker to stack all of the white tips. Pinch them with your finger and thumb and tie the squirrel tail to the top of the hook opposite of the blue hackle.

Next trim off all of the access tail with some fine point scissors and tidy up the head with some extra wraps with the thread. Then use the Whip Finish to tie a knot and load some head cement to make it shiny.