An Anchor Fly on a Jig Hook
Euro-nymphing continues to grow in popularity and with that growth jig style fly hooks have become harder to fine. One popular hook maker sold out their entire year’s supply by early February! Why are jig hooks in demand? Riding hook point up, they snag less on the bottom.
A few post back, I tied flies on the Wapsi JHCN10 Czech Nymph Leaded Body hooks. For this post, I’m using an Umpqua Competition Series size 10 C400BL jig hook. It is a black nickel barbless hook – designed for use with beads, has heavy wire, and a wide gap. Recently I was in Upcountry Sportfishing in New Hartford and got some Hanak Competition H400BL jig hooks. Like the Umpqua hook, they’re also black nickel and barbless. We’ll look at them later another time.
My bead is a Lucent red tungsten, size 3.8mm (5/32). Why red? It creates a hot spot to attract fish. My thread is plain old Danville flat wax in white. The first step is to make a mound of thread up by the eye. Just enough so you can jam the bead forward. Then reattach your thread, secure the bead in place and cover the hook shank in thread. You can put a drop of super glue behind the bead, but it is really not necessary. (The body will lock the bead forward.)
For the body I have 5″ inches of transparent, green vinyl ribbing. Lash it to the top of the hook shank back of the bead. Wind your thread over it to the rear and then wind back to the bead. Next wrap the vinyl forward to the bead, keeping each turn tight to the previous one. You can use a rotary vise or do it manually. Either way. Once you reach the bead, tie the vinyl down.
The white thread shows through the vinyl. It seems to enhance the green color. To finish the fly I formed a thorax behind the bead with some hare’s ear dubbing. Obviously this is an optional step. Totally the tier’s choice. Whip finish and head to the water.
