Friday, January 2, 2009

Description

The Coachman wet fly is a classic wet fly that has been very popular in the Rocky Mountains for many years. I like to tie and fish traditional wet flies and the Coachman is a good one to learn a duck quill wing. This is still a really good fly for trout in many streams and lakes. Tie a few and have fun fishing them.

Materials

Hook: Tiemco 3769, Size 8-16 Thread: Ultra Thread Black 70 Denier Tag: Flat Gold Tinsel Body: Peacock Herl Hackle: Whiting Brahma Hen, Dark Brown Wing: White Duck Quill

Step 1

Place the hook in your vice.

Step 2

Start your thread on the hook shank near the hook eye.

Step 3

Wrap the tying thread down the hook shank and stop directly above the hook point.

Step 4

Now tie in a piece of Mylar tinsel. (The tinsel is silver on one side and gold on the other.) You want to tie the tinsel in with the gold side facing the hook.

Step 5

Now take a few wraps over the tinsel.

Step 6

Now wrap the tinsel to the barb and back to the place where it was tied in.

Step 7

Then cut the tinsel off the hook.

Step 8

Now wrap your thread to the front of the fly.

Step 9

Then take some peacock herl (5-6 strands) which will be the body.

Step 10

Then cut the tips to make them even.

Step 11

Now tie the herl onto the hook.

Step 12

Then wrap your thread over the herl back to the point of the hook.

Step 13

Now wrap the herl back to the front of the hook and let it push the thread all the way to the front.

Step 14

Then tie off the peacock herl.

Step 15

After you have tied in the peacock herl then you can cut off the extra.

Step 16

Next you want to build a little platform to which you will tie the wings onto.

Step 17

Now you want to take a brown feather from the neck of a chicken and pull off the fuzz.

Step 18

Then you want to take a good size clump of fibers and try to keep the tips even when you pull them off of the stem.

Step 19

Next tie in the fibers with a few tight wraps of thread.

Step 20

Then you want to cut the extra material off of the hook.

Step 21

Next take a pair of white duck quills which will provide the wings for this fly.

Step 22

Then take a clipping off of each feather of 5-6 fiber each.

Step 23

Next tie in the wings. You want them to be even when you tie them in and you want them to be the length of the shank.

Step 24

Then cut off the extra material. Make sure to cut it very close to the thread so it does not plug up the hook eye.

Step 25

Once you have cut off the extra you want to cover up the white that is still showing with thread.

Step 26

Now whip finish the fly with your whip finish tool.

Step 27

Then cut your thread off of the hook.

Step 28

Congratulations! You have just finished the Coachman. I hope you enjoy tying this fly and fishing it.

Step 29

Here is a close up look at the fly.

Step 30

And here is a Leadwing Coachman. It is tied just like the Coachman except you use dark natural duck quill for the wings.