Bead Head Casual Dress

(Click on the image to get a huge jpeg version)

Materials

Hook: nymph or wet fly hook, usually sizes > 10
Head: copper bead
Thread: black
Tail: muskrat, with guard hairs left in
Body: muskrat, dubbed
Thorax: muskrat (see below)
Collar: black ostrich herl

Tying Instructions

1.

Pinch down the barb and slip the bead, small end first, onto the hook. Secure the thread to the hook and build up a bit against the bead to keep it from moving around. Wind back to the bend of the hook.

2.

Tie in a small clump of muskrat fur, leaving the guard hairs in. I like the tail to be between 1/2 to 3/4 the length of the body (Measured by the main clump of the fur... the guard hairs end up being longer)

3.

Dub the muskrat body up to just past halfway to the bead.

4.

Tie in the muskrat thorax. There are several ways to do this, but probably the easiest is to take a fairly large clump (again, including the guard hairs) and push it onto the hook (with the guard hair end pointing back, and the fur part extending to cover about 75% of the body) so the body is in the middle of the clump. Then wrap the thread around, checking to see that the resulting skirt is evenly distributed on all sides. Trim off the excess on the 'head side' of the thorax.

5.

Tie in the ostrich herl & finish off the head, making sure the bead is not loose. If you do this sneakily enough you can get the thread to be hidden under the bead, so you don't need head cement.

Note:

dmason@zebu.uoregon.edu