
Jay
Hex
Fly
Creator: John O'Meara
Fly Tyer: John O'Meara
Fly
Recipe:
Hook: Almost any dry fly hook will work, but
I like the Tiemco 103BL in size 9 or 11. The 103BL is lighter
and has a wider gape than most other dry fly hooks of comparable
size, assuring better hook ups.
Thread: 6/0, or 8/0 white, or primrose, Danville
or Rumph, Note, do not use Uni thread. As much as I like Uni, the
flexcement attacks it
Tail: White deer belly hair
Body: Ditto
Legs: Ditto
Parachute post: Ditto
Hackle: White deceiver hackle, or other large
white hackle.
1.
Before tying anything to anything, select six strands of coarse deer
hair of approximately the same length. They should be at least
two inches long. Hold three of them together by the butt ends. Align
the curves so they all swoop in the same direction. Coat all three
with Dave’s Flexcement, and stroke them together. Ditto the
second three. Set them aside to dry on a piece of waxed paper.
These will be the tail of the fly, and will be tied into the extended
body shortly.

2.
Next, place a fine needle into your vise, gripping it near the eye. Be
sure that one inch of the pointed end is clear of the vise jaws. Tie
onto the needle one inch from the point.

3.
Cut a one inch length of drinking straw. Cut a small bunch of coarse
deer hair, and remove the refuse from the butt ends. Use your
stacker to even up the tips. Place these hairs into the short
straw with the tips down. Place your index finger over the end
of the straw at the tip ends.

4.
Place the entire assembly, hair and straw, on the needle and move
it up to the thread hanging there waiting for you. Your finger tip
will keep all the deer hair from being pushed out of the straw. Now
you can let go of the straw, and gently grasp the butt ends. With
just gentle pressure on the thread, (remember, you must slip this
body off the needle later), wind the bobbin toward the needle point
to simulate segments of the body. The thread will work the
straw backwards toward the end of the body.

5. When
you reach the point of the needle, and the straw falls off, place
the two tail pieces on top of the body at this point. The
tail pieces should extend another inch beyond the body. Orient
the curvatures of the two pieces, and as you hold them in place
wind over them as you wind toward the starting point.

6. When
you reach the starting point, tie off at this point. You can
cut off the excess thread after you tie off, but do not cut off
any excess deer hair. This will form the post and legs of
the fly.

7. Slip
the body off the needle, and coat it with thinned flexcement. Set
it aside to dry for a few minutes. When dry, you can lash
it to your hook. Leave room for the head in front of the extended
body. Notice, at this point, you can tie the fly backwards
on the hook if you like to fish downstream. Frankly, I had
just as good luck with the fly floating downstream backwards. Your
choice. See photo 7
8. Fom
the clump of extra deer hair, pull 6 or 8 short ones down to act
as legs. Pull the remaining longer ones upward to form the post
for the parachute. Make several gentle wraps of threat upward, and
the downward to form the post. At the bottom of the post, tie in
the hackle with the concave side facing the fly. Wind the hackle
for at least three turns, each one under the previous one. Tie off
and cut your thread. Cement the head.
9. Cut
the excess post material. Coat the post with Dave’s Flexcement. Be
careful not to get any cement on the hackle. Voila!!!

Just a
reminder, this is a large mayfly. The usual rules for sizing
the hackle do not apply here. You want a good size hackle
to keep everything in proportion.