Extended body Damsel

[ggp]

11th Warrior asked me how I do the tail on my extended body damsel and I thought the best way to explain is to do a tutorial.

I do the extended body first by securing mono filament between two vises, attaching the thread and head cementing.

Next I tie on the tail material and the ribbing.

Now I dub the body and add a little head cement at the end to hold the thread in place.

Now I cut the forward section of the mono in preparation for tying the extended body on to the hook.

After securing the body to the hook and head cementing, I add the eyes and dub a little more material behind them.

Now I take the ribbing material and rib the body.

Now it's time to remove the remaining mono being very careful so as not to cut the tail.

All that remains is to add the wing case material and hackle.

Whip finish and your done.

[11th Warrior]

Thanks for the great tutorial. Two questions; what size mono for the tail (50lb?+) and is that a standard straight-shank DE nymph hook? Other than that, the tutorial is crystal clear! I'm sure a lot of us will use this.

...now I have an excuse to go out and buy another vise...I hate when that happens

[ggp]

Thanks....I use 15 to 20 lb. mono and the hook I use is a dry fly 94840 Mustad size 14....I like to fish this fly within the first few inches of the surface, hence the lighter wire hook.

[flyfishforfun]

Great tutorial, thanks for taking the time to add this!

[johnk]

I used to tie commercially using this method but used wire instead of mono. Depending on the distance between the vises you can tie up 6-8 extended bodies in one go. Another method and possibly less time consuming would be to put a needle in the vise, put a thin layer of floss or antron on the needle, tie your tail, body and ribbing on top of the floss, whipfinish and pull the extended body off the needle.

[ggp]

Thank you John, there are many ways to do just about anything, and yes some take longer than others, but as long as the tier gets the satisfaction and results that he or she is looking for, thats all that matters!

[johnk]

Thank you John, there are many ways to do just about anything, and yes some take longer than others, but as long as the tier gets the satisfaction and results that he or she is looking for, thats all that matters!

Yes, I agree. Don't miscontrue what I'm saying because I wasn't implying there are better methods than yours. Though it was never outlined to me, I feel obligated as a moderator to let tyers of less experience know there are various options and techniques available.

When I was tying extended bodies between two vises I got tired very quickly of not having an open end to continuosly wrap thread or material and having to catch it up from the bottom on every wrap which is why I switched to the other method but like you say, let other tyers decide for themselves.

[billygoat]

Thanks for the tutorial, i will definetly try this extended body technique.
If you fish this fly and inch or two below the surface are you casting it to relatively shallow water(4'-6').

[ggp]

I like to fish this pattern over shoals that can be anywhere from five to ten feet deep and have weedy bottoms or shallow weedy areas near the shore....In clear lakes it's quite easy to spot cruising fish during damsel migrations.