Start Fly Tying
Ribbing
A rib is a length of wire or tinsel that is wound along the length of the body in a spiral. This is often over a dubbed body. Who knows precisely why a fish will take any particular fly? But some say that the rib suggests the segmentation of the fly's body, others that it might suggest trapped air on the fly as it catches the light. It also strengthens the structure of a fly. And ribbed flies do catch fish. Do they catch any more? You find out for yourself, on your own waters and for your own style of fishing: tie some with, and some without. Let the fish be the judge. Here we will tie a rib over a dubbed body:
1: Wind thread in touching turns to the hook-bend.
2: With your second pair of scissors (not your very good ones) cut a length of gold wire, about six centimetres in length. You will not need this much, but especially when you are starting out, don't be mean with materials like this - little tag ends make a fiddly task even fiddlier, and you don't need the added challenge at this stage!
3: Tie in the gold wire at the end of the touching turns. The process is similar as for tying in the tail, but it is not so crucial that the wire remains on the top of the hook shank - if it slips to one side it doesn't matter.
4: Dub the body of the fly, as above, and remove the excess dubbing.
5: Now it is time to wind the rib. Take hold of the wire, and keeping an even tension, wind it in a spiral along the hook-shank, towards the eye. You are looking to cover the length in four to five turns. Try to make the spaces even. This is probably more for our benefit than the fish's, but it does look better. And if there is an element of suggestion of an insect body's segmentation at work here on the fish - these segmentations do tend to be neatly spaced.
6: When you reach the hanging thread, stop, hold the wire, and tie it down with two or three turns of thread to fix it in place. If the wire is very fine, twist it and it will just snap off where you have tied it down. If not, cut it with your second pair of scissors. Be careful not to cut your thread at this point! If you hear a thud as your bobbin holder hits the table-top, then you've done it wrong.
NOTE: Strictly speaking, you should wind your rib in the opposite direction to the way you wind your thread. This again strengthens the structure of the fly, particularly when some body materials are used. However, be careful not to then get confused with the way you wind the thread, or else when you come to tie off the rib you will just unwind the whole fly! Believe me, it is easily done! It is worth noting that if you do wind your rib in the same direction as you wound your thread, your fly will NOT explode and destroy your whole house. However, it is good practice to aim to wind in opposite direction as you gain confidence and dexterity, as it does strengthen the overall structure.
Now try Tying off
1: Wind thread in touching turns to the hook-bend.
2: With your second pair of scissors (not your very good ones) cut a length of gold wire, about six centimetres in length. You will not need this much, but especially when you are starting out, don't be mean with materials like this - little tag ends make a fiddly task even fiddlier, and you don't need the added challenge at this stage!
3: Tie in the gold wire at the end of the touching turns. The process is similar as for tying in the tail, but it is not so crucial that the wire remains on the top of the hook shank - if it slips to one side it doesn't matter.
4: Dub the body of the fly, as above, and remove the excess dubbing.
5: Now it is time to wind the rib. Take hold of the wire, and keeping an even tension, wind it in a spiral along the hook-shank, towards the eye. You are looking to cover the length in four to five turns. Try to make the spaces even. This is probably more for our benefit than the fish's, but it does look better. And if there is an element of suggestion of an insect body's segmentation at work here on the fish - these segmentations do tend to be neatly spaced.
6: When you reach the hanging thread, stop, hold the wire, and tie it down with two or three turns of thread to fix it in place. If the wire is very fine, twist it and it will just snap off where you have tied it down. If not, cut it with your second pair of scissors. Be careful not to cut your thread at this point! If you hear a thud as your bobbin holder hits the table-top, then you've done it wrong.
NOTE: Strictly speaking, you should wind your rib in the opposite direction to the way you wind your thread. This again strengthens the structure of the fly, particularly when some body materials are used. However, be careful not to then get confused with the way you wind the thread, or else when you come to tie off the rib you will just unwind the whole fly! Believe me, it is easily done! It is worth noting that if you do wind your rib in the same direction as you wound your thread, your fly will NOT explode and destroy your whole house. However, it is good practice to aim to wind in opposite direction as you gain confidence and dexterity, as it does strengthen the overall structure.
Now try Tying off
Bind down the ribbing material
Wind the rib and bind down