Petitjean 25th anniversary vise
My good friend Espen has teamed up with Marc Petitjean to produce his 25th anniversary – Limited Edition vise and it looks fantastic!
Matching the seasonal Hatch!
Matching the seasonal hatch
The Yuletide
Hook Mustad S74SNP-ZS # 1/0
Tying thread Dyneema (Gel spun) or Olive
Branches Olive / Green Deer hair
Topping Brass Bead
Decorations Glue and glitter
What would christmas be without decorations ? Heres a quick and quirky idea for a true Fly Tyers christmas tree decoration or present !
Every christmas, we have all experienced the problem of what should I give Bill and Dave for christmas? With many of my friends being seasoned fly tyers, that have everything in the way of materials, and then some! A few years ago, I decided to tie them flies, theres nothing like a hand made gift! and the seasonal pattern was born.
All you need is some green deer hair or buck tail and a brass bead or two. For the decorations I use Bug Bond UV resin. Firstly I place three drops at different point on the tree and then sprinkle on yellow glitter before I cure them with the UV light. I repeat this process three at a time with a different colour of glitter until the tree is decorated. You can also go further if you wish and use your creativity and decorate the tree further with other fly tying materials, such as tinsel and cactus chenille. I also recommend that make this pattern ‘child safe’ by removing the barb and taking a smaller brass or plastic bead and gluing it over the point of the hook.
A seasonal pattern that any fly fishing relative or friend would be pleased to find under or on the christmas tree.
1
Using a pair of heavy duty pliers, flatten the barb of the hook.
2
Thread a nice shiny brass bead over the point and onto the hook. I have tried to find star shaped beads for this but without luck.
4
Try and find some deer hair or buck tail with a bright spruce green colour with long hair.
5
Prepare a long bunch of deer hair and stack in a hair stacker.
6
Tie this in at the bend of the hook, tight so it flares and spins.
7
You now need a tube that is large enough to go over the hook eye and bead head. I remove the inside from a ball point pen. Place the tube over the eye of the hook and push the deer hair back to form the lower branches. While the tube is in this position make a couple of turns of tying thread to hold the hair in position.
8
Tie in another shorter bunch of deer hair in the same way.
9
Repeat the process up the hook shank.
10
Once you have covered the whole hook shank with spun deer hair, whip finish and remove the tying thread.
11
Carefully trim the tree to the correct shape. I find this is best done with serrated scissors that grip the deer hair.
12
If you are good with your scissors you can add a little depth to the branches by cutting out ‘small V shapes’ around and up the whole tree.
13
Place a few drops of UV resin or glue around the tree and sprinkle with one colour of glitter and then cure with the UV light.
14
Repeat step 13 with different colours og glitter until your tree is finished.
15
Give it a final dusting with white or silver glitter and your Yuletide tree is finished.
