How-to-steps ( Stalcup's Ultra Damsel )

[Jeremy Hunt]

Stalcup's Ultra Damsel

Recipe:

Hook: Tiemco 3769 Size 10,12

Thread: Clear Monofilament .006

Shellback: Hareline Co. / Medallion Sheeting

Body: Synthetic Tubing Material (pre-made)

Epoxy: Z-poxy (5 min. epoxy)

Eyes: Hareline Co. / Damsel eyes

Legs: Hareline Co. / Terrestrial legs

(Note: You or your local fly shop can purchase all these material from Hareline Co.)

Tying Instructions:

Step 1.

Start your mono thread and wrap back just past the point of the hook.

Step 2.

Now you’re ready to tie in your damsel body. You want this to be twice the length of your hook. Only tie this in half way up the hook shank. So tie it in the middle and wind back. Cut the excess off.

Step 3.

Cut your medallion sheeting about four times the length of your hook and make sure it’s not too wide. I would say a ¼ inch wide. You want to tie this in the middle of the strip you cut. Once you tie it in the middle make a few wraps then fold the other part over going back the same direction. Later one will be cut. Lay one end over the body. The only thing to really pay attention to when doing this step is to make sure it’s not shifting on one side of the shank. It needs to lay in the center right on the top.

Step 4.

Tie one leg in using a figure eight motion doing this twice. Move up a couple turns and tie the second leg in the same as the first. Repeat the third set of legs. Make sure you leave enough room for the eyes and to whip finish the fly off.

Step 5.

Now tie in your eyes. Make sure you leave enough room between the eyes and the eye of the hook to tie down your wing case. Tie these in the same way as the legs in a figure eight motion. It really doesn’t matter if they’re real tight. Just make they don’t move when you go to apply the epoxy.

Step 6.

You should have to pieces of sheeting in the back. Fold the first one over right behind the eyes. You don’t have to make more than a couple of turns. Wind the thread just in front of the eyes and fold the sheeting over the eyes where you made the figure eight wraps. This will hide the wraps and clean up the fly a little bit from all the mono. The good thing about this fly is it will look transparent once you apply the epoxy.

Note: If you don’t have colored medallion sheeting you can color it. I’ve found that prismacolor markers work the best for me. It will take the cloudy look away and somehow make it clear with a little color from the marker. When coloring it only make once stroke. Don’t go over the same spot you already colored. This will create a little build up if you do. If that happens wipe it off. Don’t worry about the color you applied. It grabs the sheeting and won’t whip off, just the excess.

Step 7.

Whip finish the fly. When you go to cut the sheeting off at the eye, make sure you don’t have any tag end hanging off.

Step 8.

You should still have a piece of medallion sheeting still hanging in the back. You will make a cut about half an inch up the sheeting. Make sure you cut it to look like it has an upside down “V” shape.

Step 9.

Now you’re ready to apply your epoxy, but before doing this you will need to adjust the legs. Pull the front legs forward, the back legs towards the back, and straighten the middle legs out to the sides. You can also adjust your legs while your epoxy is drying to make sure they stay in their correct placing. Now for the epoxy, you want to use about two drops making sure you get in between the legs and a little on the bottom. Use another drop and epoxy the head.

Note: When you mix epoxy you always want to mix a little more hardener than the resin. This will definitely make it harden right with no sticky residue. That’s what happens when mixing too much resin with your hardener, your fly will never dry it will always be sticky.