Wet Mosquito

[Izaak]

DSCN3910 by flympher, on Flickr
Hook: Mustad 98480, size 16
Thread: Uni 8/0 black
Hackle: Grizzly hen
Abdomen: Moose mane
Thorax: Peacock herl

[letumgo]

Tom - Could you give any advice for working with the moose mane. Does the hair need to be soaked before wrapping? Did you use two different color moose hairs to from the segmentation, or is that the underbody showing thru?

Lovely pattern, btw.

[Izaak]

I used two moose mane hairs, a white and a dark brown. They can break pretty easily so I chose a spot a good distance from the tip of the hair to tie them in. Tied the tips in the thorax area then wound the thread over the hairs to the hook bend, then returned the thread to the thorax area. Wound them carefully around the shank trying to keep them right next to each other without letting the thread underbody show through. The mane hairs wrap pretty easily and I have never soaked them. Just be careful not to pull on them too hard. They are not brittle, just a bit fragile. Just experiment with them a bit and you will figure out how much pull they can take. After a successful wrapping you will probably want to coat them with flexament or something similar to give the wraps a bit more durability. I didn't do that with the fly in this photo, but I would if I were going to fish with it.

Happy tying!

Tom

[letumgo]

Thanks Tom. Nice description. I appreciate the help.