Fly of the Month

A Little About Dave Londeree

I was introduced to fly fishing at a fairly early age by my dad and by my Scoutmaster, Mr. E.G. Freeman. We lived in San Francisco, so it was always an adventure to go camping, hunting, and fishing. I still have my dad’s bamboo rod (hanging on the wall), and I have fished it from time to time. We almost always used “store-bought” flies. Mr. Freeman did teach us to tie a few flies, and they did catch fish. About the age of 12 or 13, I got my first fly tying vise from Herter’s catalog and used a few scraps of deer hair and thread from my mother’s sewing kit. I tied my first flies, somewhat crude, but as I was told, “ugly flies catch fish too.” They did, but seemed to come apart after a fish or two. Later, I was able to afford more and better material, and the flies got a little better. Then came a full-time job, a wife, and children. Fly fishing stopped for a very long time.

In 1980, I was transferred to North Idaho and was able to start fly fishing again. I was visiting one of our local fly shops and was told about the North Idaho Fly Casters club in Coeur d’Alene. There I met some really great folks and was reintroduced to the sport I enjoyed in my youth. I took a Beginning Fly Tying class from Mr. Erik Schubert, the club’s tutor, and really learned a lot. He was able to undo many of my bad habits. Jim Rogers and Bob Gary, to name a few, are good to watch and learn from.

The Fly Fishers International has been a great help to me. By watching some of the “Masters” at work, you really learn the techniques and tricks to tying some really great flies. At the FFI’s Fly Fishing Fair, there are some world-class fly tyers that are always ready to show you how to tie some of the most beautiful flies.

If you are just getting into flies, take some lessons, and tie, tie, tie. You will get better. In this age of the internet, there are thousands of videos you can watch with step-by-step directions. The FFI’s Learning Center has some of the best. Go ahead and tie a fly. Tie it on and cast it out. You won’t know how good it feels to catch a fish with a fly that you tied until you do.

— Dave Londeree

  • Purple Haze

    • HOOK: #12-10 Std. Dry Fly
    • THREAD: Purple 8/0
    • TAIL: Moose body Hair
    • BODY: Purple Sexi Floss
    • POST: White EP Fibers
    • DUBBING: Purple Euro Dub
    • WING: Grizzly (or Purple)

    Tying Steps

    1. Pinch the barb flat and mount the hook in your vise.
    2. Dress the hook shank from 1 eye length back to the bend.
    3. Cut 6-8 hairs of the moose hair from the patch. Clean and stack the hair. Measure the tail to be equal in length as the hook shank. Tie the tail to the “TOP” of the hook shank at 3 hook eyes back from the eye to the bend.
    4. Using 1 piece of the Sexi Floss, tie it to the hook shank same place as the tail. (With the floss hanging back toward the vise).
    5. Pull a small amount of the EP Fibers from the package. (Equal to the hook eye when twisted.) Tie the post to the hook shank just in front of the tail at the front of the shank cut. Cut the excess fibers at an angle behind the post. Hold the fibers up. Wrap thread around the post about 1/8” up.
    6. Add a sparce amount of dubbing to the thread. Form a thorax behind and in front of the post covering the bottom of the hook shank.
    7. Remove about ¼” of the barbules from the butt end of the hackle’s shaft. Place the hackle shaft to the post with shaft up. Bind the hackle stem to front of the fibers to stand the post up. Wrap thread around the base of the post about 1/16” to strengthen the post. Return the thread to the front of the post.
    8. Wrap the Sexi Floss around the hook shank. Stretching the floss a little and easing up as you move forward to form a slight taper. Wrap the floss up to one eye length back from the hook eye. Tie off the floss and cut off the excess. Return the thread to the post. Wrap the hackle around the post from about 1/8” up, winding down to the base of the post ( 7-8 wraps). Tie the hackle to the post with thread 3 or 4 tight wraps. Whip finish around the base of the post. Cut the thread and excess hackle from the fly. You can turn the fly around and add a drop of head cement if you want.  

    Dve Londeree tying a lfy