EHC Help?

[L_soult]

Hi Guys-

Ive been working on getting the EHC down. It seems like my hacke "strands" (?) stick out too far below the body. Is this to be trimmed? If so would it be done before or after the tie? There's a pic below, any other tips would be appreciated.

 

[JackM]

Trim it. When you tie in, stroke the hair upward. I learned to tie these by wrapping the hair into a bundle first, above the hook shank, cinching slightly, then tieing in carefully, while making sure the hair stays on top of the shank.

 

[shortrod]

Yea, I would trim that. After the tie is fine. Unless it is an optical illusion, it looks like you have size 8 hackle on a size 16 hook. What you want is a small than normal hackle for an EHC.

 

[NickR]

Using a smaller hackle will look better but yeah you can trim it down.

 

[nfrechet]

i think theres too much hair

see this tutorial

http://www.troutflies.com/tutorials/ehc/01.shtml

 

[Dale49]

I've always had problems tying an EHC. Instead, I now tie a very simple pattern that has worked very well for me.

The body is superfine dubbing, tan or black and the wing is several CDC feathers, tan, black or natural. I tie the tips of the CDC just a little past the hook bend. I also use some of the excess CDC fibers to blend into the dubbing. This pattern sits low in the water and I find that I get more hook-ups with this patterns than with an EHC.

I treat the CDC wing with Tiemco's Dry Magic

 

[gfen]

El Salt:

Remember that thing I gave you when your brother ditched us at Spring Creek? A fluffy mess of rabbit hair on a hook?

Just tie that, but instead of having the hair point straight up, it points back because you bound it down like it was the elk hair in the EHC.

Everyone wins, aren't you [d]lucky[/d] glad you bought a rabbit's foot?

 

[wgmiller]

I was also told about using CDC instead of hackle for the body. Have yet to do it, but sounds like it might be the way to go.

As mentioned, watch the length of the elk hair on top. Other than that, looks like you're well on your way to tying up a very effective fly!

 

[Lonewolve]

L Soult pm sent check your inbox

 

[FrequentTyer]

You have some good advice so far. You are trying to learn to tie the EHC, so don't switch to a cdc or snowshoe mutation until you master this. If anything, go backwards and master a Griffiths gnat. It is hard to tell from your picture, but the body proportions and palmered hackle look like they need work. Once you nail the GG, all you need to do is add a wing and you have an EHC (ignoring differences in materials). The wing should be sparser as noted, and could be stacked better. Just take it one step at a time.
Mike.

 

[nfrechet]

learn to tie the CDC & Elk

http://www.danica.com/flytier/hweilenmann/cdcelk.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iXWIS9dprM

 

[L_soult]

Thanks to All for the advice.

My ties are getting better because of it. I'd share a pic but I'm at work and dont have time to mess with re-sizing.


Thanks again.

Launce

 

[BelAirSteve]

gfen wrote:
El Salt:

Remember that thing I gave you when your brother ditched us at Spring Creek? A fluffy mess of rabbit hair on a hook?

Just tie that, but instead of having the hair point straight up, it points back because you bound it down like it was the elk hair in the EHC.

Everyone wins, aren't you [d]lucky[/d] glad you bought a rabbit's foot?

The Usual, right? I recall you being a consistent proponent of that fly. I need to tie some.

 

[L_soult]

Yeah, I tried tying "the usual" when I did have a clue. I thought they looked nice. I was wrong.

Maybe I'll try again when I get a little better.

 

[Chaz]

When you select the hackle, it should be selected for a length that is the same as the gap of the hook, a hackle gauge will help a lot. Clipping hackle off, while it works also opens the hollow fibers to allowing in water which can sink the fly. Sinking the fly isn't always a bad thing though.