Using the Needle Fly Kit

SAFETY

Fishing hooks and needles may cause injury.

It is strongly recommended that the materials in this kit should be purchased and handled only by adults with some experience of fly tying. Please handle needles and hooks very carefully and keep out of reach of children. The construction of the Needle Fly, as in all fly tying, involves the risk of minor injuries from hook and needle points etc.

Take all sensible precautions while handling the materials in this kit. It is essential that you wear a safe and effective form of eye protection, such as safety glasses, when handling and using the needles and hooks in this kit, as needles and some hooks are brittle and may break when bent. It is also important to wear effective head and eye protection when fly fishing.

Tying the Needle Fly

THE NEEDLE FLY KIT is supplied complete with the following components and instructions:

MATERIALS

The following components are included in the kit:

One plastic fly box

Twelve assorted needles

One length of strong monofilament nylon (for needle loop)

Twelve assorted treble hooks

Three lengths of PVC tubing (for treble hook sleeve)

Two sample Needle Flies tied by John Gray

Instructions

   Instructions

1. Select a needle and fit in fly tying vice so that around two to three centimetres of the pointed end of the needle is exposed to the right of the vice (if right handed). Be careful when handling the needles as they are brittle and may break when bent.

2. At a point no more than one centimetre from the point, apply a tight wrapping of fine tying thread no more than 2 millimetres in length. This wrapping forms the needle “stop” and should be just thick enough to prevent the needle slipping through the PVC sleeve on the treble hook while fishing. Apply two coats of varnish to the thread stop (allow to dry between coats).

3. Remove the needle from the vice, turn it and fit with the eye to the right, allowing enough room to work on the dressing. Be careful not to damage the thread stop, which should now be to the left of the vice jaws.

4. Lay a bed of tying thread, around half a centimetre long, behind the eye of the needle.

5. Take the length of strong nylon monofilament and form a loop in the end. Lay this loop, pointing forward, over the bed of tying thread and continue with enough firm turns of thread to secure the loop. Cut off the excess ends of the monofilament and cover the ends with tying thread to give a smooth, level bed for applying the dressing of your choice. The loop should be large enough to allow a leader of around twelve pound breaking strain to be easily threaded through it. Apply a coat of thin varnish to the whipping.

6. The needle can now be dressed in any way you wish. I generally prefer a fairly sparse dressing of hair, usually squirrel, extending to the point of the needle, with a strand or two of Crystal Hair. I leave the silver shank of the needle bare.

7. Select a treble hook and PVC tubing of appropriate size (the thicker PVC tubing is better for the larger treble hooks). Cut a short length of PVC and carefully slide it over the eye and on to the shank of the treble hook, leaving the eye of the hook clear.