For a hook we will need a 2x long shanked nymph hook like these Risen 5262's
And today Im tying it in a size 14
We will also need a gold bead. For this size hook, a 2.8mm bead will work great.
The best way to put the bead on the hook is to place the
bead in your hand and bring the hook point to it.
Place the hook and bead securely in your vise.
Now for added weight and to build a bit of taper, lets put some .010
sized lead wire in a bobbin holder, and then make 10 or so wraps of the lead on the hook.
I like adding a drop of super glue here before pushing the wire up into the bead cavity.
For thread I like Veevus 6/0 in brown.
Start your thread right behind the lead wraps and break or snip off the waste.
Then come up through the lead wire and back down stopping just in front of the hook bend.
For a tail, and also the body of this fly, we will need a hairs mask.
Clip off a small section of fur near the forehead of the mask where the hair is a bit darker.
Then pinch the tips to get just the guard hairs,
and pull out the underfur. Save this underfur for later on in the fly.
Now measure out the tail to about half to 3/4 the length of the hook shank.
Then tie it in with a couple tight wraps down to the bend of the hook.
I like to make one wrap under the tail also to keep it angling straight.
Then tie up to just before the lead wraps, and trim off the waste.
Clean up that section with a few more wraps and then come down
about half way between the lead and the tail.
Now we need some Gold tinsel.
Trim off a few wraps of the tinsel, which should tie 4-5 of these flies.
Now the tinsel I have is gold on one side and silver on the other. To get the gold
side to show when wrapping the rib, tie it in so the silver side is on the outside.
Wrap this down to the start of the tail.
Back to that underfur we saved earlier. We will use this as dubbing on the fly.
Separate this to two sections, one with more of the guard hairs,
and the other to be mostly the underfur. Some guard hairs will be in the underfur
section and some underfur will be in the guard hair section, and thats ok.
For the abdomen we will use the underfur section of dubbing we made.
Make a thin but tapered noodle onto your thread.
Then start wrapping this up the hook shank with touching wraps,
trying to cover the the thread wraps.
Also as you can see I built a bit of a taper into my noodle, but
make sure this is wound on with an even taper like so.
You can add more dubbing if you need.
Anyway, end about at the 1/3 mark on the shank, right behind the lead wraps in this case.
Start wrapping the tinsel up the hook shank with open spiral wraps
trying to keep the wraps as even as possible. This is creating a bit of a rib on the fly.
Once you reach your thread, then capture the tinsel and cut off the waste.
For the wing case we will use a turkey feather. Pull off a small section of about
a half dozen fibers. These stay together quite well, just stroke the fibers out,
and then trim or rip off the stem.
Then cut off the but end to make it squared off.
Tie the butt end in so its right behind the bead, and directly on top of the hook.
Tie this down to about the 1/2 way mark on the hook shank. I
actually did not go far enough here for my liking.
Anyway now take the dubbing section you made that has more guard hairs and make a loose
dubbing noodle onto your thread. You really want this loose, do not twist on too tight.
Wind the noodle onto the thorax section of your fly making a large and buggy looking thorax.
End with your thread right behind the bead.
Now pull the turkey feathers up over the dubbing thorax and capture it with a few tight wraps.
Insure that this is flat across the top,
and spread out a bit. You can use your thumb to position it where you want it.
Then cut off the waste close.
Add a bit more of the scruffy dubbing making a very thin noodle, and then wrap this around the
thread wraps to hide them. Then whip finish your fly right behind the bead. If you pull
tight enough it should seat the thread under the bead and make it disappear under all the dubbing.
Cut off the waste thread.
Now as you can see, I made this wing case a little
to short. At least for my liking. I usually bring it back just a bit more to about here.
Now because of all the dubbing, you wont want to use conventional head
cement. This water based head cement from loon works great.
Dab a bit onto the whip finish, and it will seep down under the dubbing and into the whip finish.
It will dry clear and wont gum up the dubbing the same way traditional head cement will.
Anyway, brush out the bottom of the thorax to make the guard hairs stick out a bit more.
This will act like little legs. You could even use a needle to pick out a few more hairs if you want.
And there we have it, a finished Hares Ear fly.
I always thought of these to mimic tan caddis pupa,
however they also can imitate a number of other aquatic bug species.
I like tying these with a bead and some extra weight to get down,
but they can also be tied without weight if you so choose.
Let me know in the comment section how you prefer
to tie these flies and what you feel they mimic the best.