Ed Haas style of hair wing mounting

            Ed Haas was a commercial fly tyer from California that developed a unique method of tying in the hair wing on steelhead flies creating a very durable wing and the ability to tie neat proportional sized heads on the flies.

            The following is my variation of the Ed Haas method suitable for use on return loop up eye hooks commonly used for steelhead and salmon patterns.

            Start with an up eye return loop hook such as shown in the first photograph. Return wires that are tapered such as shown create a neater fly but blunt end return wires work equally well for this wing mounting method.

            Next pry open the return wire so that there is a gap between the hook shank and the return wire to allow for inserting the hair for the wing as shown in the photograph below. Use a tool that will is not so brittle that it might snap during this process and send shrapnel flying about. I use the blade of a metal laboratory spatula for this but a small flat blade screwdriver would also work for example.

            Now mount your thread at the point where the head of the fly will be located using just enough tension to lock the thread but not enough to close the gap between the wires. See photograph below.

            Slide the prepared wing hair between the wires and push up behind the thread wraps. The hair has already been prepared and measured for desired final length in the photograph below. The butts are facing the rear of the hook and the tips of the hair are extending out over the eye of the hook. Bring the thread behind the hair and start wrapping tight turns of thread rearward. This binds the hair to the hook shank and closes the gap between the wires locking the hair between them.

            Then continue wrapping the hair down along the hook shank in close wraps to provide a smooth underbody. I prefer to use hair long enough to allow the butts to extend to the end of the body area so that the underbody is of the same size its whole length. This allows for a very nice non-tapered underbody suitable for use with a tinsel or a floss body.

            Now complete the fly by adding your tag, tip, tail, body, etc. all behind the mounted wing. Once the rest of the fly is complete fold the wing back into final position, bring the thread in front of the wing and wrap a neat proportional size head to dam the wing into the desired position. The head thread wraps doesn’t tie down the hair but instead forces it back by creating a dam like that used to mount hair wings on a Wulff style dry fly.

As you can see I did not complete the fly before setting the wing in the above example to clearly show the wing, but below is a finished fly using this variation of the Ed Haas wing mounting method.

            For up eye hooks the original Ed Haas method mounted the thread on the hook shank just behind the end of the return wire. This is shown in the photograph below.

            The prepared hair for the wing was then slipped between the hook shank and the opened return wire and the thread was advanced in open spiral wrap or two to slightly forward of the end or the return wire and then the hair is mounted with touching turns of thread wraps forward to the the point where the fly head will eventually start. This is shown from the bottom, top, and side in the photographs below.

            The rest of the fly is tied as shown in the variation method steps above.

            For down eye hooks Ed used the following method to mount the hairwing. This method provides the same durable construction and proportional head size as for up eye hooks.

            Start with a down eye return loop hook such as shown in the first photograph. The hook is mounted upside down with the hook point up to start mounting the wing. The thread is attached to the hook shank approximately 1/8 inch rearward of the end of the return wire. Then the prepared hair is mounted to the bottom of the hook shank up to the end of the return wire. This step is shown in the following photographs from the bottom of the fly, the top of the fly, the side of the fly when the hook is upright and the side of the fly where the hook is upside down.

            Next wet the hair and thread it through the eye of the hook from bottom to top. See photograph below.

            Then pull the hair through the eye until it is snug against and between the hook shank and the return wire as shown in the photographs below.

Continue binding the hair down by continuing to wrap the thread forward with the hair between the hook sank and the return wire to a point where the wing root will be and the back of the fly head will start. This is shown in the following photographs from various angles to give a clear picture of how the hair is positioned on the hook.  See the photographs below.

            The rest of the fly is tied as shown in the variation method steps above.

Bruce E Harang photos

  © 2008 Bruce E Harang

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