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Ed Haas Hairwing Mounting Method
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.
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.
© 2008 Bruce E Harang