How to Tie a Sheep Fly

The Sheep Fly is a classic fly fishing pattern that only uses natural materials. The traditional wet fly is ideal for imitating mayflies and caddis flies in rivers and lakes. The fly is similar to the Adams Wet and the Cahill Wet, and it is commonly used for trout fishing. Tying the fly requires basic skills and portion control to define the tail, abdomen, beard and wing. The minimal amount of materials makes the fly much easier to produce than many modern and traditional patterns.

Things You'll Need

  • Fly tying vise
  • Nymph hook sizes 8 to 16
  • 6/0 gray thread
  • Brown hackle
  • Hares mask dubbing
  • Grizzly hackle
  • Whip finisher
  • Head cement
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the hook in the fly tying vise. Start the thread at the one-third point on the hook shank and wrap it forward to the bend in the hook.

    • 2

      Select 10 brown hackle fibers and cut them away from the feather. Measure the hackle to match one-half the length of the hook shank and hold the feathers on the top of the hook. Make six thread wraps over the fibers to hold them in place as the tail.

    • 3

      Dab the fly tying thread with dubbing wax. Cover the thread with hare's mask dubbing and twist the dubbing with your fingers for a permanent attachment to the thread. Wrap the dubbing down the hook shank to create the body of the fly. Taper the dubbing with the narrow section at the tail and the thick section at the eye of the hook.

    • 4

      Measure the tip of a grizzly hackle feather to match the length of the hook shank. Hold the feather immediately above the eye of the hook and tie the feather in place with four thread wraps. The feather creates a wing over the body of the fly. Cut excess feather from the hook.

    • 5

      Cut 10 brown hackle fibers from a large feather. Hold the fibers on the bottom of the hook with the tips slightly shorter than the hook point. Make four thread wraps to secure the fibers in place.

    • 6

      Use a whip finisher to half hitch the thread around the eye of the hook. Cut the thread from the hook and add a small drop of head cement to the thread immediately above the eye of the hook.