The myth, the legend. The fly that has embarrassed self respecting Alphonse and St Francois Permit for a few seasons now.
My first attempts at this were laughable. The “crab tube” I had bought was not the right stuff at all. A post by MC offered clues into the material used. Techflex Flexo tube in 1/8 inch. Unfortunately that was only a 1/4 of the battle won.
The correct chenille is also key, and MC managed to sneakily buy up all local stock of the brand required- Hareline Ultra Micro chenille. Spirit River does the some thing. And a huge thanks to Garth Nieuwenhuis for finding some and making this SBS possible.
Then…the tricks. So many bloody tricks. Singed tubing, Heated single strand wire, what a bitch of a thing.
Massive thanks to MC and Murray. Without the knowledge passed on by these gents this would have taken a lot longer to hack out. Unless I found one to take apart 🙂
So here she is:
Wrap 2.5mm tungsten dumbells and orange bead chain half way down the shank (im told the original version is a bit light)
Cut a piece of flyoflex off and singe one end. This is to create a hump for the thread to rest on. Burn the eye end more and allow for too much material. This fused end is easer to break off during later steps.
Thread rests against hump created by burning. This also stops the thread catching and breaking.
I then (I didnt see this done previously) build a hump of thread and glue it to stop it moving up the shank in the next steps.
While pushing up towards the shank forcing the material to flare, tighten with lots of pressure. 140 denier works nicely.
Heat a blade and then cut off excess material. Jannie uses single strand wire, which also works, I find a blade a bit more forgiving. You can also just hack away with a blade but it takes too long.
nice and neat. The “tying” is now done.
Legs are then threaded through. I use an upholstery needle for this.
You can either double up the micro ultra or use regular chenille for slightly bulkier claws
this technique to avoid having to knot beforehand
Singe the ends of the chenille
Eyes inserted, legs glued where they meet the flyoflex. I use epoxy because I’m old school, UV is what is usually used.
finished product. The Alflexo fly!
and friend
Awesome fly, thanks for the trouble
Lekker. Thanks, Pete.
Where did you get your Flyoflex?
Hey Jeff, streamx has it
Hi Pete, I’ll take 10 x white and 10 x tan in both size 4 and 1/0.
Haha awesome work!
No weedguard? Of you were to add one, do you put it in before or after tying off the flex material?