I have owned a few spools of Nano thread (a Semperfli product) for a few years now. It gradually dawned on me, that when one ties with this stuff, you need to adjust your practices. I thought on this as I tied this hopper, so I will share my thoughts as I take you through.
This is a Hopper Juan…a pattern I have used for many years now.
Firstly, there are a great many materials which the Nano silk will cut through if not unwound to ensure it lays flat. I have mainly the 12/0, and even this, being far from the finest nano silk, still cuts like a knife. So that little habitual anti-clockwise spin (for right handers)of the bobbin after a number of turns becomes important.
This step of the hopper requires you to push the under strip over the hook point and thread it up the hook to where you have the started silk waiting, and then you strap it in.
When you start nano silk on a bare thread, even if laid flat, it wants to slip. So unwind, do many wraps before letting go, and pull HARD. This stuff is just incredibly strong, so wrapping hard is a part of solving the slippage thing. Also, since it causes so little bulk, wrap lots.
The top strip of foam gets super glued to the lower one, and then you wrap it at the same point as you did the lower one. Then advance the silk with both top and bottom layer of foam pulled out of the way. Then create another wind-point, secure the lower strip, add some super glue, squeeze the top strip down into the glue and wrap both together.
Superglue: Is one way of stopping nano silk from slipping. I don’t like gluing flies. I prefer tying them. But confession time: I use a lot of superglue when tying with nano silk. But notice how I have trimmed away about 80% of the brush fibres on the applicator brush, to get a nice precise application of a small quantity.
I get in 3 wind-points along the shank most times (my hoppers are #14 to #10 most of the time). The last one is a generous margin behind the hook eye. At this last one I tie a wing of Raffine and some flash first. Our hoppers often have a red wing which becomes visible during flight and in hopper crashes.
A hopper crash is what we are imitating…..
Then a wing on top. Sometimes I use a CDC feather. Here I am using “Klipspringer” (a very coarse Southern African deer hair). Note…unwind that nano silk here too…it will cut the deer hair if you don’t. Now that deer hair stands straight up, as you pull the silk down hard, but don’t worry, a piece of bent back foam will bring it under control later. Just cut off the excess Raffine, krystal flash and deer hair at this point.
Now I trim the under foam to leave a short wedge just under the hook eye. The top one I bend over very tightly, and then (after unwinding the nano silk…don’t forget), I strap it down HARD while holding everything in place between thumb and finger.
Then I trim the top piece leaving a slightly longer stub. This is the thing which holds that Klipspringer wing down.
Legs next. I use that technique of folding the rubber strand over the silk, and then move the assembly into place.
This fly is quite big, and I should be able to see it, but hey, my peepers aren’t what they once were, and I often fish this in tumbling pocket water. Before nano silk I would leave the sighter off, because it meant yet more winds of silk, which then made the under-side ugly. But this is nano silk!
See what I mean? All that wrapping, and those tie-in points/waists don’t look too bad.
And there’s the fly. Not a masterpiece…my flies never are.
But take a look at that wide gape hook. I like that. I used Varivas terrestrial hooks when I could get them. This slightly heaver wire #12 hook is a Mustad “Apex Streamer” hook. It has a straight eye, which is better for this pattern as a down-eye hook points your tipper into that “under-lip” piece of foam.
This barb stays on for now, as I often tie a small nymph onto the bend , New Zealand style, and I don’t want it slipping off.
Two last things on the Nano silk:
- Saw, don’t cut. Just open your scissors, and run the silk down the sharp end and it cuts like butter. Try snipping it and you will be cursing the frayed ends that just won’t snip.
- I add superglue to the thread right up against the fly (care not to get it on legs or other materials…hence the small brush), and then I do a 2 or 3 turn whip finish. Without the glue it sometimes slips, and despite what I said about no bulk, I just don’t want to be wrapping a 6 or 7 wrap whip finish right here at the end.
This is a solid/chunky hopper. If I want a light, springy one, I tie an Ed’s Hopper, or an all natural hopper which I quite enjoy.
But I’ve had a lot of fun with this pattern too.