EP Flies
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I’ve been trying to whip up some Enrico Puglisi style baitfish flies and can’t seem to get them down.
My attempts don’t look as pretty and don’t swim well.
Does anyone have any tips (pics please)?
Grant, I will try and post some pictures in the next day or so. There are a few tricks that make tying EP minnows easier. Remember to use mono tying thread and SH HAN.
Probably the best instructional on EP bait fish is by Charlie Craven http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/. Go to the EP minnow under the fly box section. He does a very good job explaining the EP bend-back tie in technique.
Also remember to KEEP THE PROFILE SKINNY! Don’t over do it and use LESS material than you think is necessary. Once you have tied in the layers take a sharp pair of scissors and trim away like a barber on crack. It’s a blast.
Here are a few examples from my own bench (these are not all EP fibers but the technique is the same; notice the thin profile – that is the key to success with these flies, they “look” big but really are light weight and easy to cast. Too much material and the damn things just “Wabble” in the water).
Grant,
One common mistake people make when tying these flies, is that they use to much material. Take what you think you need and half that amount. In this case more is less. Also taper the length of the material as you build up to the head of the fly. Another thing is to comb the material out before cuting in your desired shape. Hope this helps, I’ll try to post some pics later today as well.
-Mike
Sorry, no time for pictures but I will try to explain.
Start by taking hanks of the material, when you pull it tight, you want it to be about the diameter of a pencil lead.
Now tie in the first hank on the top of the hook halfway down the shank. As you tie it in, try to spin the material so that it covers the top 180 degrees of the hook. This will take a little practice but it really isn’t that hard. Make sure the first hank is tied in as long as you want the finished fly to be.
Next step is to tie in another hank of material. This time you want to move up the shank slightly and tie it in on the bottom 180 degrees. Now, on of the most important aspects…..when you trim this second hank, make sure it’s as long as the first hank. In fact, every hank I tie in is as long as the very first.
Now continue tying in hanks in this fashion until you’ve covered the hook and have about 1/8″ of exposed hook left between your materials and the eye.
Next step is to comb out all your fibers, and to then cut your basic bait fish shape. Once your finished you can start the long slow process of trimming. Now this trimming is what I was taught as “lock in” trimming. Your going to just randomly trim small fibers here and there around the fly. The short fibers will lock in with the long ones and help give you that 3-d effect. Once you think your done trimming, trim some more.
Now your ready to epoxy your eyes on, and to color it up. I use the prisma markers but you can also use different colors of EP fibers.
Sorry this is so rambled and jumbled, My 3 year old is using me for a jungle jim again. Good luck, hope this rambling helps.
A friend of mine once said, “Puglisi flies catch fishermen.” I don’t know, they “shore are priddy”. shannon
I was frustrated with my earlier efforts to tie in this style and finally took a class from Enrico at one of the fly fishing shows.
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