Jig Hook Dries

Every year the World Fly Fishing Championships are held and teams from around the globe gather to vie for the title, bringing with them their latest tactics. The competitions are there for everyone to see and the equipment and techniques used soon filter out.

One of the main developments has been in short line nymphing — Czech, French, Polish, etc, now more commonly grouped together under the European nymphing title. With these techniques came new patterns, most notably tied on jig hooks. This proved controversial. After an initial appearance jig hooks were banned from all FIPS Mouche competitions in 1991. Ten years later a rule change allowed a single 4-mm weight to be used. Then in 2004 after the practice week for the Championships a new interpretation was announced stating the weight must not be permanently affixed to the hook, ruling out some teams’ preferred fixed lead weight jig hooks.

Fifteen years further on and jig hooks are now a standard in most fly boxes, some using little else for their nymph patterns. With the controversy forgotten, they are now just another nymph hook style. However, fly fishers being an inventive lot, things don’t stay set for long. Once touted as the ultimate nymph hook, jig hooks are now turning up in dry flies.

The nymph under a dry is a standard stream set-up: tie the nymph off the bend of the dry and you’re away. Now the increasing use of barbless hooks has raised the issue of the trailing tippet slipping off the hook, causing another rethink. Some have incorporated a tippet ring or small loop of mono into the rear of their dries. This avoids the problem but the slightly higher attachment point can pull the rear of the dry under, particularly in turbulent water. To avoid these issues, both lengths of tippet can be attached to the eye of the dry hook, moving the weight of the nymph to the forward, more buoyant half of the dry. While solving some problems this raises others. With both lengths of tippet attached to the eye, any pressure in the system will pull the eye in line with the leader and flip the dry on its side. With the use of a jig hook, however, the eye is in line with the hook shank, meaning any pressure in the system keeps the fly stable.

My preferred jig hook dry is a beefed up version of Muz Wilson’s Messy Caddis. A little larger in size, the deer-hair wing is easily visible, while the CDC hackle provides enough buoyancy to support a bead-head nymph and is easily refreshed with desiccant after each fish. The addition of legs covers a few more bases if the grasshoppers are about, making it a more generalist pattern — a Messy Terrestrial of sorts.

Tying dries on jig hooks is no different to a standard hook: simply ignore the short upturned section of shank before the eye and tie as normal. My preference is for a Hanak Jig Superb hook: the wider gape provides a nice clear hook point and the wire isn’t too heavy a gauge.

Lay a base of thread over the rear of the hook extending slightly around the bend. Tie in an artificial quill and build up a small mound of thread. Pull the quill tight to stretch it slightly and wind forward over the mound of thread in touching turns. Secure with a few turns of thread, trim excess and reinforce with a thin coat of epoxy.

Add a pair of knotted pheasant tail barbs either side, being careful to keep them level and even. While producing the leg silhouette they also balance the pattern, helping it to land upright on the water. Wrap a small amount of dubbing over the tie-in point to neaten before forming a 2-inch loop of thread. Lock it in place with a few turns of thread then lay it back over the rear of the fly for use later.

Trim a small bunch of deer hair, comb out any underfur and stack to even the tips. Tie in on top of the hook shank, holding the hair tightly to stop it spinning around the hook shank. A small drop of head cement will help keep it in place. Trim the butts of the deer hair long, about 5-mm, and wind your thread forward to just before the bend in the hook shank.

To form the hackle select three CDC feathers and gently stroke the barbs downwards to make them stand out from the shaft. Stack them on top of each other and push into a Mark Petitjean magic tool. With your CDC prepared in the clamp place the butts into the loop you made earlier, pull the loop tight and release the clamp. Twist the loop tightly to form your CDC hackle.

Wrap the hackle forward with two turns behind the wing, one over the tie-in point and finish with two turns in front. Tie off securely and trim any excess, then give the CDC a gentle brush with Velcro to release any trapped fibres. Complete with a neat whip finish and a drop of head cement.

The CDC hackle keeps the pattern floating in even the roughest water, providing a highly visible strike indicator for the nymph. The segmented abdomen sitting low in the surface, combined with the leg silhouette, produces a nice buggy look, drawing enough attention to raise fish to the surface. Incorporating the jig hook keeps the leader set-up nicely balanced with a more direct line through to the trailing nymph.

But this is not the end of the jig hook story. Some anglers noticed the bent hook shank pulls the end of the leader under the surface. This has led to jig hooks being used in very small dries for chasing wary fish in flat calm conditions where a sunken leader near the fly may be an advantage.

The ultimate dry fly hook perhaps? I doubt it, but with creative thinking the jig hook options are increasing.