North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine July 2016 | Page 44

Now move your thread forward to the midway point of the hook shank and tie in light colored fur from the raccoon tail. Tie it in just like you did the dark. Now move your thread forward again until you are just a little more than a hook eye away from the dumbbell eyes and tie in another dark portion of the raccoon tail. This should be tied in the same way as the others. The body should now consist of dark, light, dark raccoon tail and should cover the hook shank all of the way up a little more than a hook eye away before the dumbbell eyes. After you secure your last portion of dark raccoon tail, choose a small clump of yellow deer hair. This should be a little smaller than a pencil's width. Place it in your stacker tips first and even the tips up. Being careful, remove the clump and tie it in on top of the thread wraps that cover that last dark portion of raccoon tail. You should be on top of the hook shank with the eye of the hook and point of the hook upright. Make sure the clump does not spin around when tying it in. Pinch it together as you make wraps around it, pulling it down so it spreads the tips out. The tips should be touching the point of the hook and not being long enough to go past the point. Now hold the butts of the deer hair back and make a couple of wraps in front of it. You will trim off the butts later. 6 7 8 9