How to Tie the General Practitioner Fly
The general practitioner fly is a simple and effective tool in the fly fisher's arsenal. The fly is designed to imitate the appearance and movement of shrimp. This fly is typically fished most effectively in the spring during a new moon when shrimp rise to the surface of a stream to mate. Typically striper and other game fish -- though some variations are commonly used for Atlantic salmon and steelhead -- are the catch with the general practitioner fly that uses primarily natural materials and requires only minimal specialized fly-tying know-how and tools.
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Things You'll Need
- 225NA, eagle claw hook
- Orange thread
- Hot orange bucktail
- Golden pheasant tippet feather
- 3 Red golden pheasant breast feathers
- Gold oval tinsel
- Hot orange wool
- 2 Hot orange hackles
Instructions
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The General Practitioner
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1
Tighten the vise around the hook. Tie the bucktail fibers with the orange thread so that the tips of the fibers stick up away from the curve of the hook.
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2
Tie the hot orange hackle over the bucktail. Lay the trimmed pheasant tippet feather over the bucktail. Make sure that the fibers are running parallel.
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3
Lay the gold pheasant breast feather over the pheasant tippet. Wind the orange thread from the eye of the hook along the shank to form the carapace.
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4
Tie the orange hackle feather with fibers facing down at about the halfway point of the shank. Tie the gold oval tinsel at the bottom of the hackle feather. Tie the orange wool alongside the gold oval tinsel.
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5
Wind the wool halfway down the shank and tie off. Wind ribbing to the same point as the orange wool and wind off three times and then tie.
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6
Grasp the hackle and remove the hook from the vise. Wind the hook three times to take up the hackle. Tie the hackle. Cut the hackle fibers on top of the hook. The other fibers should remain facing downward.
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7
Tie the golden pheasant breast feather over the hackle. Add a second hackle and wind onto the body. Tie off the hackle. Trim the feather fibers above hook. Finish the fly with the last golden pheasant breast feather and tie off with a whip finish. Use four turns of the hook for each whip finish. Repeat the whip finish three times. Tie off and cut the threads.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Tying the general practitioner may take several attempts.
Using a magnifying lens to see the fly will help in accurate tying.
When fishing the fly stripers will not attack the lure but will sip it down. It pays to be extra vigilant and keep the line taught.
Bend the last golden pheasant breast feather back slightly. This will make it less likely to pull out after a strike.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit fly fishing image by Brett Bouwer from Fotolia.com
