Fly Tying: Perfecting the Tailwater Sow Bug
The Tailwater Sow Bug is an extremely effective nymph for the Missouri River that produces year round. I have been tinkering with TW Sow variations and my favorite variation has become an unweighted version with a red thread base. When I started tying these bugs, I struggled with getting them to look like they belong in a shop fly bin. I could never get the wings full, always having gaps in the dubbing. Below are some tips to help you perfect the Tailwater Sow Bug.
1: PREP YOUR DUBBING
Prior to putting the dubbing into the loop, select a small bit (light shade rainbow scud dub in this case) and draw the fibers away from each other by pulling at either end, and restacking. Continue this step until you are left with a neat bit of dubbing with most of the fibers parallel to each other. Give the dubbing clean edges with your best pair of scissors, then cut the dubbing bunch in half. At this point, you should be left with a small, neat bunch of fibers about a half inch long. Shortening the fibers before going into the loop is critical. Load the fibers into a small, waxed dubbing loop and spin until tight.
2: BRUSH OUT THE BODY
After you have built the body, the next critical part of this tie is to brush it into shape. With a gun brush, softly pick out any trapped dubbing fibers from your wire wraps. Once you have the majority of the material out, brush the dubbing into wings on either side of the hook shank.
#3: TRIMMING THE BODY
Once you have brushed and manipulated the dubbing to form "wings" of the fly, make the first two cuts on each wing equidistant from the hook shank. Next, trim the top and bottom of the body as close to the hook shank as possible. These cuts give you the thin, clean side profile of the bug.
#4: CLEAR CURE BACK
Take one last look and eliminate any stray dubbing fibers. Apply a small amount of CCG to the top of the hook shank. Don’t cure it immediately. I give it a little time to soak into the body to the fly before zapping it. The Clear Cures purpose isn’t to create a shellback so much as to create a dark centerline on the back of the fly and add durability.
