Fly Tying Video: Fred’s Dead Head

Posted: September 16, 2015

A simple streamer with a couple unique ingredients. The body is tied with a Zip Strip. Zip Strips are rabbit strips that have been twisted. The hide is thinned down, rolled and cured somehow, so that it maintains the twist. The result is a zonker strip that looks more like a dubbing brush. I really wish I would have had zip strips for the past 20 years or so. It makes for a great looking tail and bodies can be palmered just like with a zonker strip.

The Dead Head employs the U506 Hook from Umpqua. It has a 60 degree bend and functions like a jig when dumbbell eyes are added below the bend. One could certainly tie this fly with a traditional down or straight eye streamer hook but the 60 degree bend adds some character. The bend provides a keeling effect as well as an enticing wobble. Life is about rhythm-

You’ll be grateful for the "Touch of Grey Cream" that makes this pattern vulnerable to predation (fish on). Tie one up, tie one on, dance it in the creeks and "Fare thee well."