Earlier today, I sat at the kitchen table, tying a favorite Blue-Winged Olive pattern, but now, night has come. I stare out the dark window where sheets of rain pierce the illuminating arc of a street light. I have been staring out windows like this as far back as I can remember. In my youth, I was often scolded by irritated teachers forever demanding my attention. This tendency of mine to gaze out and daydream once inspired me to compose a haiku:
A, b, c, or d . . .
outside the classroom
window the scattering leaves.
My mind wanders. Unexpectedly and suddenly, the memory of a fly tyer materializes. His name was Bob Quigley. At a fly-tying demonstration, he bedazzled me with his creative wizardry. He was a magician, but one who loved to share his secrets. I remember his fingers. They were short and fat, much like plump sausages, but oh what tiny, elaborate, and deceivingly delicate wonders sprang from those hands. I’ll never forget a size 16 crippled mayfly pattern on which he spun a perfectly proportioned ball of dear hair for the thorax. Incredible. I still incorporate many of his techniques into my tying, including his Hackle Stacker, which I used earlier this morning to fashion that Blue-Winged Olive imitation. It’s an easily tied pattern. Here is how to tie it.
Begin by placing a size 16 hook in the vise. Attach olive 8/0 thread on the hook shank a little behind the eye and back wrap halfway to the bend. Choose 10 strands of olive Antron and tie them in, wrapping back to the bend and leaving the fibers extending back past the bend. Trim the Antron so it extends back one length of the hook shank. You just created a representation of the shuck, the skin trapped on the rear of an emerging insect.
For the abdomen, sparsely dub the thread with fine olive dubbing. Begin wrapping forward from the shuck to a position a little more than halfway to the eye. Forward from this position will be the thorax and the hackle.
Now tie in the Hackle Stacker post. With your bobbin, create two dubbing loops (doubling them adds strength ) beside each other and long enough that later you will be able to insert your finger to make them taut. Choose a size 14 dun hackle and tie in the stem base tightly next to the loops. Now insert a finger into the loops and pull up, creating a thread post. Wind the hackle up and then back down to the shank, tie off the feather against the shank, and trim away the excess. You now have a short tower of hackle that when pulled forward will span the thorax to the eye.
Make the thorax by spinning more olive dubbing onto the thread, then wrap a ball in front of the feathered loop, ending a little short of the eye. Finish the fly by inserting a finger into the loop and lifting up, preening the bushlike hackle stack back as you pull the loop over the abdomen and down in front of the eye. Tie off the hackle, trim away the excess loop, and whip finish. You’re done. This fly is particularly useful during winter Baetis hatches.
The Hackle Stacker technique is only one of many techniques that Bob Quigley demonstrated during the memorable time I spent with the maestro. I’ll never forget those chubby fingers and their symphonic orchestration of thread, hair, feather, and hook.
