"Mr. Opus McDopus" wrote in message
...
I got this book, "Master Flytyer's Handbook" or some such title--

(stuff snipped)

Take it from me, there is nothin' easy about tyin' these flyz!
I settled on tyin' the Mohican Mayfly. Very few materials are required:

hook--size 12 short shank with wide gape;
thread--Kevlar (I used Unithread 6);
body--3/32" strip of closed cell foam 6" long (I got as close as possible
to 3/32".......... 7/8"?);
tail--moose body hair (longish) (right on the money with this one);
wing--Texas whitetail deer (I have coastal deer hair, works for me)
hackle--grizzly and brown (I used med. Dun, I have no clue why?)
(stuff snipped)
and the fly could be
suspended *SOLIDLY* in midair!

I was able to work my way back to the wing-post and figured that wrappin'
the hackle around the foam and post, parachute style, and then foldin' the
foam back down to the eye of the hook to form a head would be the bitch,
but that was actually easy--compared to the second wrap of body segments.

I completed three flyz, but they don't come close to looking like the
"Master Tyer's!"
(snip)
--Oh yeah, this fly isn't made to be tied on a *true* rotary vise, and a
needle to support the foam didn't work (for me anyway) either?--

Heh . . . heh. Hi Op,
I found a good reference for tying extended bodies is "The Fly Tier's
Benchside Reference" by Leeson and Schollmeyer.

Here are a few thoughts:
Don't think you have to make all parts of the fly at the same time for
extended bodies. When I was in the production kinda stuff, the bodies were
prepared separately. Trick is to secure them through the hook and anchor
them in pretty snug, before finishing the front part of the fly.
Our custom stuff seemed to come a bit more from the East side of the
country, and they wanted deer for the extended bodies. I don't tie many for
myself, but foam is my choice.
The tails, I personally don't use much. They are gone, or portions of them,
in the first couple fish. The tails look nice, though.
For these flies I do use a rorary vise, and I use a needle to build the
tail, mostly.
DaveMohnsen
Denver