Fred Hannie ties some awesome realistic patterns. Below he gives us a little taste of what it’s like to tie realistic flies. Fred was nice enough to put this information together for FrankenFly. Thanks Fred! Be sure to visit Fred’s website if you want to see more of his patterns.

Paper Wasp

By Fred G. Hannie

The paper wasp are members of the vespid wasps , family Vespidae . They are many regional sub species which can be distinguised by their coloration. Wasps , though not an aquatic insect often end up on the menu of many species of fish.  Though wasps may be blown into harms way buy a sudden gust of wind ,it’s their practice of landing on the water’s surface to drink that bring the most peril from fish. This pattern is tied using mostly deer hair , thread and monofilament . The techniques learned from friend and fellow realsitic tyer David Martin were essential in putting this pattern together.

The abdomen is tied as an extended body. Wrapping the deer hair with light tension will give it a nice shape and will not crush the deer hair’s hollow fibers  which will allow the fly to float upon the surface. As you can see the abdomen is tapered and has segments.

Here you can see how monofilament can be used not only for the legs but also the antennae.

Notice the legs are bent into natural positions by using a heated bodkin.

Color is added using permanent markers . I like to add color in layers . It gives the illusion of depth and realism.

The fly is nearly complete . The wings will be added and the thorax will be completed thus hidding the tie in point of the wings.

By using white thread and bleached deer hair you can then color the wasp to match those that are common in your area.

I know this was not a true step by step showing every detail of this fly’s construction , but hopefully it was enough to tweek your interest in realistic tying techniques. More imformation can be found on this and other patterns on my website at http://www.realisticflytying.net.