STEP BY STEP EP ROACH

TYING AN EP ROACH 

you will need the following 

hook : 6/0 cz or similar long shank lightweight hook  

belly : white ep fiber 

back ; any  combination of green ep ( ive used 3d minnow blend here) 

gill flash :red angel hair 

extra back flash : peacock angel hair 

eye :- 8mm gold 

clear varnish

super glue  

clear mono predator thread 

the step by step 

place hook in vice (really i hear you cry) but actually wrong placement of the hook means your hook will move about in the vice no matter how tight its in so this is my preferred placement for a solid hold  

 tie on your thread so that is in line with the hookpoint and secure with a little varnish , this makes it tooth proof and give the thread a strong base 

take you first section of white ep fibre ( full length)  and place on the hook so you have around a quarter of the material past the hook eye  

spread the fibre around the hook shank and tie down quite firmly your going to go up to just behind the hook eye as you can see in the picture below (your varnish will still be a little wet which will soak into the fiber , this is all good 

next fold back underneath the white ep that was sticking out the front and give a couple of wraps to secure this will start to give you the body shape 

flip the hook over and make sure the fiber is split evenly on each side of the hook 

take another length of ep and tie in, this section will be slightly longer at the front (this helps with the shape) and secure down with a couple of wraps 

take your back section again a full length with about a quarter poking out the front then flip it back as you did with the white section earlier and secure with a couple of wraps   

next you need to add another white section in with again around a quarter poking out the front then add in a pinch of red angel hair and secure with a couple of wraps  

then take another section of ep (again less is more with ep fiber ) and place it on top of the angel hair 

then fold back and secure with a couple of wraps and flip the hook back round 

as you can see the angel hair is now well blended in and a visual trigger point for predators as well as a lovely flash in the water 

now add a full length of the back fiber with just over the quarter past the front of the hook ete   

now add in your lengths of peacock angel hair on top of the fiber again some protruding past the hook eye 

fold it all back and secure with a couple of wraps of thread 

flip the hook and add one very sparse section of white ep with again a quarter of the material past the hook eye 

fold back and secure with a few wraps (we only ever use a few wraps so as not to build up too bigger head) 

tie off and add a few drops of varnish to secure the whipping 

and heres your 99% finished fly , as you can see by placing ep forward of the hook eye in various lengths you have produced a nice tapered body pattern 

take your eyes in this case a couple of gold 8mm (i like red 3d stealhead eyes on this pattern  from deercreek but ran out so using basic eyes )

using superglue (place on the back of the eye not direct to the fiber as it will soak right in and your eye wont stick ) place eye where you want it , i quite like it near the front of the hook eye as i believe it makes the fly balance better in the water  and especially if you use epoxy heads 

close up of the finished head looking very fishy if you ask me 

and there you have a darn fine looking natural pattern 

of course you can mix up the fiber colors or add more or less flash or change the eye color like ive  done on the fly above 

this can be a standard way of tying with ep but by adding flash to it you can pretty much customize and pimp your flies out , i often  mix fibers  together and add flash to create new blends and to be honest theirs thousands of combinations out there so did in and give it a try , one tying method and a thousands different flies .

tight lines from the cave fellow flingers