TYING MCPHAIL’S BIG WAVE GREY WULFF

Lee Wulff is the inventor of the famous Wulff series of dry flies. Davie McPhail made his version of the fly, tailormade for the Irish loughs. It should also do its job in fast-flowing rivers where you want a high-floating fly. Here we are tying the McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff. As with the original Wulffs, you can tie it in other colors.

• Materials
• Video Instructions
• Slideshow
• How to Fish the McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff

Materials for McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff

Part:	Materials:	Size/Color:
Hook:	Akita	AK562BL #8
Thread:	Textreme	Cream 6/0
Tail/Wings:	Squirrel Tail	Natural
Body:	Antron Dubbing	Cahill Cream
Body Hackle/Hackle:	Dry Fly Hackle	Grizzly

Video Instructions on How to Tie a McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff

Video coming soon.

Slideshow on How To Tie a McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff

Step 1 – Tie in the Wing

Tie in your thread close to the eye and make even wraps towards the bend of the hook. Stop when you have covered half of the hook shank, then go back to the middle of the thread base. Use a hair stacker to align the tips of the Squirrel Hair. The wing’s length should be the same as the hook shank length. Tie in the Squirrel Hair facing forward over the hook’s eye. Use a pinching loop to prevent the hairs from spreading around the hook.

Split the wing into two parts and fix them with a bit of water. Make figure-8 turns to fix the wings in position. Lift the wings by making thread turns in front of the wings.

Step 3 – Tie in the Tail

Make a thread base backward until you reach the bend of the hook. Take a small portion of Squirrel Hair, approximately half of the amount you used for the wing. Stack the fibers to align the tips. The tail length should be the same as the wing’s length. Tie in the tail of the dry fly, and remove excess. Tie down the materials to create a well-tapered body.

Step 2 – Make the Body and Hackle the Fly

Tie in the hackle by the tip. The shiny side should face towards you. Make a dubbing noodle with the antron dub and build up a well-tapered body. You should leave a small space behind the wings to tie off the body hackle. Make the body hackle of the dry fly by wrapping even turns around the body. 4 to 7 turns should be enough depending on the hook’s size. Tie off the hackle feather, and tie in a new hackle feather by the end. This hackle feather should have fibers a bit longer than the body hackle. Make a few wraps behind the wings, then continue with a wrap close to the wing to lift it. Make a few more wraps of the hackle in front before you tie it off. Complete the fly with a whip finish or a few half-hitches and some varnish.

How to Fish the McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff

The McPhail’s Big Wave Grey Wulff is created to float, even on big waves and fast-flowing streams. You can use the mayfly imitation on its own or with a small dropper to target fish feeding deeper down in the water. When fishing the fly in rivers, you should fish it dead-drift upstream.