Jim Boni is an avid steelhead fly fisherman. Fishing both the West Coast and the great lake tributaries, he has great experience chasing those silver bullet. He’s tying several thousand shanks yearly for his customers, and in this article, he shows us his secret for this type of fly.
First you need to prepare the mono.
Step 1. You need flat mono shooting in 25-30 pounds, a cutter (so you don't ruin your scissors), and a pen cartridge.
Step 2. Cut Mono in 5-inch strips.
Step 3. Fill pen blank until its full, I usually get about 70 pieces in my pen blank.
Step 4. Boil some water and put it in a tray, put the blank with the cut mono in the water for 2-3 minutes, take it out and put it in a cold-water tray for a minute or so.
Step 5. Dry them out and now you have a perfect straight mono with no kinks.
Now we will put it on the shank.
Step 1.
Put your shank in your vise and create a base of thread.
Step 2.
Add Mono, and key is to make sure you put it on flat and straight. Play with it till you get it right, practice makes perfect.
Step 3.
Pull Mono back and double thread over it. Add some crazy glue, and you are now ready to tie your fly!
This is the best way to secure your mono. It will not slip, and as Scientific Anglers Flat Mono is really strong, it won’t be breaking on you anytime soon. The size of the loop should match the size of hook you plan to use, so it will slide in and out easily.
and then Add to Home Screen.
