Tying pike flies in my style

Remember that only the first wrap of material is allowed to go around the hook for a secure base. Every other material is stacked on top. This gives the greatest amount of free hook gap you can get. I do a backwards wrapping of the thread. Start at the hook eye end and wrap to the back. This allows you to better control the material and keep it on top of the previous stack.

Only wrap back to where the hook shaft starts to bend. No further.

All material are cut of in a blunt end in order to remove any needed tapering. This saves huge amounts of tying time. The final step is to create a bridge from the top of the head to the hook. I prefer the look of peacock hurl, but any material will work. I then put a couple of drops of superglue on the ends of the material. This will soak in a little and bulletproof the head. I also run a drop down the bridge to strengthen it.

The end product should be tall and skinny just like a real fish. Once you add the eyes it will have a nice roundness to it, but not be oval. The tall flat head also gives a great base to glue the eyes to.