My posts on the RS2 have been getting a lot of looks ever since they were posted. It seems like there is a lot of interest in tis fly especially the further East one goes. I wanted to share another tip that I use to tie one style of the RS2. By using Whiting Farms Chick-A-Bou, this makes a great wing for the fly. I tie this fly many different ways but have settled on using this style for the flies I tie for my box and for others. I am not posting a complete step by step here, but just a few photos of what I do to get the wing sized and tied in. Please excuse the blurred photos. I was in a hurry to get this completed with the time I had to get it done. :)
The product.
This is a natural color as far as I can tell.
A single feather from the skin. Strip the short fibers at the base of the feather and use the longer fibers for the wing.
Pull a few fiber from the stem.
Gather the fibers and pinch off the tips.
To get them to look like this.
Tied in bundle.
Make sure you do not leave a big space behind the eye. Otherwise, you will have a long front portion to your flies. I like a short, nice taper in front of the wing.
I use a half of a double sided razor blade for a very close cut. Make sure you break the razor in half because it's very easy to get cut as I found out.
This makes a very close cut that scissors cannot make.
See, what did I tell you? A clean, close shave.
Not the same fly, but the finished fly. Lots of movement in the wing for below the surface use.