The RS2-Revisited

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.