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Swivel Snake-fly by Steffan Jones.

Most of my tube flies would rarely deviate from the standard ‘black-and-red’ or ‘black-and-blue, as such, providing little inspiration to the progressive tier. A pattern that may appear more captivating is a snake-fly. Make no mistake; they are a formula that has been around for many years, and for good reason. Tubes fished at length can become cumbersome, to say the least. Snake flies are a cure for this ailment, among others. Light can refract and penetrate through the core of snake-flies, similar to the translucency found on many young baitfish and sandeels. Further to this, snake-flies manoeuvre with a fish when taken, due to their non-rigid construction, thus providing a securer hook-hold.
Any permutation normally adopted in your waddington or tube-fly patterns would suit a snake-fly mount, only inhibited by your own imagination. An array of mylar tubing exist for the body, as is the case for the winging material. Here I have included a permutation that has been successful for me on many rivers across the UK.
I have been playing around with steel loops at the head of snake-flies for some time now, as I didn’t fancy the idea of tying straight to the braid – especially as I tie my flies on at night without a torch, and one false slip could ruin the fly. Also, I think that the loops give the fly a bit more action. Something that I found to be even better was the use of swivels instead of the loops, the perfect solution because you get even more movement, durability, and some additional weight in the head.
In addition, I have added some shrink tubing by the hook and by the swivel. I find these stiffen the body up slightly, and give you a nice, straight body.

The following is one permutation that will work for sea-trout, but feel free to add your own ingredients as we go along.

The essentials; darning needle, 2x1cm shrink tubes (3mm internal bore), 25cm section of braided mono, size 10 Partridge BMD double hook, size 12 swivel, super-glue (doesn’t have to be waterproof as it will be covered by the shrink-tubing).

 

 

 

 

 

The next step is to put on the 2 pieces of shrink-tubing. If the tubes pass over the swivel easily, all the better. However, if they don’t then it is easier to loop some nylon through the eye of the swivel and pass the two tubes over the nylon. You can then exert some force onto the tubes, which will help them pass over the swivel.


Start by threading the hook onto the braid, followed by the needle.

Looping back, puncture the braid with the needle, passing it up the braid for about 3-4cm (depending on what length you want the fly to be) before passing the needle to the outside of the core.
Pull the needle through, then take the needle off the braid. You can then pull the loose end until it sits snugly onto the hook.
Repeat the process with the swivel.

 
Upon passing it over the mount, secure it near the hook. This stage can be done in the vice, if necessary. Tie off the thread and varnish. Always varnish before doing the next step! If not, you will end up with the materials getting in the way, and getting stuck to the varnish. Quite often I would do up to this point in batches, ready for tying on the final ingredients.
                 
Pulling both loose ends tight to the hook and swivel, the loose ends can then be cut snugly to the body, taking care not to cut the body braid.
With the two tubes on the mount, the next step is to drop a small amount of super-glue onto the mount. One small drop by the hook, and one small drop by the swivel.
The tubes are then passed over the glue and positioned. When in position, pass the lighter over the tubes, quickly! – If not, you will burn/melt the mount.
After shrinking both tubes, pull the mount straight and hold. Upon cooling, which takes just a few second, you will be left with a nice, straight mount. At times, especially with the longer mounts, you will find that the snakes hinge too much. To cure this put a third piece of shrink tubing around the middle of the amount, again with a drop of glue. That’s the mount finished! I find it easier to make a few at the same time, before continuing to the tying stage.
These flies can be slightly fiddly, as they are predominantly tied by/in hand (literally). As such, the next step is to set out all the materials you are going to need for the fly. Here I have used black raccoon fur for the wing, red rabbit under, red pearly mylar body, jungle cock cheeks, red mirage overwing, 6/0 fire orange thread.
Firstly, measure and cut a sufficient amount of mylar tubing for the body. Cut slightly more than necessary, as it does tend to fray.
With the hook end sorted, we can now progress to the swivel. Clamp the swivel in one hand and tie with the other. Two critical tying techniques will help you with this fly; pinch-and-loop, and the half-hitch. The second stage is to secure the mylar tubing at the swivel end. Before securing the mylar, pull it taught. This will give you a nice, slim body – just the way I like ‘em! After securing and trimming the excess put a couple of half hitches onto the head – this will stop the thread bouncing off the swivel, and will enable you to put the fly down whilst you sort out the next material.
Measure the wing to the appropriate length – just past the hook-bend. Then pinch and loop before tightening the thread onto the swivel and putting a few tight turns to secure the wing. Repeat this for the red mirage tinsel, leaving the fibres longer than necessary and trimming after completing the entire fly. Put on another couple of half-hitches to secure.
Turn the fly over, and repeat the above procedure with the red rabbit as a false hackle. I tend to tie this to half the length of the body, or shorter. After that, get the jungle cock eyes which are ready prepared. Position them with a couple of loose turns of thread before tying them in firmly. Take the thread over the head, tidying up any gaps or colours showing through – or you can cheat by using coloured varnish at a later date. Then whip-finish, and varnish. Job done!
The wet-look! As you can see, the fibres are very fine and form quite a streamline wing and false hackle when wet.