How To Tie: Hex Girlfriend

The first time that I fished a Hex (Hexagenia) hatch it was insane. The water was literally boiling with fish. Good cast, shitty cast, it didn’t matter. The fish weren’t selective. We caught so many rainbows, cuts, and browns that we lost count. 

At the time, I was fishing an oversized yellow Parachute Adams tied on a size 6 hook. In reality, to properly match the hatch, I probably should have gone even bigger. And maybe something with foam, because I hate a sunk dry fly. So, after a couple of nights of fishing the Hex hatch, I formed a plan to tie what would be named the Hex Girlfriend – you know, like the ex girlfriend who only shows up late in the evening for some action.

Materials

Hook: Daiichi 1720, sizes 4
Thread: Olive
Tail: Microfibbets (or paint brush bristle)
Body: Yellow foam, cut into 1/8” strips
Thorax: Olive dubbing – I like Arizona Simi Seal Golden Olive
Hackle: Olive
Wing: White poly yarn

Step 1:

Fold the strip of foam in half and poke a hole in the middle with your sewing needle. Put two micro fibbets or paint brush bristles through the hole. The tails on the Hex are pretty long and should be about the length of the hook.

Step 2:

Build the detached body by creating four segments, wrapping thread around the needle between segments. Once done, whip finish, glue, and set aside.

Step 3:

Build a small dubbing ball near the bend of the hook. This will help arch the foam body. Then tie in the foam body.

Step 4:

About ⅔ the way up the fly, tie in an olive hackle feather by the tip, as well as the poly yarn wing. For the wing, secure the yarn with a criss-cross wrap, then wrap each wing with thread at the base. If you are having trouble with wrapping around the wings, use some Zap-A-Gap at the base to firm up the poly yarn.

Step 5:

Build a tapered thorax with the olive dubbing and then wrap the hackle forward.

Step 6:

Take a brown Sharpie marker and blot the yellow body to make it look a bit more realistic. Finally, whip finish, glue, and catch a fish!