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The Hoh Bo Spey – Tying Instructions

How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
The Hoh Bo Spey, pun intended. Photos: Stuart Foxall.

Today we present you with tying instructions for a pattern that has become a staple wherever steelhead are found, the Hoh Bo Spey, designed by long time Deneki pal and spey casting extraordinaire, Charles St. Pierre.

Charles has been stomping around the Pacific Northwest for a long time and lets just say, he knows what steelhead want. We’ve seen the Hoh Bo Spey take fish during just about every time of the year and is a must have for any steelhead box.

Thanks to Stuart Foxall for the step by step!

The Hoh Bo Spey – Tying Instructions

The simplistic design of the Hoh Bo Spey should not stop you from having a number in your box. The color combinations are numerous and only your imagination will hold you back.

As for most commercial fly designs, the materials are cheap and easy to obtain, but that doesn’t stop fish from hammering this fantastic fly. For beginners, this fly has a couple of advantages. It’s easy to tie and easy to cast. So, if you are thinking of starting to tie your own steelhead flies, this is a great one to begin with. And, if you’re struggling with your casting, this is as good a fly as any to put on as it’s pretty easy to turn over as well.

How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 1: Tie in a loop of wire to attach your hook. You can see where I’ve measured my wire by fixing a hook onto the wire (where it has kinked), and then removing it. I do this to make sure that I don’t leave the stinger loop too long. This only results in deeply hooked dead fish.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 2: Put in a large dubbing ball of Ice Dub. I’ve used UV pink here, but any color combination that you like will work.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 3: Tie in a length of oval silver tinsel.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 4: Tie in a well marked guinea fowl feather by the tip. I’ve used a very stiff nasty feather here that I wouldn’t be able to tie in at the head. It’s a good way of getting rid of the worse feathers in your feather packs.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 5: Dub on some steely blue Ice Dub as a body and give it a good scrub. I’ve done this by spinning it around the thread between finger and thumb. Then, I used a velcro brush to scrub it. It’s a lot quicker than using a dubbing loop.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 6: Wrap the hackle to palmer the body and wrap off at the head with thread.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 7: Counter wrap the body with the silver tinsel. This will protect the hackle from sharp teeth of fish.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 8: Tie in a black marabou feather by the tip.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 9: Wrap the marabou around the shank making sure that no fibers get trapped. Some people find this easier if they moisten the feather fibres to stop them blowing around.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 10: Tie some strips of holographic Flashabou around the shank (I’ve used blue and purple here). I think on the commercial fly the flash was added like a wing. I like to spread it around the shank at different lengths. This makes for better wriggle by the material that can be seen from any angle by the fish.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 11: Get some amherst pheasant fibres between finger and thumb and roll them. This stops the fibers from sticking together.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 12: Tie in your amherst fibres all around the shank. You could do this individually, but I do a few strands on the top and then the other half of the strands on the bottom in two attempts.
How to tie the Hoh Bo Spey Fly for Steelhead
Step 13: Whip finish and varnish the head.

Don’t be fooled by this fly’s simplicity. It really is a superbly designed and thought out fly. Everything is slinky and thin which helps with the mobility of this fly. Good luck out there!

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Comments

  1. Thanks for the step by step. I really enjoy these brief photo SBS compared to trying to sit through an 18 minute video. Tied up one already!

  2. Hey John,

    We’re super glad to hear you’re enjoying the Step by steps! If there are any patterns you’d like to see in the future, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Happy tying and best of luck out there!

  3. Very nice. Will be tying a few of these to try. What size shanks are you tying these on?

  4. Hi James,

    A shorter shank works great for the Hoh Bo Spey. We like a 25 mm shank best. Happy tying and thanks for reading!

  5. Is there a good source for wire that can handle hook changes without getting brittle at the kink? thanks!

  6. Hi Bill,

    Thanks for your question on a source for wire that doesn’t kink from looping in your hooks. That’s a tough one actually. The problem seems to be that to have coated wire that is small enough to fit through a wide range of hook eyes and still be stiff enough and durable, you lose qualities like low memory. Of course you can use braided materials or mono, but they have there own issues as well. I try to use as light of a wire as I can get away with and it seems to give me less kinking until I hook bottom or a fish, then all bets are off.

    Thanks again for your question and Tightlines

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