Gavin Jehu – The Marabou Magician – offers tricks and tips (plus his own magic tool) to produce neater, better-looking and more effective marabou flies.

Fluffy, furry heads, tails and wings and even, of course, the classic “tails and wings being too long for the fly” are all common problems faced by tyers of all ages and grades, especially when it comes to tying with marabou. That universally acclaimed, mobile material that works so well, but can be so awkward as a material.

Marabou seems to give so many tyers so many problems, but with simple tools and a little knowledge this magical living material could catch you more fish and make your boxes look great at the same time!

For the modern day fly angler, marabou is simply a material that must be explored, be it for flies for large reservoirs or even those for river fishing. Yes, I I did say “river fishing”.

The pulsating action that this material emits brings a living dimension to artificial flies and this allows the angler to take full advantage of the predator’s eye for movement as it hints its prey. Just think about it, how many times have you had takes on the dropper, even ‘on the swing’.

Have you ever thought: why?

It’s all about movement, motion and animation. Think about the diving action that, say, a Cats Whisker possesses when it is falling through the water column: the combination of the bead chain eyes at the head along with a marabou tail and wing induces takes.

Prey image + Motion = Predatory strikes.

Even the natural flow of water current, such as the rapids on a river, or even the motion caused by wind on a still water can bring our patterns to life, and this allows us to use the natural mobility of marabou fibres to our advantage.

A material such as marabou has a firm footprint in fly fishing and tying, so we need to take maximum advantage and strive to harness to full potential of this fluffy, fine material.

The first steps in tying marabou is to purchase the best quality plumes possible, sort out the good from the not so good and grade them. Give your plumes a quick once over and then I generally separate the larger fuller feathers from the smaller ones.

I keep the smaller feathers for short tails and wings, and use the longer feathers for lure tying. On occasion you may notice that some feathers may have a shuck at the base. This shuck shields the herls inside from the dyeing process. Look out for this, as it gives you a beautiful two-toned tying opportunity: perfect for Damsels!

Tools and techniques for Marabou

The vice doesn’t matter – so long as it holds the hook tightly. The most valuable tools that we fly tyers have are our hands.

Tatty nails and rough skin nevertheless are a pain when fly tying, so here’s a tip. After work, get in the bath with a pumice stone and give your mitts the works. Plenty of soap and plenty of rubbing. To prevent silk from fraying and also to keep those bright colours that we covert so much from dulling, it’s important to get your hands clean and smooth.

Scissors

Some people say that scissors are scissors, but as an ex-production tyer I’ve learned that quality tools do make a difference.

For cutting tinsel, wire and feather quills use an old pair of scissors, but for small, delicate, accurate work you really need a good, clean, sharp blade. There is a simple way to look at this “do it once and do it right”.

The Magic Marabou Gauge

Believe it or not, there is a Magical Marabou Gauge, and – do you know what? – you already have one! It’s the tip of your index finger. From your finger tip, to the first knuckle crease is about an inch. Working on this principle, an effective and accurate gauge is always at hand.

Using your ‘placing hand’ (the hand that you use to place materials onto the hook) hold your index finger out in front of you, palm towards you, and place a prepared plume up to your finger and offer it up to the crease.

Now, using your thumb, simply close ‘the gauge’ by pinching your finger tip and thumb together. Carefully tear the feather away and you are left with a perfect pinch.  (One pinch – one inch).

So, a Cats Whisker has a tail and a wing. Each of these components has two pinches, and by using ‘the gauge’ you should end up with a perfectly balanced wing and tail. To achieve two perfect pinches for both wing and tail, simply leave the first pinch in situ (on your finger-tip) and place the second on top.   

Sizing chart

Other patterns will require varying densities of material so, for example, I’ve drawn up a sizing chart.

Cats Whisker: 2 pinch – 2 inches

Damsel tail: 1 pinch – 1 inch

Cormorant wing: ¼ pinch – 1/4 inch

Neat marabou wings

When it comes to tying in marabou tails most tyers just cut off the rough ends and lash the tail in.

This is quite acceptable, because the body materials mask the fluffy, fuzzy, bits and bobs at the butt ends, but what happens when you tie in the wing section? 

The wings are usually the last material added to the fly and with marabou the fluffy butts are a pain. They stick out all over the shop and cause tyers to lie on far too many turns of silk in order to cover them up. A big, ugly, bulky head results.

Simply remove the butts before they become a problem. Cut the rough stalk ends away, by rolling the wing in your fingers to bring the fibres together, cut the scruffy end clean for tying.

Pinch the wing tightly between your finger and thumb and ease the filaments forward using your other hand. Using your sharp scissors, trim the fluffy butts away. Problem solved.

Reasons for doing this?

1. Reduces tying bulk. Marabou reduces by a third

2. Reduce turns of silk on the head = neater finish, got to be good!

Plucking to size

Once your fly is complete and you are ready to trim to size, place your finger-tip gauge at the rear of the hook. (Cat) fold the wing and tail over the gauge and grasp the required length with your tying hand, and pinch out excess material with your placing hand, once again working on your ‘gauge’ being an inch long.

Cat’s Whisker wing and tail: full gauge

Damsel tail: ¾ gauge

Cormorant: ⅓ gauge

Finishing marabou

Always pluck marabou to finish, never cut marabou with scissors, it makes it look man-made and it ruins the overall effect.

Pinched marabou is easy on the eye and gives the finished fly a flowing, natural appearance, which would also appear more realistic to the fish.

You don’t have to be a perfect fly tyer to catch fish, but if some simple tips and techniques can improve the look of you boxes then why not try them?

Postman Gavin Jehu is a double winner of FF&FT’s Fly Tying League. He has also fished for Wales on six occasions on both river and stillwater, and is competition secretary of Merthyr Tydfil AA.