Egan's Headstand | FLY TYING TUTORIAL

As fly fishing for carp continues to grow in popularity, more and more carp-focused fly patterns can be found. But a couple of decades ago, this was far from the case - it was nearly impossible to find a single carp fly at your local fly shop. Fast forward 20 years and you can find more than a handful of carp bugs at any given fly shop, especially in places like Colorado's Front Range. While many factors contributed to this shift, many credit Lance Egan and his Headstand as one of the first major forces to drive the carp fly movement.

Egan's Headstand was designed to land softly, sink quickly, and ALWAYS land hook point up. The fly make look odd at first glance, especially to trout anglers. But the proportions and aesthetics of the Headstand make it an absolute assassin for sight fishing to carp in slow moving rivers and stillwater fisheries. Lance's creation is not new - the pattern was picked up by Umpqua Feather Merchants in 2006 and has been commercially available ever since.

"I joke that this is kind of the Royal Wulff of carp flies. It imitates nothing. We don't know why they eat it. Carp are pretty opportunistic. They're omnivorous. So maybe if you present it just right - get it to look like food, act like food - then they think it's food."
Lance Egan, Fly Fish Food

In this video, Anglers All's resident fly tying expert and Umpqua Signature Tyer Daryl Eakins takes us through the process of tying Lance Egan's Headstand from start to finish. To make the most of this tutorial, use the timestamps below the fly recipe for navigating to the part of the tying process you'd like to see!

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MATERIALS LIST: Headstand (Rust)

HOOK: Tiemco 2457 (6 - 8)

THREAD 1: 6/0 UNI-Thread (Tan)

THREAD 2: 50 Denier GSP (White)

EYES: Bead Chain Eyes (Medium | Silver)

TAIL: Rabbit Strips (Rust)

BODY: Antron Dubbing (Rust)

HACKLE: Rooster Hackle (Rust or Ginger)

HEAD: Antron Dubbing (Fl. Orange)

GLUE 1: Loon Water-Based Head Cement

GLUE 2: Zap-A-Gap

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CHAPTERS / TIME STAMPS: Tying Egan's Headstand

00:00 - Intro
00:31 - Starting Thread 1 (UNI-Thread)
01:28 - Tying in the bead chain eyes
02:49 - Adding Loon glue to the eyes
04:20 - Trim the UNI-Thread and start Thread 2 (GSP)
05:11 - Prepping the tail
06:23 - Tying in the tail
09:08 - Anchoring the hackle feather
09:42 - Dubbing the body
11:34 - Wrapping the hackle
12:26 - Prepping and tying in the peacock sword
14:13 - Placing and tying in the Sili Legs
15:43 - Trimming the legs
16:16 - Dubbing the head
18:57 - Adding Zap to the thread
19:09 - Whip finish

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Is there a particular fly pattern you'd like to see us tie? Or a fly tying technique you'd like us to explain? Send a DM on Instagram or Facebook to @AnglersAll.

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