Easy Tie Damsel
Tutorial
Our PRO-Team expert Allan Liddle shares a simple tutorial on how to tie an Easy Tie Damsel.
Everyone’s got a damsel pattern in their armoury, or to be more exact probably several of them so it might not seem the most attractive of tutorials to offer another one.
However this one is a very simple tie but has all the trigger points of more complex ones as well as versatile enough to be used on a host of different scenarios from stocked fisheries, to wild lochs and running water. In fact it’s actually not too shabby a saltwater pattern either.
I like this one as I feel the addition of a tungsten head over the more general brass bead helps add a little more to the action of the fly when in the retrieve, as well as the obvious increase in sink rate helping you get down to the fish quicker. That said sink rate increase might be minimal, however you might want to note that tungsten will continue to drop between ‘pulls’ so be careful you don’t end up too deep.
My favoured style is to use this fly on a floating line which helps control the depth somewhat and I love fishing it alongside weed beds or on drop offs. In a big wind it can make an excellent ‘tail’ (point) fly and help ‘anchor’ the ‘team’ helping you work a ‘dibbled bob’ through the waves better.
Keep calm
& Tie flys

Step by step
Step 1. Place bead on hook, secure hook in vice, catch in UV butt, wind on and secure, seal with UV varnish
Step 5 Tie in four strands of thread over tail for added sparkle. (Note prepare these before tying in thread for body)

The finished Easy Tie Damsel
Dressing
Hook; Sprite S2175 Barbless Competition Wet size 8 – 12
Bead; 3.3mm Gold Tungsten Bead (adjust bead size to suit fly size or desired sink rate, another variation is to vary bead colour)
Butt; Semperfli Cheeky UV Chartreuse
Thread; Semperfli Golden Olive Micro Glint thread
Tail; Light Olive Marabou with four strands of Golden Olive Micro Glint over top
Body; Tying thread under UV varnish
Thorax; Dubbing loop of Olive Glister (Veniard)
Instructional photos supplied Allan Liddle