Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2013 - 9

Tying the
Laid Back
Hex
by Charles R. Meck
photos by the author

Initially designed for the huge
Hexagenia hatch in Michigan, Laid
Back Hex flies are easy to tie, easy to
see on the water, and they produce,
especially if you encounter a large
insect hatching. This fly will float all
day. I tie the Laid Back Hex in hook
sizes 6 to 16, so I can match the large
down-wings.
The pattern contains a tail. If
you’re trying to match a caddisfly
hatch, you can clip the tail, but it
adds balance and buoyancy to the fly.
The tail has two pheasant tail fibers
with a shorter bunch of deer hair
underneath for the tail.
The wing of the Laid Back Hex is
deer hair tied down-winged. You can
make the wing in two ways. You can
leave the excess of the tail material,
bring it forward and bend the tips
of the deer hair back in down-wing
style, or you can clip the excess for
the tail and tie in some new deer hair
down-winged. I prefer the latter.
In this photographic series, I used
yellow poly, dubbed for the body. Tie
some patterns with gray, tan, dark
brown and cream bodies to match
other large hatches.
The pattern requires a brown and
a grizzly hackle tied in tandem about
four or five times at the thorax. Clip
the hackle off on the bottom and
move it to the right. On the top, move
it to the left, so you can place the deer
hair appropriately
Tie up a few of these Laid Back Hex
patterns. Include some with yellow,
brown and gray bodies, and you’ll be
prepared for some fantastic fly fishing
over some of the larger hatches.

PFBC website: www.fishandboat.com

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Laid Back Hex

Hook: Size 6 to 16 long shank dry fly
Thread: Use a color close to the color of
the body.
Tail: Tie a dozen short deer hair fibers.
Then, tie in two pheasant tail fibers on top
of the deer hair, much longer than the deer
hair fibers.
Body: Yellow poly, dubbed with tying
thread
Hackle: One grizzly and one brown hackle
Wing: A generous bunch of body hair
from a deer

1

Tie in thread at the bend of the hook.
Take about a dozen deer hair fibers,
and tie them in a shortened tail about
1/5 the length of the shank. Tie a few
pheasant fibers in on top of the deer
hair. Make them the size of the shank.
Trim off the butts.

2

Tie in a 6-inch piece of tying thread, and
leave it at the bend. Dub pale yellow poly
or other similar material, and wind it
half way up the shank. Rib the body with
the thread you left behind.

3

Cut off excess hackle tips after you have
wound them about three times in the
thorax area.

5

Tie in the deer hair wing, down-wing
style. You may have to place hackle pliers
on top, and add cement to the wing to
make it stay down.

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4

5

Tie in one grizzly and one brown hackle
where you end the back part of the body.
Wind both hackles at the same time, so
you get a uniform look.

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3

Cut off the butts of the deer wing,
and shape the head as you would a
Muddler Minnow. Use whip finish and
head cement.

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • May/June 2013

9
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2013

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