The Bendback II

Took a few tries, but I got this Bendback the way I wanted it --- at the vice and on Facebook. When tying it, I finally got bend near the eye just the way I wanted it, and I got a slightly thicker material for the body. These adjustments allowed me to prop the material up and over the point of the hook --- and perhaps keep it from hanging in the turtlegrass. With FB, it was a matter resizing to fit a cookie cutter hole. Photos of flies tend to be horizontal, not square. It's amazing how much is involved in getting simple fly right and then posting without a snag. LOL.a few seconds ago.
The key is to get bend in the hook, but not too much bend. You have to have enough bend to allow the bucktail to angle over the hook point, but not so much bend that you ruin the hook and the way the fly acts in the water.

The rust-colored bendback