The pattern notebook · streamer
McVay Gotcha
How do you tie a McVay Gotcha?
McVay Gotcha is a streamer fly pattern for saltwater. Find its 8 materials and 17 tying steps below.
- Difficulty
- 4 of 5
- Target species
- saltwater
- Pattern designer
- Jim McVay
Added to catalog · Updated
At the vise
Materials
- Hook: Tiemco 811S #4
- Eyes: Bead chain, silver
- Thread: UTC 140 waxed nylon, fluorescent pink
- Tail: Mylar tubing, pearl - teased out strands
- Body: Diamond braid, pearl
- Wing: Craft fur, tan
- Flash: Krystal Flash, root beer (or yellow)
- Varnish: Thin
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Tying instructions
Start thread behind the hook eye and wrap back to create a thread base.
Tie in bead chain eyes a quarter of an inch behind the hook eye.
Secure the eyes with figure-eight wraps.
Apply a thin coat of varnish to the thread wraps securing the eyes.
Tie in strands of mylar braid on top of the hook shank to form the tail.
Invert the hook in the vise.
Tie in pearl diamond braid at the bottom of the hook shank.
Reverse the hook and wrap the pearl braid forward in touching turns to form the body.
Reverse the direction of the pearl braid and wrap it back to the tie-in point.
Tie off the pearl braid.
Tie in tan craft fur on top of the hook shank to form the wing, with the wing length equal to the hook length plus the tail length.
Fold the craft fur back and secure it with thread wraps.
Tie in 3 strands of root beer Krystal Flash on top of the hook shank.
Trim the Krystal Flash to the length of the wing.
Build up the head with thread wraps.
Apply multiple layers of varnish to the head, starting with a light coat and following up with heavier coats to build a smooth, hard head.
Trim the craft fur wing to the desired length.