How to Tie the Baby Yoda Fly (From Disney+’s The Mandalorian)

By
Dan Zazworsky
-

After seeing a couple of Matt McCall‘s posts in various fly fishing Facebook Groups, we decided we needed to reach out. His latest creation, a Baby Yoda fly was inspired by the Disney+ show, The Mandalorian, and as you know, we love us some Baby Yoda! We sat down with Matt to ask him a few questions, and how to tie the Baby Yoda fly.


Tying the Baby Yoda Fly:

Materials:

Baby Yoda Fly Instructions:

Step 1: Tie your GSP onto the hook at the bend of the hook, and secure with super glue
Step 2: Cut about 2 pencil diameters of the natural deer hair and line up the tips.
Step 3: Brush out any undercoat and loose fibers
Step 4: Tie in your first clump of deer hair and spin it around the hook
Step 5: After spinning, your deer hair should look like this.
Step 6: Pack your first tie of deer hair back to and trap it with a few tight wraps of you GSP
Step 7: Take another clump of deer hair and spin it in front of the previous tie in.
Step 8: add a third tie in of natural deer hair, and spin a similar-sized clump of the frog green deer hair onto the hook shank to form the head
Step 9: Matt uses a circular piece of plastic with a slot cut to help him finish the fly without trapping and deer hair fibers in his knots.
Step 10: Before trimming, your spun deer hair should look like this on the hook.
Step 11: Trim your deer hair with scissors (we love the Loon Razor Scissors) to form this shape. Then, take your tan and green craft foam and cut out the arms, feet, and Baby Yoda’s trademark ears.
Step 12: Attach the ears by adding a dab of super glue on either side of the head, and inserting the foam ears.
Step 13: Attach the feet and arms, in line with each other, using super glue
Step 14: Once you’ve glued on the arms, feet, and ears, super glue the eyes on the front of its head. And you’ve got yourself a spun deer hair Yoda fly!

Flylords: What is your process when you are recreating these characters on a fly?

Matt: The first thing I try to figure out is the colors I need to recreate these figures. Then I try to configure the colors on the hook in order to get the right sequencing. I then begin to shape the deer hair to begin forming the character’s shape and features. Finally, I utilize craft foam to make final touches on characteristics that I can’t make with the deer hair. I try to visualize the characters to get them as close to the real thing as I can.

Flylords: How long does one of your pop-art style flies take to tie?

Matt: Basic one-color designs take about 1-1.5 hours from start to finish. More complex designs with multiple colors take about 1.5-2.5 hours, start to finish. The process begins with stacking/spinning deer hair, trimming and shaping, cutting out craft foam pieces and assembly.

Flylords: Any tips for folks looking to pick up spinning up deer hair flies?

Matt: It is extremely messy so have a vacuum on hand! Start off with basic shapes and colors such as Christmas trees. Have a really good pair of curved serrated scissors. Be extra picky about the deer hair you buy and buy top quality furs from reputable fly tying retailers. Have fun and take your wife out to dinner so she doesn’t mind the mess too much.

Flylords: What pop culture icon is next up on your vise?

Matt: More South Park and Star Wars characters for sure. Inspiration comes from watching TV and seeing something that catches my eye and figuring out how to make it.

To check out more of Matt McCall’s crazy ties, check him out on Instagram @mattsfishingfortrout

Featured Fly Pattern: The Mop Fly

How to Tie: The Muddler Minnow

Get Your Fly Tying Gear Organized for 2020!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.