Simplified Stingers

The Art of Articulation

This is great information, thank you Don Johnson.


Tandem flies fill a definite niche in the many disciplines of fly angling. The major deterrent associated with tandems from a tying point of view stems mostly from the fact that they can be laborious, time-consuming productions. In my search for a satisfactory, fast method of manufacturing a tandem hook setup for commercial application, I came across numerous techniques, none of which resembles that which I will later describe. All of the techniques encountered during my search were ones that I had tried, disliked and wouldn’t employ because I considered them too labor-intensive. In my quest simplify the tandem-fly chassis in general and the stinger (rear hook) connection in particular, I joined a stinger to a lead hook in a way that is simple, versatile and adaptable. The beauty of this method is that the coupling of the stinger hook to the connecting material requires no tools (usually), no knots, no thread and no glue. All that is needed is a hook (either up-eye or down-eye) and about 12 inches of connection material, which will be examined later in greater detail. Of course, as with everything else I have encountered in fly tying, there is not much in the way of technique that is new or earth-shattering. I rambled on, (re)inventing the wheel at my own pace completely oblivious as to this technique’s existence. As it turns out, this method had already been developed, just not publicized in literature or known to me. A gentleman named Don Ordes mentioned that he first used this technique about 15 years ago. He, like myself, was not shown or introduced to the technique but just happened to stumble upon it, refine it and adapt it as necessary to suit his angling needs. His needs happen to be a lot more demanding than those of mine. Don’s furled tandems have held 150+ pound billfish. That should be clear evidence that the connection is quite strong.

Ron & Beth