How To Tie the Tsunami Squid

The “Tsunami Squid” was designed by the guides from Skeena River Lodge to deal with low visibility conditions during Chinook season. With the squared off deer head the fly pushes as much water as possible. It turned out to be a very good producer during good visibility conditions. The “Tsunami Squid” is a very interesting pattern and a must have in case of adverse water conditions. Here is how it’s tied:

Materials:
– 2/0 hook
– SRFS Stinger Shank – 45mm
– SRFS Stinger Loop Material
– Veevus 100D GSP thread
– Deer Hair
– Flash
– Ostrich Spey Plume
– Brass Dumbbell Eyes

Figure 1: Place a 45mm/1.2mm Stinger Shank in the vice. Attach a stinger loop. Tie in an orange Kristal Chenille ball. Tie in orange and pink Ostrich Spey plume fibres. Tie in flash: 4 strands of Crinkle Mirror Flash, 4 strands of Pearl Accent Flash, 4 strands of pearl Flashabou, 4 strands of small silver Flashabou. Tien in 4mm Dumbbell eyes. Keep the eyes positioned close to the tie off point of the Ostrich and flash so that you have just enough space to spin one bunch of deer hair behind the eyes. For production tying I tie off at this point and do all the deer head work as a second stage.

Figure 2: Note that the eyes are tied underneath the shank, with the eye of the shank turned up. This will make for a fly that will always swim balanced and true in the water.

Figure 3: Next I shape the head. I prefer to first roughly shape the deer hair with scissors and then fine tune with a razor blade. The shape of the head is important; it is cylindrical, not conical. We want the face of the cylinder to be big so that it pushes water.

Figure 4: Next I fine tune the shape of the head with a razor blade. Grab the blade at each en, between your thumb and index finger. Bend the blade in an arc and then push the blade from the front of the head to the collar. Keep the head cylindrical.

Figure 5: After the head is shaped I apply an ample amount of Softex to the front of the head. The Softex penetrates the deer hair and makes the front of the head very durable.