How to tie a Sedgehog fly — step-by-step tying guide

This step-by-step guide covers everything you need to tie the Sedgehog from scratch: the full materials list, hook sizing, body colour options and a ten-step tying sequence with clear instructions at each stage.

The Sedgehog is a wet-dry trout pattern that sits in the film or just below it, creating a dense, buoyant profile suggestive of sedge flies and many other prey items found in and around the surface. Fish it static as a dry fly or retrieve it very slowly on a slow-sinking line, where the deer-hair wing and dubbed body create enough disturbance to draw attention from a long way off.

A size 12 hook is the recommended starting point — the proportions suit the fly well and it is a practical size to handle at the vice.

What materials do you need to tie a Sedgehog?

The Sedgehog uses a short, straightforward list of materials, all readily available from UK fly-tying suppliers:

• Hook: Size 12 wet-fly
• Thread: Match to your chosen colour theme
• Wing: Roe deer hair, in sparse bunches
• Body: Seal’s fur — try claret, olive, hare’s ear, fiery brown, Green Peter, amber, orange, brown, or a blend
• Hackle: Light furnace hen

Seal’s fur is the body material that defines the pattern. Its coarse, translucent fibres catch light well and hold air bubbles in the surface film. Blending two or three colours together in the palm before dubbing gives subtler, more naturalistic results than using a single shade straight from the bag.

How to tie a Sedgehog — step by step

Work through the sequence below from tail to head, building the wing in stages. Take your time over the pinch-and-loop technique at the start — it takes a little practice to get the hair sitting right, but it is worth mastering before you move on.

• Step 1. Apply thread in front of where the first bunch of hair will sit. Use a pinch-and-loop to locate the first sparse bunch of roe deer hair, then secure it with tight thread turns.
• Step 2. Add a few thread turns directly on to the hook shank, then trim off the waste hair ends. With the thread positioned in front of the hair roots, apply a small pinch of seal’s fur in your chosen colour.
• Step 3. Dub the fur on to the thread and wind it over the hair roots. Stroke each turn back over the roots before adding the next, to keep the hair pointing in the right direction.
• Step 4. Position the next bunch of deer hair immediately in front of the dubbing using a pinch-and-loop, and fix it securely with tight thread turns.
• Step 5. Add thread turns directly on to the shank, trim the waste hair, and cover the roots with a small pinch of seal’s fur in your second colour — Green Peter works well here.
• Step 6. Prepare and catch in a third slim bunch of deer hair, with the tips sitting almost level with those of the previous bunch.
• Step 7. Fix the third bunch in place with tight thread turns over the roots, then add a few turns directly on to the shank.
• Step 8. Repeat this process until three to five hair bunches have been added, building a full, layered wing. Keep each bunch sparse — thick clumps reduce movement and buoyancy.
• Step 9. Select a light furnace hen hackle and strip the soft fibres from its base. Catch it in, then wind on two turns at the base of the wing.
• Step 10. Secure the hackle tip with the tying thread and trim off the excess. Add a few more thread turns to seat the hackle correctly, then finish with a whip finish.

How do you fish a Sedgehog?

On a dry line, the fly sits in the film with the deer-hair wing riding high — leave it static and watch for sipping rises, particularly during sedge activity in the evening. On a slow-sinking or intermediate line, pulled back at a very slow pace, it works just beneath the surface and the fly kicks and twitches with each strip.

The pattern works well on both stillwaters and rivers. On reservoirs, try it on the point of a team of three during a hatch. On rivers, the slower glides where sedges become active after dark are worth targeting.

Colour variations worth trying

Although it began life as a sedge imitation, the Sedgehog has proved just as effective in colours suggesting other insects and general food forms. Some productive combinations:

• Claret body: A strong choice for early-season fishing and dull days
• Olive body: Effective when buzzers and olive upwings are hatching
• Hare’s ear blend: A natural, muted tone that works when fish are being selective
• Fiery brown with amber: A warm, sedge-like combination for evening fishing
• Orange body: Worth trying on coloured water or in the last of the light

Blending two colours of seal’s fur on the palm before dubbing — claret and fiery brown, for instance — gives a depth that a single colour cannot match.