What it is
The Dr Slick Bodkin is a fly-tying bodkin tool with a sharp point on a lightweight carbon fiber handle. It’s rigid and strong in the hand, with a balanced feel and an ergonomic grip for controlled, precise work at the vise.
What to tie with it
Use it to apply head cement, UV resin, or superglue exactly where you want it, without flooding a head or gumming up materials. It’s also the go-to for picking out trapped fibers, manipulating small tying materials, clearing a hook eye after finishing, and cleaning up details on flies where precision matters.
Flies and the fish they're for
On a Woolly Bugger, it’s handy for clearing the hook eye and teasing out a few fibers after you’ve tied it off, a staple streamer for trout in rivers and stillwaters and for bass in ponds and lakes. For a Parachute Adams or Elk Hair Caddis, it helps keep the hook eye clean and lets you separate or position materials during the finish; those are core trout dry flies on freestone streams and tailwaters. When you’re tying small nymphs like the Zebra Midge and Copper John, the bodkin shines for placing tiny drops of cement/resin and for opening up the hook eye, and those patterns are standard trout flies on tailwaters and other rivers.
How it compares
This version has a jumbo handle compared to a standard bodkin handle, giving you a larger grip surface for more comfortable control during fine-detail work.
