Hi everyone,

I'm having some pretty basic issues with my success in tying wulff style patterns.

Here in Eastern TN, I use a pattern called the Thunderhead, which is just a grey bodied wulff. Anyway, I'm having two different problems that I'm hoping for some advice on.

1. when I tie the wing. I've tried calf tail and calf body hair. is there any way to even the hairs? I have no luck in a hair evener due to the wavyness of the hair. All the recipes I see for the wulff wing say to use the tips of the hair for the wing, but this is almost impossible on a #16 or #18 size fly, as there's too much length variation in the hair. I end up tying it long and then cutting it short to match the hackle, which looks choppy and amateur. Is there a way to stack the hair, or another material that will allow me to get the tapered look easily?

2. I'm really having a hard time with the hackle. I'll tie a piece in and start wrapping it. When I get to the end and ready to tie it off, it will either break off and unravel, or it will slip out of my hackle pliers. I'm using the Griffin hackle pliers with the little piece or rubber on the jaws. Amy tips on fixing these problems? Do I need a differnt style of pliers? How can I avoid breaking the hackle bit still maintain enough pressure on it to get a nice hackle?

Regards,
Jeff