Spinning Deer Hair

[K3's]

Alright I am nearly at wits end trying to spin deer hair........one time it wont flare properly and the next time i break the thread....not to mention the utter frustration of trying to get rubber legs to come out right in the middle of the whole mess. Anybody know if any online clips/tutorials or suggestions that can help me out? Pattern i am trying to tie is turks tarantula among others. Just about to throw the deer hair out, not to mention pulling out my own hair in the process.

[Normand]

Chris Helm

http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/chdeerhair/

page 3 has the turks tarantula

get his videos

[Sagittarius62]

An excellent resource for fly tiers is the TV show, [url=http://www.kwsu.org/Offers/OMNFlyTying.aspx:fbda4]Fly Tying: The Anglers Art[/url:fbda4], on KWSU. The above link will take you to the page where the video of the shows is archived. There are several different deer hair flies demonstrated, including a few by Dave Whitlock. You will need to download and install the OMN player. Not a bad idea by itself by the way. There is a ton of interesting audio and video available, with it, mostly through PBS stations around the country.

[rookie]

Here is a site that may help. don't give up on spinning hair. It honestly is not that difficult. It does take practice though. What specifically are you having trouble with. Knowing that might lead to some better answers.

http://www.warmwaterflytyer.com/patterns1.asp

[Buddy Sanders]

K3s,

First, use stronger thread. Kevlar, gel spun (I like 10 pound SpiderWire). It's makes spinning hair MUCH easier if the 'bad' thing that can happen is cutting the hair, NOT breaking the thread.

Second, make sure you are using good spinning hair. The hair should flare easily under tension into something that looks like one of those rubber 'Koosh' balls. If the hair doesn't want to flare out to 90 degrees from the shank BEFORE it's cut by the thread, the problem isn't technique, it's the hair. Get a better piece, and save that one for wings...

Pack it tightly. One of those folded brass hair 'packers' that closes around the shank will pack the hair tightly. A drop of lacquer applied after each bunch is spun/stacked and packed helps keep it tight and helps prevent it from spinning aroud the shank when fished.

Don't use too much hair at one time. This takes some trial and error until you get the feel of it, but too much is worse than not enough.

Last, this is a skill that takes some practice. Since you are tying trout flies, it's not too critical, but once you get some practice you will be able to tie bass bugs that are appear to be hard as cork. It just takes time to get good at it.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[waynep]

I had similar problems . . . . . My deer hair was lousy etc.

http://www.whitetailflytieing.com/

Give Chris Helm a call. I did . . He'll recommend thread, hair etc. Watch his DVD and get some good hair from him. Compare it to the hair you have. Yours may be good, mine was'nt. I could tell a big difference in the hair.

I bought his Spinning DVD, deer hair and thread from Chris and it helped a lot!!

-wayne

[hcmiller]

As I said on another forum, try this site also, you have to have the correct material to spin with any kind of ease.

http://www.rmdstore.com/HairChart.html

[Bear742]

The Bob Clouser has another problem with spinning deer hair. The flies take too long to tie and cut into his fishing time. The solution, in his recent book, is foam. Though I have that sixth sense of when the thread is about to break when I am spinning, I am going to give EVA a try. There are a lot of creative things being done with the material like dremel tooling delicate shapes and more recently folding and trimming like oragami. Since the material is more bouyant than a similar profile in spun hair, some adaptation is required. You can't knock getting more float with less bulk IMHO. I found that, to get a decent dive, I have to reduce the diver head size about 30-40%. But that is another topic.

[William Fitzgerald]

Never too old to learn something new- Ive spun deer for years always on a "bare hook" of course but i watch another tier this weekend and he started his thread a few wraps then did something I never did. He halfhitch to make sure his thread was locked in then spun the hair. I have always spun, packed and then halfhitched after each bunch of hair Bill

[Gigmaster]

It takes some practice.
1. Get good deer body hair. All deer body hair is not equal. Make sure it is rated for spinning in the item description.
2. Use nothing less than 3/0 thread. I personally use kevlar thread. Check the description of your thread when you buy it and make sure it is rated for spinning, and/or Glo-Bugs.
3. Practice, pratice, practice. It is an acquired skill, just as weaving chenille bodies is.

Good luck!