Parachute posts

[Gringo]

My recent tying frenzy (its getting cold here now and the fire is going) has led me to the inevitable parachute flies, Klinkammers, Adams, and so on.

I wonder what people are using for posts? I find deer hair too hard to get consistent results with, and cannot find any white calf body hair. (Even though I own a beef farm here!) Calf tail is too coarse and hard to stack, rabbit is too soft. Goat hair won't stack either.

I do have some great carpet yarn that works really well, although it is a dull brown color and not too good where I want a white or orange post.

What brilliant ideas are out there among my clever mates in FAOL land?

[Normand]

antron

zlon

darlon

turkey t base feather

calftail (its real easy to stack, ya just gotta comb it first)

calf body hair

snowshoe rabbit foot hair

poly yarn

i'm sure theres many more

[Al Beatty]

Hi Gringo,

I often use moose body hair for a tail then use the waste ends to supplement the wing material to help provide a better parachute platform. This technique is especially helpful when using CDC (or other soft matrial) for the wings. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - Al Beatty
www.btsflyfishing.com

[bassman]

I usually use poly pro yarn. It floats and comes in many colors. John

[kengore]

Depending on the size of the fly I use the following....

really small, 18-24...
Antron yarn or Hi-Vis. It's just easier to handle a long tag and cut it to size.

medium, 14-18...
Turkey flats, calf body. The calf body is a little more durable, worth finding some, but the quality varies a lot from piece to piece. It's one material that I really like to buy in person.

big, 10-14...
Calf tail is my favorite. If you spray the calf tail with 'Static-Guard' or some other anti static laundry spray the material will stack much better. Nothing gives that big bushy profile quite like the crinkly hair of a calf tail.

In general I prefer the calf hair or calf tail, these materials are very durable and seem to float longer than anything else, the downside is that they are very bulky so better suited to medium or large flies.

Turkey flats or T-base feathers are great to work with. They come in a lot of colors including some very nice speckled ones. They are easy to handle and aren't as bulky as the calf tail. Eventually it will absorb water and stop floating more quickly than calf tail or calf body hair.

Synthetic yarn can be easily sized for any size fly. It ties in with the least bulk of all. It has the advantage that you can tie in a long tag for easy handling then trim to size, making it ideal for really small stuff. It's downside is that it just doesn't float as long as the natural materials. I'm not sure why, perhaps it doesn't absorb floatant. In any case it seems I am needing to re-treat the synthetic yarns more often.

[Paddy80701]

Gringo, I would suggest that you check out Charlie Craven's video "two minute parachutes" at flyfisherman on line. It is great, Charlie uses synthetic materials such as antron, Darlon, high-viz etc. I find them much easier to handle and less bulky than calf hair using Charlies technique.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Gringo,

I really like Poly Yarn for parachute posts. I can double it up for really big flies and split it for tiny flies. No stacking of hair, just a nice trim job once the fly is tied. It also comes in a lot of colors so I can tie posts that I can actually see.

REE

[Flyguy5910]

one of the best materials you can use is mcfly foam, it comes in a ton of colors and you can make it as big or as small as you want and when treated floats forever

[Uncle Barry]

Good evening All.
The loving nephew Gringo, (won't go fishing with him after dark !...loving ?)

Suggested on another thread,
Something about a idea or way of doing something..hey, this might get a bit deep with him and all that boy loving stuff.... its a real worry.

Well,
Something I do BUT it seems most others do not.

When tying a hackle around a post,
I turn the hook on its side in the vise,,,

no Nephew Gringo, its not a vice, how many times must I tell you ?

This turning action, the hook/fly body around 90 degrees to the side allows me to see the hackle clearly in its position on the post and then as a bonus the tying off of the hackle is super easy.

This extremely simple move makes Parachute type flies super easy to tie !

I also tie a few size 20's... with a post (Rick ..
And it makes a real difference how the end product finishes.

Trust I have helped and not confused ?
Kind regards,
UB
PS, dear nephew, your early Christmas present has been sent, it is only a sample.

[Eric-WD]

Hmmmmm now I have to figure a jig to hold my vise, (it is also a vice by the way) on its side.

Great Idea

Eric