Yeti'nother UV technique
This idea seemed so obvious--once I thought of it--I figured it was probably on the forum already.
But I did a keyword search on UV+biot and came up empty.
I've always liked the look of nymphs made with duck or goose biot legs. But they're devishly difficult to mount symmetrically with thread and figure-eight knots. There is a quick and easy way. I don't have a photo just yet. But I did just now make a few nymphs.
Wrap a shank with thread. Tie in an abdomen however you want, so you are now ready to finish off the thorax portion of the fly. Tie in any wing case you might need to fold over top in a later step. Now mount the biot legs with UV glue.
Cut six biots for the leg length you want. Put a small bead of UV glue on top of the thread wraps, on the top side of the shank. For each biot leg, push the base of the biot into the tip of your UV glue dispenser to get a bit of UV glue surrounding the butt of the biot. Loon glue and/or the thick Clear Cure Goo is pretty thick stuff. You can get two legs stuck into the unthickened glue so they do not fall off the shank. Reach underneath with a slightly opened cloths pin to push the biots upward, so they're temporarily held in the right orientation. Shine a UV flashlight on that pair of biot legs for about 3-5 seconds. Do this twice more, so you have all six legs mounted. Use the UV flashlight a little longer after the last biot pair, to make sure the glue is now completely hardened. Now finish the fly. Works like a charm.
Attempting to accomplish the same biot leg arrangement with thread alone leads to knitted eyebrows, white knuckles and a blue flame of clinched-teeth cuss words. With UV glue it's a snap. Good stuff. I'm starting to use more of it all the time.
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