Tying Tips

[gqualls]

I thought is might be a good idea if any of you wanted to share some tips or tricks you have discovered that might be beneficial to the fly tying community. Doesn't have to be earth shattering .... just something that helps save you time or something that makes tying easier for you.

I have been using fingernail clippers for a long time when I tie. I find they aid me in getting a closer cut, thus, eliminating a lot of build-up on the fly. They work well on feathers, synthetics, wire, lead, and particularly on goose biots. I use the cheap fingernail clippers because they work well enough; sometimes you can get them 2 for a dollar.

Hope this helps. Are there any tips you could share?

[jmeyerc]

I use finger nail polish as head cement and it works well.

Also to make your own flex cement take a good dollop of shoe repair goop and mix it well with toluene small portions at a time to create the thickness you desire and keep in a small screw top jar. wonderful stuff.

Jeanne

[Steve Molcsan]

I very much enjoy reading the tips in the tying section... lots of good ones...

[hap]

Norm Norlander carries a piece of rubber tubing, barely larger than the OD of his bobbin tube, right there on the tube. When it is time to finish a head he brings the tube forward over the hackle to hold it neatly out of the way. Sliding it back over the thread whn done leaves it ready for the next fly.

The "fad" waterbased fly cement is nothing more than waterbased polyurethane wood finish. Needle tip applicator bottles are cheap and a lifetime supply of cement for a pro tyer can be had for just a few bucks...

The clear plastic zippered bags linens often come in make great storage bags for tying materials (especially when you have the kind of bulk I run!) that allow you to see exactly what is in the bag... Beware though, because you cannot store them in the sunlight... It is bad for feathers.

Straight-sided pistol cartridge brass (like almost all of it) make great small hair stackers exactly as they come.

A small piece of Velcro- the Loop side, not the fuzzy side- makes a great dubbing brush when glued to a popsicle stick.


Glass seed beads strung on monofiliment line can be used to make great eyes. Burn the ends of the mono to form a bump big enough to trap the bead, then cut off the other end long enough to hold two beads and mono enough to create the other burned end to hold the beads on. When tied on the eyes can be manipulated by the thread to move them forward, backward, up, or down... Easier to do than describe... Some special vessel clamp hemostats have a sawtooth edge to grab over the top of the beads and leave exactly the right amount of play to produce perfectly spaced eyes every time.

Make some extra long for shrimp eyes.

Run a blacklight or UV curing flashlight over your tying materials and note which ones respond to UV... Fish see UV even though we do not... And lately I have been shocked at how much difference it makes.

Just a few to encourage others.
art

[Donald Nicolson]

All the above idea ideas are excellent, but there are some very old tips to remember.
Just one, do not forget wax, in the last few years people have begun to catch on to
using it to alter the colour of tying threads. There are other reasons to use it, it helps
the tying thread to grip materials with few turns, and reduces the bulk on the hook.
Even the so-called waxed threads need some, use it often and sparingly.
I admit I do not mix my own, I use BT's excellent product.

I know a lot of the experienced fly-dressers reading this already know, but hopefully
there are some beginners reading it.

[ScottP]

If you're going to de-barb your flies (and you really should) do it before the hook goes in the vise; few things more frustrating than trying to flatten the barb on a #20 with wet, cold hands and a pair of hemostats unless it's pulling THE fly out of your box and having the point snap off.

If you get cement in the fly eye, clean it out while it's still in the vise; trying to do that on-stream at dusk, with a caddis hatch coming off and the trout going crazy will just led you to use some of the same colorful language you did when you tried to de-barb the fly.

Have a good background behind your vise - if you have one of those fancy profile plates, great; I just put a piece of cream 2mm foam against the base of my Ott light and it makes it so much easier on the eyes while tying (good lighting is huge, too).

Keep it short, keep it tight - too much thread off the bobbin and it's hard to control where you want the thread to go, too loose and stuff you tie down won't stay where you want it to.

Regards,
Scott