Tying a parachute differently

[pittendrigh]

I thought about tacking this on to the end of the Tying Off a Parachute differently thread.
But this one doesn't tie off at the base of a fiber post. This parachute winds underneath the body, between body and shank--where the body is made independent of the hook (Spanflex rubberleg body tied on a #12 beading needle). I mount the body with a minimal number of thread wraps. And then glue it all together with a strategically pin-pointed micro-dot of CA glue below the parachute. This fly uses a #22 scud hook. But the fly itself is about the size of a #16 Catskill pattern. Floats well. Always lands upright.



The Zelon version is easier to tie. I make a few of the parachutes every year anyway, just to be stubborn.



==>a 1990 BMP article <==

[JohnScott]

Really cool fly, Sandy, but that thing about glueing "it all together with a strategically pin-pointed micro-dot of CA glue below the parachute" gives me a headache. Honest.

John

[pittendrigh]

Really cool fly, Sandy, but that thing about glueing "it all together with a strategically pin-pointed micro-dot of CA glue below the parachute" gives me a headache. Honest.
John

This is one of my impractical flies. I just like to tie them and to look at them. I don't think they attract strikes any better than most other mayfly patterns.


RE> the glue
Twenty five years ago I experimented with distributing super glue to fly shops, marketed as "Sandy's Superfly." It didn't work out. Super glue was selling for six bucks a bottle in those days. Within a year or two the price was down to two bucks and there were no margins left.
So I threw in the towel. But I did learn a lot.

I buy rolls of CPFE (Teflon) tubing, 16 guage for ZapAGap and 28 guage for the thinner ZapCA. I put a 3" length of tubing into the spout, so it goes all the way to the bottom of the bottle. Then I caulk the tubing in place with a hot melt glue gun. At that point I have what chemists call a "wash bottle." To dispense glue you do not tip the bottle. You squeeze it. You can watch the CA glue rise up in the tubing, so you can reduce pressure just as it gets to the tip of the tubing. You can dispense ultra-tiny (or big) dots of glue with great precision.

When you let go of the bottle the reverse pressure sucks all the glue in the tubing back down into the bottle. It never clogs up. Or, if it does, it clogs the top 1/64" of the tip. So you trim the tip of the tubing with a razor.

I bought 100 foot rolls of tubing 25 years ago. I use about six inches a year. So it should last me long enough......... ;=))
I'm possibly the only fly tier on the face of the earth who uses CA glue that way. It sure is powerful stuff--at least when you can pin-point tiny drops exactly where you want them.

[Silver Creek]

This is what I like about fly tying.Very inventive tie.