Using head cement

[Byron haugh]

I have been tying and fishing my own flies for a number of decades. I very rarely put any type of head cement or varnish of any type on the heads of the flies I tie - unless ones I sell.

I have never had the thread come undone.

Who uses head cement/Hansen's/ or other types of varnish or ties "sans" such material?

An exception would be in varnishing salmon flies or similar....

[NJTroutbum]

I have used Sally Hansens since i had to replace my very first bottle of varnish from the flyshop.

[Byron haugh]

You have had non-varnished flies come undone?

[herefishy]

I have had them come undone, but have quit doing hand whips and that seems to help. That darn Ultra70 denier thread seems to come undone the worst.

[lastchance]

On straight-eye tiny flies about size 22 to 30 I use glue, varnish on midges, tricos, and small olives. Part my fault and part the tiny eye. If I put too many finishing wraps at the eye I found the thread sometimes slips over it. So, I put a dab of superglue on the thread and then finish it.

[narcodog]

I'm old school and I have used head cement since I started tying. I like my stuff thin, I use Griff's, no longer available. SH and I have some Dr logic stuff. I also use wax on every fly I tye.

[NJTroutbum]

You have had non-varnished flies come undone?

Yes. But mainly larger bulkier flies like stims and such. Flies that material can often and conpress when wet. My question would be....why not?

[Longs for Cutts]

I use super glue a whole lot more, as my vids attest. A lot of my bugs have a coating of glue in unusual places. I routinely wrap hackle into wet glue, for example.

[quivira kid]

I do if using certain materials..... Pheasant tails for one and Closer minnows with squirrel tail wing. I put a thin layer of Sally's down on my thread wraps before wrapping the pheasant up. And my small #10 Clousers that use squirrel tail as the wing, I will use Sally's on the "nose" to secure that slippery squirrel tail.

[planettrout]

Hard As Hull on most patterns...on bead heads, a drop on top of the bead and swipe the thread through it while whip finishing. On larger patterns, like buggers and streamers, super glue in a lot of places - like Walter...


PT/TB