Neater Buggers
On these flies I realize that neatness is not a big deal but when I wrap on a chenille body and then Palmer wind on a hen hackle they generally look lousy. The hackle sometimes lies down into the spaces between the chenille wraps but sometimes it doesen't because I might want to vary the pitch of the hackle winds. It is the chenille that gives the trouble. Palmer winding on a smooth/harder body looks good.
An suggestions ?? Thanks.
Wind the hackle on the chennile and THEN wind the chennile on the hook....bullet proofs it a bit too.
......lee s.
Lee: You're gonna have to explain that procedure in a bit more detail to me....color me confused.
Ray: What diameter chenille are you using? Probably dropping down a size will help. One other trick to try is to NOT let go of the chenille when wrapping. This can either be done using the rotary feature of your vise or by leaving the thread to the rear. By not letting it go, the chenille will twist upon itself as you wrap..making it denser as you go.
I still think using a thinner diameter chenille will help the most. I use medium for all my WBer's. I have large and I never use it for the reason you highlighted.
Ray,
Try wrapping the hackle in the opposite direction to the chenille??
Andy
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As featured in Trout Fisherman, UK, Jan 2005! I'd still rather be fishin'!!
I tried using "Small" chenille on a #8 hook and it did a lot of good. Thanks.
I also tried to wind the chenille without letting it go slack as suggested. This was a mistake! I am left-handed and your concept apparently held true but in my case the chenille UNwound and destroyed itself.
The "wind-on-the-thread" first technique for peacock herl always works for me but haven't tried it with chenille yet.
Wrap the chenille and hackle in different directions, or make the body out of something else. Dubbing, yarn, peacock, ostrich, floss, tinsel. . .
well, I agree w/ ronmt this time.
I don't see how hen hackle coould be long enough. I like folding the hackle too as I wrap it on.
very nice bugger, ron, btw.
mgj
What do you guys mean by, folding the hackle?
Ray,
Ya know, I never even considered that would happen with southpaws. Experiment gone bad, but we both learned something!I suppose I should be able to duplicate it by reverse wrapping it as a right hander. Correct?
folding hackle...
the easiest way to explain it would be sweep the barbules from either side of the quill together between your fingers. then wrap the quill side of the feather around the shank. you'll have to do this a time or two as you progress to the bend of the hook. takes a while to get the hang of, but after a while it becomes second nature. works well also for soft hackled collars.
someone else may be able to explain it better than I did.
mgj
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