hackle tying off.

[dphotoco]

Hi gang!

I am worried about an apparent lack of skill or confidence when tying-finishing off a fly from 14 and smaller.

When I'm done with the hackle I rather use a half hitch to hold the hackle wrapped, and then do the whip finish. I've never had troubles with the hackle unwrapping. So I've developed the need to use the HH before the WF.

I do the WF knot by hand 'cause I find it faster to achieve.

How many of you guys do the same or something similar?

thx

Dave

[LadyFisher]

Dave, I only use the 'hand' whip finish, (I never learned how to use the tools.) Al Campbell use to tease me about it, until I learned he didn't know how to do it by hand...I taught him how.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

[ducksterman]

JC,
As you are tying the head are you still covering some of the stem?

[darrell]

for now - 12's and smaller - all I do is 2 wraps thread, snug, trim, and 2 half-hitches, a drop of head cement and voila.
Haven't fallen apart ... yet.

oh yeah - and use the whip finish tool to guide the thread through the hackle and to where you want it to sit ..... 'bout all I found that item useful for ....

[MOturkE]

I always use a half hitch before the whip finish. I've pulled the thread off many a hackle and hook eye trying to get that #%&% hand whip figured out. I'm still not getting it right so I use a double half hitch (would that make it a whole hitch?)
The best knot I got is the one on my dog's head...

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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim

[LadyFisher]

Here is the way to do the whip finish by hand...you CAN do it. [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/ldy/ldy110298.html:f039e]http://www.flyanglersonline.com/ldy/ldy110298.html[/url:f039e]

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

[dphotoco]

LF. I have always done the whip finish by hand and needed just one look at a simple drawing on a xerox copy to learn it. I have to say 99% of all knots come natural for me. (except for the blood knot, I have it engraved on my cortex but still takes me quite some time to do it!!!)

JC. I will give it a try. And don't worry, I will try to keep it a secret.

I hope it will help me feel safe about going straight from tying off the hackle to the WF without the fear of it unwrapping.

So far I've only had one fly that came apart after leaving the vise (and I have never used cement), but I have to be honest I knew it before I released it from the vise. The wingcase was so poorly tied, that when I intended to fish the fly, with the tension of pulling the tippet, it went loose and formed kind of an inverted wing.

I pulled the wing case back so that it would look like wings and managed to get some strikes!!

Hey it was already on the tippet, so what the h...

Thx guys.

Dave