Problem splitting tails

[djamieson]

They never come out right. I've been trying to tie some spinners with split tails, and the two tails wind up pointing downward at goofy angles. It's tough getting them to sit right. Right now, I just try to divide the microfibbets into equal portions and run thread between them until they look okay (which is rarely the case). Anyone have any suggestions?

[catskilljohn]

There are a bunch of ways to do this,I will tell you how I do it...I am sure others will offer there advice.
Dub a small ball of body material at the rear of the hook.Tie your fibbets at an angle,one side at a time,right against the ball of dubbing.Get them at the angle you want,and lock them down tight.Do the other side,and if you want them to flare out further,run the thread back to the ball of dubbing,this "jams" the fibbets against the ball and splays them out. Hope you can visualize this,sometimes it hard to explain,but easy to do! CJ

[This message has been edited by catskilljohn (edited 01 May 2006).]

[gnat]

Like CKJ I dub a SMALL bit of dubbing at the rear of the hook. I place one side's fibbits on the side of the hook nearest me and tie them in just in front of that ball of dubbing. I use two wraps of thread. I haven't done this but you could make a half hitch now to help hold those fibbits in place. Then I do the other side using three or four wraps of thread, snug but not tight. Then I just grasp one side's microfibbits by both ends and tug them into position. Repeat with the other side. I get just the angle I want this way and can adjust the lenght so both sides are equal.

[CrookedRiverMike]

I was taught to leave a length of your tying thread hanging off the bend of the hook, tie in your tail material and split the tail with the length of thread pulled up between the tail fibers and tying off with the main thread. This will split and raise the tail fibers.
Hope this makes sense??
MW

[Hans Weilenmann]

gnat,

While the approach you use does work, getting the two sides equal length can be a bit of a fiddle. You may want to tie them in as one bunch, about halfway between thorax/wing area and end of shank (if required, pull on the buts to get the overall tail length you want), then as you overwrap with thread towards the bend, split them by tweaking each half to their side of the shank.

Try. You may like.

Cheers,
Hans W


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=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
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[Hans Weilenmann]

MW,

One addition to your post: The tag end of thread approach is a neat one, which I use a fair bit. In order for it to work well you have to ensure the tag end is emerges from under the thread wraps exactly on top of the shank. If the tag end is off to the side it becomes next to impossible to attain a symmetrical split, or keep both halves of the tail level with the shank.

Also, I have found this technique is mostly for smaller hook sizes. It is not that suitable for flies tied on larger hooks, where it becomes difficult to hat the tail angles accute enough. There I would either use thread figures-of-eight to fix the tails into position, or use the earlier references small ball of dubbing (or thread).

Cheers,
Hans W


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=== You have a friend in Low Places === [url=http://www.danica.com/flytier:8b5f7]http://www.danica.com/flytier[/url:8b5f7]



[This message has been edited by Hans Weilenmann (edited 03 May 2006).]

[RonMT]

I agree with Han's in his first post. I figured out how to do this many moon's ago and taught the Bailey's tiers how to do it this way.

Small ball of dubbing at the bend of the hook. Wrap thread back to middle of the hook. Tie in several Fibbett's at this point and wrap back toward the tail stopping about two wraps short of the small ball of dubbiing. Now take your thumb nail and press down on the fibbett's pressing them against the top of the hook's shank. This will cause them to split around the hook and to the sides. By moving your thumb nail you can get the right amonut of fibbetts on each side of the hook. Hold the fibbetts down with your left thumb if you are right handed and wrap the thread to the ball of dubbing. You will have tails on both sides of your hook and save time by doing it all at one time. I never count the numbers of fibbetts I cut off. You learn to tell what is about right. And when split you can not see each fibbett anyway. And fish can't count, at least I don't think they can? Ron

[kengore]

If your tails tend to point off at odd angles you may not be tying a smooth thread foundation. I agree with the above posts, all are good meathods for tying in tails, but just as important is the foundation of thread underneath.

A very smooth bump free layer of thread is needed for them to work properly. Any uneven spots or bumps will make them point at odd angles...

[Bostonangler]

I like to use thread instead of a dubbing ball. Same principal but you need a flat thread to do it easier. You can wrap directly over the previous wrap so it is more like a small ridge rather than a tapered bump. This will help to push the tails up if that is what you need. I started doind this after reading AK Best's production tying book. He has a lot of good tips in there. Hope it isn't confusing and helps. Worth a try IMO.

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<*(((((><
Jim in CO




[This message has been edited by Bostonangler (edited 02 May 2006).]

[Steven]

I think RonMT just saved me about 5 minutes a fly!

Thanks Ron