I have always had trouble with floss, my main problem
was lumpy floss after wrapping the hook shank. Things
I have learned through the years have made this easy,
with very nice results.
Many say that when wrapping floss onto the hook shank
the thread should either be the same color as the floss,
or white thread (which is true). Then the thread wrap
should be uniform and tightly packed (but not overlapped)
to give a smooth base on which to apply the floss (this
is very true, but takes years to perfect). In the mean
time here is a method to smooth out the bumps, when you
are wrapping floss on a hook shank.
After you have wrapped the thread forward to just behind
the eye (doing your best wraps possible), you will attach
medium or large flat tinsel (depending on what you have,
and the hook shank diameter). Then wind the tinsel to
the rear and then back forward.
After you have secured the tinsel wrap behind the eye,
attach the floss and then wrap the floss to the rear
and back forward. The tinsel smoothes out most bumps
and voids in the thread wrap. The tinsel will cover
any color thread you used, giving a good base for no
color leaking when the floss get wet with use.
One other thing, I am not exactly "Mr. Oblivious,"
but it was a casual remark in a fly tying book I was
reading to finally see the light bulb come on. I use
two major brands of Floss, Uni-Floss, and Danville Floss,
Uni is a single strand floss, while the Danville is a 4
strand floss. Uni Floss is easy to work with, just cut
off a length you need and then re-attach the floss to
the notch in the side of the spool.
Danville gave me problems for years. I liked the idea
that you could just use various numbers of strands to
alter the thickness of the wrap depending on the hook
shank diameter. My problem came with how to attach the
floss to the spool again with two different lengths of
floss, normally I would throw the leftovers away.
Also, if the strands came loose, I had a birds-nest
of tangled strands. Here is how I solved both problems.
I knot the end of the multi-strand floss when I pull
off a length I want to use. I then knot the strands
below the point I will be cutting off. I then reattach
the knotted strands at the new knot back on the spool.
I cut off the number of strands I need, between the top
knot and the lower knot on the spool. If I have any
strands left, I just pull out the floss from the spool
and rewind the remainder back onto the spool.
No bird-nests, no waste. ~ Steven
Please check out the Fly Tying Section, on the Bulletin Board, here at FAOL too.
If you have any questions, tips, or techniques; send them to
publisher@flyanglersonline.com
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