-
If your fly tying lamp is the type with a
flexible arm, buy a piece of foam pipe insulation
from the hardware store. Cut it to fit over the
arm and use it to hold flies while epoxy or head
cement dries, or just to get them out of the way. -
Buy buck tail pieces instead of entire buck
tails, particularly in colors that you don’t use
in bulk. The hair on buck tail pieces tends to
be the longer hairs, and they are only one third
the price of a full buck tail. Each buck tail
piece will provide enough material to tie plenty
of flies. -
Use a pin vice for a bodkin. Tighten a larger
sewing needle in the pin vice, which can be easily
changed if it breaks. You can also use the drill
bits that come with the pin vice to drill holes
in bottle corks when making poppers. -
Always coat prismatic eyes on flies with clear
nail polish. This will not only make them more
durable but will enhance the prismatic properties. -
Use Wiss Quick-Clip Speed Cutter sewing scissors
for tying. Wiss scissors are extremely sharp, have
replaceable blades, and can be purchased for about
$6.00 at a fabric store. -
Buy a pair of cuticle scissors from the drug store
and use them for cutting coarser materials, like tinsel
and wire. This keeps your good scissors sharp for
trimming hackle and other fine work. -
Purchase rotary hackle pliers. Rotary hackle
pliers make winding hackle much easier as they give
you more control of the feather as you wind it on. -
Purchase the Norlander Automatic Bobbin. This
bobbin has a spring/clutch mechanism that automatically
retracts the thread, so you’re never manually rewinding
excess thread while trying to hold materials in place.
Once you use one, you’ll never go back to traditional
bobbins. ~ Dave
About Dave:
Dave Micus lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He is an
avid striped bass fly fisherman, writer and instructor.
He writes a fly fishing column for the Port City Planet
newspaper of Newburyport, MA (home of Plum Island and Joppa Flats)
and teaches a fly fishing course at Boston University.
Originally published January 26, 2004 on Fly Anglers Online by Dave.