First of all, let me say that I tie some of my flys only to save a few pennies. Which I am begining to question that motive. How some can find it relaxing is beyond me.
The problem that I am having is when tying buggers, my hackle twists. I normally tie in the tip on the rear of the hook and have tried using both regular hackle pliers and also those swivel type. I have the same problem with both. I have tried fanning the fibers back or not at all. It doesn’t make any difference.
Have you tried stripping one side of the hackle before wrapping?
We usually DO twist the hackle with a wire or thread (tied in with the hackle) and then wrap it. Sota makes your bug “bullet proof”.
…lee s.
I have not tried stripping one side when tying buggers. But will have to give that a try. And yes I always use some type of wire from the back to the front after palmering.
anglerdave; As Speed is not important to me.I prefer to use my fingers only when palmering body hackles, as it allows me to work close to the point of wrapping which in turn allows me to manipulate the hackle and stop any twisting. Had the problem you mention when I started using hackle pliers. Just one of those little things sent to remind us we are only mortal. Have Fun. Jax
Dave,
We twist the wire and the hackle together THEN palmer. Hackle is there for good that way. Generally you’ll toss your bugs out for getting stale before they lose the hackle. :lol:
Bugsy has the right idea there. You can use Wire or Mono of about 6 or 8 pound test. It is tied just like a Elk Hair Caddis. Tie in the wire or Mono then tie in the body material, wrap the body materail up the shank tie off. Tie in the hackle were you ended the body by the butt section. Wrap it to the rear then take two wraps of Mono or Wire right at the back side by side and then wrap up the body over the hackle so that you get a wrap over each wrap of feather. I like to take two good wraps fo the feather at the head so that it is nice and full. Wrap wire to the head tie it off then whip Finish and you got her done. Ron
If you’re wrapping the hackle without repositioning it in your hackle pliers or hands you’re adding a quarter of a twist each wrap. To demonstrate this take a piece of flat tinsel or mylar and tie it in at the bend. Attach your hackle pliers and wrap forward with out repositioning anything after four wraps your material will have a complete twist in it.
What Halomidge said…and I don’t understand why it happens with a swivel pliers…also if you tie in the stem leaving a little bare stem to start laying the hackle in it helps to start the barbules correctly.
try using a larger size chenille for the body so the hackle stem will have a place to bury itself to make the hackle fibers stand more radially outward.
Tie the hackle and your wire rib in at the bend of the hook, wrap the hackle and then counterwrap the wire to the eye.
Always stroke all the hackle barbs backward so they stand out from the stem before tying in.
When you tie in by the tip, the barbs have a greater tendency to get trapped as you wind. Keep stroking them back as you wind,
Wow what a wealth of information. This is what I do and I have no problems with twisting. The prior info is right tie the but of the hackle to the head of the fly. Make sure that you tie a fine wire in at the bend of the hook where the body material stops. this should be done before any body material is tied in and should be tied to the off side of the hook. Now make sure that when you tied in the hackle it is on the near side of the hook slightly upwards. Ok time to palmer. grasp the hackle and wind it around the body holding the hackle with your fingers DO NOT USE HACKLE PLIERS! When you have gotten to the back of the fly attach the hackle pliers to the hackle to hold it in place and hold tension on it. Now look at the fly. It is looking like the real thing big at the sholders and small at the tail. Grab the wire and wrap a couple of turns at the base of the fly and head towards the head of the fly making sure you cover each wrap of hackle with the wire. Tie the wire off at the head of the fly and trim. Tie a head, whip finish, and coat with head cement. Now go to the back of the fly and trim the hackle close to the 1st turn of the wire. No hackle twist and a good looking fly that is easy to tie. This also allows the fly to sink when it hits the water. Why do I tie? Save a little money but most important it is relaxing and there is no thrill in the world like catching a fish of any size on a fly you have tied yourself. One little piece of advise that may help you to relax. I don’t tie my flies to show my friends or anyone else. In fact if you saw my flies you would say “Man them flies are ugly” I tie my flies so the fish say DINNER IS SERVED LOL. Hope all of this long winded stuff helps
I usually tie the tip in at the bend, and I use hackle pliers. I also use wire, usually to counter wrap the hackle for extra strength; but then, if the hackle does get broken, even if the wire is holding the pieces on, I tie on a new fly and end up retying the broken one. I digress.
Anyway, I tie the tail in, then the wire (bottom or far side), then the hackle (by tip on top), then the body material, and wrap that forward and tie off. Before tying in the hackle, however, I stroke all the fibres back so they stick straight out from the stem. This leaves a small “point” to tie onto the hook and prevents the fibers near the back from getting tied onto the hook. Also, I tie it in concave down (so the “good side” is up). I usually use hackle pliers, clipped at the but end and “in line” with the stem of the feather. When you wrap, let the pliers “rotate” by holding the “spring loop” end loose enough so it turns as you wrap around. Finally, after each wrap, I do stroke the fibers back as I find this helps produce a nice even sloping of the fibers and helps to free any fibers that might be getting “stuck” during the wrap. Finally, I keep an eye on what the feather is doing, as some feathers just seem to want to twist while others behave themselves. I just tied up a few Invicta’s, which have palmered bodies, and they all turned out quite nice.
I admit, however, that it took me a lot of practice to get it to the point where my palmered hackles were not twisting all over the show.
“First of all, let me say that I tie some of my flys only to save a few pennies. Which I am begining to question that motive. How some can find it relaxing is beyond me.”
Well, thanks for the good laugh(-;
If we saved money tying our own flies I’d have a large and well filled piggy bank! As far as “relaxing”, fly tying is very relaxing WHEN you tie for yourself, the art of it and especially when your flies do catch fish. When you tie commercially, it is a tedious job.
Now, as far as hackle ‘twisting’: If it’s twisting as you tie, and the twist is due to something you are not initiating, you simply have a bad neck. It is bad insofar as a genetic shape to the stem. There’s really not much you can do to correct it. The best you can do is try to control the twist by holding the stem as close as you can to the body as you wind it around the body. Other than that, you’ll have to bear with it or chuck it.
