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Fly tying thread

554K views 5K replies 173 participants last post by  plugs 
#1 ·
IS there anyway we can get a sticky fly tying thread/fly's thread where we can ask questions about flys and tying and share different flys?
 
#3,068 ·
Ron... I use different materials and shoot for different color as well. For the tail, I use natural red squirrel tail. It doesn't flare so much and acts like an extension of the body behind the hook. Body material is two colors of orange, dark and light, dark up front. The rear color is more Palomino. Forward hackle is natural red/orange like behind the wing. That portion of the fly ahead of the wing is shorter which condenses the hackle for better flotation. I think it looks more natural also. I use died calf tail for the wing as it's more durable than deer/elk and I can get it in the exact color I want. The main reason I shoot for a darker fly is to make it more visible against the sky. The second reason is because the Golden Stone is somewhat dark to begin with, at least the Deschutes version is. I trim the hackle on the bottom of the fly so it will sit flat on the water and not bob along like a fluffy cotton ball. This increases visibility and looks more natural.
 
#3,069 · (Edited)
Beginning to tie & have a couple of questions (more than a couple, but i’ll try to keep it brief)
Any tips for these two items?
1. Whip finish - I seem to catch up the bobbin leg of the thread (long length of the figure 4) and wrap it around the hook instead of using the short leg of the 4 to make wraps around the bobbin leg. It seems to just get caught up and drawn around. Not anywhere as clean as the vids I see. Tips to clean this up and keep the bobbin leg in place during the tie-off?
2. Folded strip wing case - I keep tearing or pulling out the fold-over. I end up with wings instead of wing case. I’m using turkey tail.
 
#3,072 ·
As Plugs said hard to understand your question but I will try. On the the whip finish, the once you establish the figure four the whip finisher should be held vertically out from the hook eye and the thread spool held vertically back from the hook eye, then just move the whip finish handle around the hook eye. This probably is more confusing. I have helped instruct tying classes and student usually struggle with the whip finisher.

On the wing pulling out question it sounds like you may not be securing the feather with enough tying thread. What I do is set the feather behind the bead or hook eye then wrap back to the point you will bent the feather forward, dub your thorax and the just fold the feather forward. Hope this help and does mot confuse you.
 
#3,076 · (Edited)
Written words for a movement won’t ever be perfect but it’s what I have access to currently. Unfortunately my LFS has their tying class on hold per pandemic. The suggestion to go in and ask for specific help is probably a good one. I’ll follow up that way if I get really frustrated. A person watching over my shoulder would be great, for sure.
I’m def using Youtube a lot, but a lot goes on off-camera, so there is often more YouTubing than tying, lol, to get the missing dtls from one vid on another

Re: whip finish (using a matarelli style tool)
The comment from CopperMan re: holding the bobbin just behind the hook (as opposed to several inches behind) seems to reduce my opportunities for screwing up. Not even sure if that detail was intended... I know the bobbin hand has to be somewhat flexible [but always on axis] to keep the figure 4 working, but not carrying so much open thread length seemed to help. My practice whip finishes went more smoothly. I still struggle with the bobbin resistance and thread tension so that isn’t helping the whip finish process (or other tying-in processes either).
So, anyway, a step forward...thank you to all for all assistance

Soft hackle attempt
 
#3,089 ·
@plugs - I see the last three “preacher, widow maker, disco” but the rest are broken images as I scroll up. I’m sure that is related to the forum site migration. I’ll post a message in the service bench area and ask the Site Admin who did the migration to look at it.

-shane


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#3,091 ·
The consultant said he’s looking into it. Hopefully he’ll get it fixed in the coming days.

BTW...If you have issues, feedback, etc check out this thread. It has a lot of tips/questions/complaints in it and a link to the new FAQ. But it does appear they are monitoring it and working through post migration issues/feedback. Community Feedback: New Forum Software is Live!


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