Hackle help

[mute]

Hey, anyone mind trying to explain how to twist hackle around the front of a fly like a prince. I cant find any good tutorial on how to do it, from what i belive i know you tie in the faether and just twist it around, but it seems harder to do then it says. What i currently do is just cut some fibers off and just tie them in, which doestn really help cause its not all the way around the fly.

 

[mute]

Also how do you get like turkey quill wing case really hard and glossy looking, is that Zap a Gap glue?

 

[tomgamber]

zap a gap is just superglue...you can coat the wingcase with head cement, UV know sense, flex i ment...whatever...

As for the hackle...if you want it to point toward the tail, you put the darker side of the hackle facing you before you wrap it and then you can wrap some thread over the front after that and make it point the way you want...you do this before you pull the wingcase up over the thorax...

if you want upright hackle like on a dry fly , you put the lighter or duller side of the hackle facing you and wrap forward.

I found THIS SITE which shows how to tie a lot of different flies helpful..

 

[MKern]

Tom is right. I prefer the first method, with the hackle angling backwards.
As a side note, to keep the turkey feather together, spray it with some craft adhesive/bonding material. I use elmers craft bond (it's like $2 for a can that will last a lifetime). this suff is really sticky so try and nt spray your fingers. The spray is to keep the fibers merried together. Then when you finish the wincase it'll already have a slight sheen to it.

 

[mute]

alright thanks for both the answers.

 

[mute]

Mkern, do you spray it before or after you bend it upand around to tie it down. Wouldtn it get hard and just break when you go to bend it around?

 

[fly_flinger]

Nice site Tom. The guy tying the Royal Wulff has some pretty good taste in music too.

Frederick,
Don't watch the Royal Wulff video. I think one of the stinkin', vw van driving hippies is behind it.

 

[mute]

wow, i wanted to try to tie this, but holy crap, thats a size 18? http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=159

 

[jayL]

Tie some #24s or #26s and the 18 will feel huge.

In all honesty, though, I'd simplify the hell out of that pattern, and probably catch just as many fish. I'd cry less when I lost it to a rock too.

 

[Fredrick]

AHHHHH DAM HIPPIES ARE EVERYWHERE !!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[buffalo]

Great Site!

Thanks!

Buffalo

 

[MKern]

mute,
I spray it as soon as I get the feather. Say I get a few tail feather of a turkey from a friend. Then I go out side and spray then all but a couple (cause you never know when when you are going to need some that aren't sprayed).
The craft bond dries quickly, but takes about an hour to not be tacky, so I usually lay the feathers on wax paper, or put the stems in a table vise so they don't get stuck to anything. The I have enough feathers for awhile.

 

[sandfly]

I resent the comments about hippies, i am one sort of..also a biker/ motorhead/ flyfisherman.. :lol:

I use krlon fixative on my feathers before using them as wing cases.. :lol:

Oh and frederick i drive a VAN... :-D :lol: :lol:

 

[Coughlin]

There's a spray product called tuff film which painters use to prep canvas. It's easy to use and stiffins up turkey feathers, etc. However, you do want to spray out of doors, as it has a strong chemical oder.
Coughlin

 

[tomgamber]

If you have a flexible (not hard glossy) head cement , just use that...$2 a bottle...

 

[Coughlin]

Tom,
Thanks for the site. Very good stuff and the music's not half bad!
Coughlin

 

[tomgamber]

Yeah, the music is pretty good...