Tying without a bobbin

[Gene L 0]

Got Helen Shaw's Fly Tying the other day.  It's pretty basic technique but without a bobbin.  So I decided to give it a try with a rubber gasket from Ace Hardware.  It's not all that difficult so long as you keep in mind that you don't have a bobbin to deal with.  I was rather surprised.  I'm not an accomplished tier with a rotary vice so any small degree of success makes me happy.  I tied a dry fly, found that I need about a foot or more of thread to keep tension on the fly...I ran out the first time I tried it, half-hitched my thread on the hook and tied back on.

A worthwhile experiment.  Now that I have done it, I don't plan to retire my bobbin.

[redietz 0]

57 minutes ago, Gene L said:

... found that I need about a foot or more of thread to keep tension on the fly...I ran out the first time I tried it, half-hitched my thread on the hook and tied back on.

I learned from Helen Shaw's book, and tied without a bobbin holder for the first ten years or so of tying.  The waste of thread was what induced me to buy a holder in the first place.

In a pinch, you don't need the rubber grommet either.  Just clamp a hackle pliers to the thread when you need to maintain tension.

[Mark Knapp 0]

I have often tied without a bobbin holder on "survival trips" with found feathers and fur and sock yarn. Then, caught fish with them. It's a worthwhile endeavor.

[Val Schmaus 0]

Imagine Carrie Steven's tying those beautiful featherwing streamers without a vise or a bobbin.

[robow7 0]

What seems like ages ago, when there were really nice fly fishing shows in the Chicago Land area, I once saw a pair of older women tying these beautiful streamers and salmon flies without using either a vise or a bobbin holder, simply a pair of lock jaw pliers to hold the hook and the bobbin of thread in their other hand.  It was amazing to watch them work.