Taming unruly rubber legs before tying?

[DWSmith 0]

Any tips on taming down some twisty, curly rubber legs before tying them on a fly?  I've already tried stretching them a bit.  No luck.

These are new and I'll not buy them again.

Next time I'll get the Hareline Medium Round Rubber White legs MRR377 like the guy in the Savage Flies video used that behaved quite nicely.

Thanks!

[SilverCreek 0]

You can see if heat will relax the rubber,

Microwave a glass of water to get the water hot. Drop one rubber leg and see if it "relaxes" and straightens.

Let cool and stretch to see if it is undamaged.

[DWSmith 0]

Thanks!

I have a hot cup of coffee sitting on my desk so I'll use that. ... just kidding.  But seriously, Thanks.

[flytire 0]

what kind of rubber legs are you talking about?

give us a product to go by

[DWSmith 0]

Fly Tyers Dungeon Bug Legs Bright White

[flytire 0]

these are straight

what is the problem?

maybe its your tying in method?

[flytire 0]

 

if you use the hareline legs that are folded to go in the package, youll never get rid of the bend

i just cut on each side of the bend and end up with straight legs

[DWSmith 0]

19 minutes ago, flytire said:

these are straight

what is the problem?

maybe its your tying in method?

Straight out of the package before they are tied on mine are not straight like that so it's not the tying in method.  They are curly and twisted.  In the package when I got them they were all a mess.

I'll hang them for a few days and see if that helps.  They need to relax those curls!  It's like someone's hair after a perm.

[niveker 0]

I use FTD bug legs in the smaller sizes but I have not seen that before, the hank is usually zip tied in the middle 

Maybe contact him for a replacement?  

[Guest]

Some legs come curly.  Well not necessarily rubber legs.  Flex Floss like used on some Pat’sRubberLeg stone flies are.   If they are larger round rubber you can work the curves for you maybe..  Keep in mind although they aren’t as stiff as rubber, silicone legs like on spinner bait skirts don’t deteriorate in hot sun fly boxes.   

 

 

For small bright colors I found these at PartyStore.  $8 and I cut the center put in a box.  
 

 

[DWSmith 0]

 

[niveker 0]

Yeah that's about what mine look like, now that you post the photo.

I think you'll find FTD legs, even the regular sized ones, are a lot thinner than the medium legs used in the video, which would account for their different behaviors. 

[DWSmith 0]

So from FTD this is par for the course it sounds like.  I'll try the hot water suggestion but I'm not expecting much.

Thanks everyone!

And thanks for the tip on the Hareline legs Norm!

[flytire 0]

what was your expectation when using the rubber legs you have? those rubber legs are not going to be as stiff as medium round rubber legs as i show in myy previous post

looks like you have a lot of straight strands to tie whatever fly you want to tie

you dont give us much to help you when you dont supply what pattern you want to tie

[DWSmith 0]

I tied a couple of Gill getters yesterday.  These legs made the flies look terrible to me but I'm getting practice. That's the main thing. And if they catch fish, which I think they will, that's a bonus.

I'll soon get the Hareline legs I mentioned and things will be fine.