Tying small flies

[Gene L 0]

Does anyone have any tips on parachute flies from about 16 down?  I can't do it, but I'm willing to learn.  Share your tips.  Size 16 is "small" for me.

[caddis16 0]

magnification

[Gene L 0]

I don't have a problem seeing them, I have a problem tying them.  I wear a pair of cheaters, about 1.5 power, and if it gets to where I need more power, I put on a second pair over the first.  Works great, but I don't do such a thing very much.

[DarrellP 0]

While I am not going to try that, Ed Engle's book, Tying Small Flies might help.

[RickZieger 0]

I use thin strips of foam to make the post. It is stiffer than other material and makes it easier to wrap the hackle.  HTH

Rick 

[Sandan 0]

What I do is this: I cut my post material to about 3 inches long. Then tie in the post. I wrap about two/three turns of thread at the center of the hank of post material I'm using, then a couple in back and a couple in front to lock it in. The 3" is long enough for me to hold with my material hand while I wrap up and down the post with my thread hand. I use either my middle or ring finger on the material hand to shuttle the bobbin from my thread hand around the post in construction. Depending on the size of the fly 8-9 wraps up and then down is enough.  Wrap in front and wrap in back of the post for a true lock.  DO NOT CUT THE POST material cause you need to hackle it. Tie in the tails, tie in the body. Now tie in the hackle with it perpendicular to the hook shank using one wrap.  Adjust the hackle stem so you get a bit of bare stem above the post wraps. Holding the hackle and the post tie it in. Same amount of wraps as you used for the post. If the hackle "cups" the post the barbs will face up and vice versa.  Now dub your thorax. leave the thread hanging off the back (far side of you)of the shank. wrap your hackle down the post and hold the excess down off the back side of the shank, next to your thread. Still holding the hackle down take 3 wraps around the base of the post and the hackle. lift the excess hackle and take one more thread wrap. Thread is now back to the back of the hook shank. Cut the excess hackle, trim the post. Take a 3 or four turn whip finish as the bas of the post. Done. If the fly is really small 22 or 24 or smaller I'll either take fewer wraps at the base of the post or half hitch the thread behind the eye. Some folks will rotate the vise so the post is perpendicular to the floor rather than vertical for the whip around the post.  If you google tying a Klinkhammer some of those videos will show how you whip finish around the post.  Personally I think it's cleaner that way than the half hitch at behind the eye. That stand of thread cutting through the thorax really annoys me.   Of course, you can use a gallows tool to hold the post material, but what's the fun in that?

[Gene L 0]

Thanks, folks.  What do you use for the post on size 18s?  I use Para post on larger flies, I suppose a thin yarn for smaller flies.

[flytire 0]

cant you split the para post material in half, thirds etc to tie smaller flies?

[Sandan 0]

14 hours ago, Gene L said:

Thanks, folks.  What do you use for the post on size 18s?  I use Para post on larger flies, I suppose a thin yarn for smaller flies.

I'm kinda partial to McFlylon. I split the strand (as Norm mentioned) with my bodkin. For 18/20s usually split it into 3rds. Smaller 22's, 4ths. Smaller than that I'll remove individual strands from the split out section.

[CDewberry 0]

Check this video - it might provide some value: 

YouTube - Tightline Video - Parachute Adams Size 22

 

 

[SilverCreek 0]

I provided the link for you.

https://youtu.be/8Xfsfrjur08?si=vTHqsgBzWCRwLtJE&t=11

Here is the finished fly

 

I do have a couple of suggestions for improvements on the tying technique.

On a size 22 fly, a problem is the narrow hook gap which is further narrowed by the dubbing. I suggest using a 2XS (extra short) hook. The Daiichi 1640 is 2 XS and made of standard gauge wire. So a size 20 would be the length of a size 22 BUT it would be made of size 20 wire so for it's length of a size 22, the wire would be 2 XH (2 extra heavy wire). It is a strong hook and is less likely open up.

Secondly, a parachute fly is NOT a dry fly. The hackle is ABOVE the fly body so the fly boy lies IN THE FILM. The parachute is actually a emerger pattern. 

Because the hackle on a parachute is above the body, the body actually rides lower and in the film. According to my friend and instructor Gary Borger, the author of Designing Trout Flies, the parachute is actually a stage 3 emerger pattern.

https://www.garyborger.com/2016/09/09/parachute-flies-stage-3-emerger/

https://web.archive.org/web/20101230025309/http://www.flyfisherman.com/content/film-flies

"TStage 3. The insect pulls its head out of the shuck, followed almost immediately by the legs. At this point it enters stage 3, which is matched perfectly by the universal emerger: a Parachute Adams (or other fly with an upright parachute post such as the Klinkhåmer). [See “The Klinkhåmer Special” in the Dec. 2006 issue for more details. The Editor.]

All three of the surface-emerging insect groups look the same during this stage. That’s why the Parachute Adams is the world’s number 1 dry fly: it matches any mayfly, caddis, or midge in stage 3.

Most fly fishers think of the Parachute Adams as an adult dun imitation, but in reality it is an emerger. In stage 3 the nymphal or pupal body is just under the film and the legs are spread out on the surface to support the body. The body sticks almost straight up, with the wings plastered tightly along the top of the thorax as they continue pulling up and out of the wing pads.

Light reflecting off the upright body with the wings plastered tight along the top, gives the emerging insect a shining, light-colored look.

Still not convinced? Toss a Parachute Adams in a glass of water and view its position."

Way back in the 1980's on the Flyfish@ mailing list, there were discussions about the fact that the parachute fly is not an adult mayfly pattern. 

The horizontally wound parachute hackle is also different from the palmered hackle of the Catskill dry fly. Dry fly hackle is NOT straight. It has curve. There is a concave side (dull side) and a convex side (shiny side). One must decide whether to wind the hackle with the concave or convex side facing down. If the concave side faces down, the hackle tips curve down TOWARDS the water and the fly will ride higher than if the convex side faces down. 

I want my parachute flies to ride lower in the film and imitate an earlier or trapped in the film emerger so I wind the hackle convex (shiny) side down so the hackle tips curve up and away from the water. The fly then lies LOWER in the film as a trapped emerger does.

I have discussed this in detail in this previous post from from 2018. 

 http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/35398-choosing-hackle-size-for-parachute/&tab=comments#comment-725800