damned near got the hang of spinnin hair... what am i doing wrong

[polock 0]

ok i finally got it to spin good, but when i am done trimming i am noticing gaps in between the different parts of deer hair. when i spin it looks like they are together but yet there are still gaps when finished... how do i get the hair to be nice and even like the big deer hair poppers on here...

[Redwings1 0]

One of the common mistakes that cause gaps in not packing the hair well enough. You can really rheam it in there well and get more hair on th shank than you would have thought possible. Each time you pack the hair be sure to give a few tight wraps in fromt of the stack to kepp it back in place and put another group in. Hope this help.

[Alex C. 0]

Duct Tape

[Fry Flier 0]

Duct Tape

What's that Red OLB Green ?

Does that there tape come in Olive or Dunn?

 

A little more on the serious side now. Is there a tutorial or how to for spinning hair?

 

[down2earthlv 0]

When I was first learning, I downsized the groups of hair I was trying to tie on. I had to spin more times, but I had more control and it was easier to pack tighter. I have even held the bend of the hook with one hand and used the other one to push the spun hair back...BE CAREFUL NOT TO IMPALE YOURSELF DOING THIS...I know because, um, well, uhhh, you see, it was kind of a friend of mine that did it...more than once... :bs: It works really well for getting tight packs....

[Guest]

A good rule of thumb, when you think you have it packed good enough your about half way there.

[deeky 0]

I know for the first while I was putting too many wraps around each clump of hair, which caused some separation. I got better thread (kevlar and 3/0), and trusted it more, and so used fewer wraps. Took care of my gaps.

[Shaq 0]

Take a pen and take all the guts out. After each Pack, push the hair back and then put another clump on. This should eliminate the gaps between the clumps.

[Dble Haul 0]

Each time you pack the hair be sure to give a few tight wraps in fromt of the stack to kepp it back in place and put another group in. Hope this help.

 

Also, tie a half hitch in front of the most recently packed hair and hit it with a dab of flexcement. This will really help to keep it packed. I stay away from Kevlar thread because it can actually cut the deer hair. After catching one or two fish, the bug goes SPROING!!! and comes undone. This has happened to me too many times to think it's coincidence, and so now I just use sturdy 3/0 thread with elbow grease.

 

You can't really be in any hurry when spinning hair. It's time consuming, but worth the effort.

[Alex C. 0]

I just tied my first dahlburg diver style fly, only my second deer hair head fly, it's on a 1/0 hook and it felt like I would never get to the eye My thread broke about 6 times This is the first fly I've tied and half hitched along the way. Wouldn't have done it had it not for reading this thread prior to sitting down. And I am sure glad I did.

[JJD 0]

I have found that, although it's not absolutely necessary, the Brassie or Griffin Hair Packers work wonders.

 

I also use half-hitches or whips between clumps and the Brassie actually closes on the hook shank, allowing you to slide/jam the knot deep into the previous clump.

 

This is a bad picture...but, I whipped it up after all of the recent dicussions about deer hair. More out of curiosity than anything else - I crammed as much hair as I could onto this little #2 hook. With aggressive packing (when I thought I couldn't put any more on), I spun two additional small clumps on the last ~1/8" of shank. The result was hair so dense that it looked solid when trimmed.

 

 

 

and a funny one ...not packed anywhere near as dense:lol:

[dafack01 0]

 

 

 

and a funny one ...not packed anywhere near as dense:lol:

 

 

So YOU stole Nemo! You BA$TARD!

[JJD 0]

Hah!...no my 8 year-old daughter has a habit of hovering around the fly tying desk - usually when I'm in production mode. So I took a little time with her and we made some flies tailored to her tastes

[dafack01 0]

Hah!...no my 8 year-old daughter has a habit of hovering around the fly tying desk - usually when I'm in production mode. So I took a little time with her and we made some flies tailored to her tastes

 

 

 

I'm SERIOUSLY going to tie me up a Nemo fly once I get decent at spinning deer hair. I want to catch a fish on a Nemo fly. BAD.

[sulfernut 0]

All of the replies here so far are good ones indeed!!! I must concurr with the admonition to stay away from Kevlar...If you REALLY want to hone skills in this area,pick up a copy of the DVD by Jimmy Nix,called "Tying Bass Flies" It can be had for $19.95 +SH at a site called Charting Nature.com It literally changed my life!