Tying with Cones ....

[kerusso 0]

I've got a problem I can't seem to work out. Seems everytime I use cones I have a big gap of wound thread at the tie off point. I especially have this problem when tying some zonker of leech patterns using rabbit or Pine Squirrel. It's also a problem with woolly buggers. I've seen some of what you guys have tied and some of your patterns completely hide the tie off thread right behind the cone. How do you do it? Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Kerusso

[JSzymczyk 0]

woolly buggers= Make sure your cone head is jamming against the hook eye when you're working on the front of the fly. Bring your body material ALL THE WAY up against and into the hollow behind the cone head, and tie off with several wraps of thread - keeping tension angled out towards the hook eye. You'll see the cone wobble a little bit with each wrap. Same for the hackle. 3 good tight wraps should do it, then pull the hackle stem back and lock it in with a few more tight wraps. With correct tension on the hackle, the last couple wraps of the the hackle should actually fall in front of the body material, up under/behind the hollow of the cone. I finger-whip-finish the thread behind the cone with the same forward tension. I finish off the fly by holding it upright and dripping a few drips of zap=a=gap thin formula down from the hook eye through the hole in the cone. That penetrates the thread wraps. That's the best I can do in words... just keep practicing, and keep the thread tension out towards the front of the fly when working at the back of the cone.

 

[JSzymczyk 0]

PS- if you go too sparse with your materials, it will make it easier for the cone to give you trouble. My point of view is: if you're adding the flash and profile of a cone head, there is no reason to dress the fly overly sparse. If you want a sparse fly, use a tiny bead or just use a tiny dinsmore split shot on your leader.

[maddog48 0]

Build up a little bit of a thorax out of dubbing. I've done it that way and it worked okay for me.

 

 

Mike

[fly time 0]

Very well put!!!

 

 

Dustin

[kerusso 0]

JSzymczyk,

 

THat's just what I needed to hear (and see); thanks for the tip and picture as well. I've tried the dubbing but I'm not crazy about the outcome. I mean, it works, but I'd like to tie them more "tight". Thanks fellows.

[JSzymczyk 0]

My advise is to go with chenille for your woolly bugger bodies. I've always found slight color or texture variations are irrelevant for bugger bodies, and dubbing bodies have no advantage for buggers. Just my opinion.

[morfrost 0]

I've recently tried tying with coneheads and have tied a few Conehead Muddlers. I'm happy with the results

 

I start by building a small pad of thread just behind the eye; starting maybe 1/16" behind the eye. I make it thick enough to be able to slide the conehead onto. I finish off with a whip finish knot , then break off the thread.

 

I slide the conehead in place and start to tie the Muddler body, reapplying thread where I want it.

 

When I spin the deer hair for the head I spin right up against the back of the conehead. To finish off I take a loop of tying thread, maybe 8 " long, fold it into a loop and place on top of the hook, with about 1-1/2" of the loop facing forward from the junction of deer hair and conehead. I then take 3-4 wraps of thread around the loop at the junction of hair and conehead. I put my left index finger ( for right handers)on top of the thread and let bobbin hang down. Pull bobbin down to expose a few inches of thread, then cut thread.

Take the free end of your tying thread and fish it through the loop of tying thread. Pull the free ends of the loop. THis will draw the tying thread under the loops of thread at the tie off point and create a whip finish, drwing the knot down to the shank just behind the head.

 

Voila

[JSzymczyk 0]

:headbang: :thumbup:

[bowfin47 0]

Rather than try to fill the gap behind the cone with thread, fill it with lead wire or lead subtitute; or slip on an appropriately sized red (or other colored) plastic or metal bead to fill the gap, then just make a small whip finish behind the bead.

[Iowaflyguy 0]

I fill in the space with a glass bead. For a medium cone I use a 3.5mm bead Most of

the bead slips inside the cone almost completely. leaving only enough exposed to build a

thread stop. The cone is tightly wedged by the bead and will not flop around.

 

-Tom

 

oops sorry bowfin I did not see your post.