Making deerhair bugs more durable....

[Jackpott 0]

Hi gents

 

I was wondering what you guys did to make your bugs more durable. I spend hours tying up flies and they are super hard and packed tightly but as soon as i catch a few fish the deerhair fly is but a shadow of its former self

 

The dahlberg diver patterns etc that i tie i actually fish close to and on the bottom so im not too bothered if the fly is not as bouyant as other bugs but have any of you ever considered putting a thin coat of epoxy over your deerhair divers and poppers, and if you have what can you tell me about it?

 

i epoxy the faces of my deerhair poppers to make them more rigid and i think they look great...

 

Any other ideas to make the flies more durable would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks chaps

 

Jack

[Stippled Popper 0]

I'd worry about using something as rigid as epoxy on something as squeezable as a deer

hair fly. The expectation would be that the epoxy would soon crack.

 

But I'm just saying and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has actual experience.

 

[Jackpott 0]

I'd worry about using something as rigid as epoxy on something as squeezable as a deer

hair fly. The expectation would be that the epoxy would soon crack.

 

But I'm just saying and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has actual experience.

 

agreed however i would rather have an epoxy fly that starts to crack after 15 fish than a hair fly that starts to rip apart after 4 or 5

[JSzymczyk 0]

Flexament.

 

Deer hair bug trimmed close to the shank on the bottom of the fly- I use a small brush or even a bodkin and apply a sufficient amount of thin flexament along the shank so that it soaks in and saturates the thread wraps and the deer hair along the shank. It holds everything together very well. On a tightly packed bug, I have even brushed on thin flexament to the entire deer hair portion of the fly and had great results. IMO epoxy is too heavy and brittle. The flexament is very tough, light, and flexible. I make my own with Shoe-Goo and Toluene, so I don't know how the viscosity compares to what you buy in the shop- but it should be fairly thin.

[bigfoot 0]

Thanks for the tip on flexament I will give that a try on the next batch of deer hair flies I tie. I was experienceing the same problem after catching a few fish.

[Hairstacker 0]

I don't know . . . I fish both my deer hair poppers and divers as topwater flies and haven't felt the need to apply anything to make them more durable. Bill Tapply (whose father invented the "Tap's Bug" deer hair popper) argued in his book, "Bass Bug Fishing," that one of the key advantages of a deer hair bass bug over a hard-bodied one is its softer, more natural feel which he speculated prompted bass to hold on to it longer; thus, I would think the addition of epoxy or something similar could provide a hard surface feel that could concede this advantage. I would also think anything applied to the surface could conceivably also add weight that could change the presentation.

 

In any event, I have found my deer hair bugs are good for quite a few sessions so I haven't bothered to do anything but tie them. For example, here's the condition of a diver after several fishing trips where it was mauled by many bass. The weedguard is pretty tweaked but it's still fishable:

 

 

-- Mike

[bigfoot 0]

Hairstacker the fly stand looks great. If you don't mind me asking is that an ezee grip hackle plier holding the fly in the wood block? Thanks for any help.

[Hairstacker 0]

Hairstacker the fly stand looks great. If you don't mind me asking is that an ezee grip hackle plier holding the fly in the wood block? Thanks for any help.

 

It's an electrical test clip sold at Radio Shack in packages of two for about $4. They're perfect for an easy-to-make display stand -- all you need to do is take a piece of wood and drill holes through it:

 

 

If you want to get fancy, you can glue rubber feet on the bottom of each corner for a non-slip, non-scratching stand. Anyway, I keep on hand a couple dozen of these clips so when I tie up, say, a dozen swap flies, I just stick 'em in the stand after completing each one -- that way, I can see them all at once to make sure I'm tying up a decent, consistent batch of flies.

 

-- Mike

[bigfoot 0]

Thanks for the help I will be heading to radio shack this week. I've been needing to make a fly stand for sometime and when I see the picture you posted I thought that would work great. Thanks again for the help.

[Jackpott 0]

Flexament.

 

Deer hair bug trimmed close to the shank on the bottom of the fly- I use a small brush or even a bodkin and apply a sufficient amount of thin flexament along the shank so that it soaks in and saturates the thread wraps and the deer hair along the shank. It holds everything together very well. On a tightly packed bug, I have even brushed on thin flexament to the entire deer hair portion of the fly and had great results. IMO epoxy is too heavy and brittle. The flexament is very tough, light, and flexible. I make my own with Shoe-Goo and Toluene, so I don't know how the viscosity compares to what you buy in the shop- but it should be fairly thin.

 

You sir are the man!

 

will try this out and report back.

[perchjerker 0]

JSzymczyk is pretty much dead on with the Flexament. Most, if not all, of my deer hair bug making associates coat the bottom of their bugs with Flexament. Not so much to make them more durable, but rather to help waterproof them. The cut ends of the hairs that have 'empty' air cells exposed will take up water; resulting in a bug that becomes heavier, and thus harder to cast, and that also rides differently in the water. Coating the bottom with Flexament seals the empty air cells shut.

 

We also quite frequently coat the front side of the diving collar on a Dahlberg Diver to facilitate a slightly deeper dive with little effort. It is more rigid than uncoated hair and thus forces the bug down more effectively.

 

If your bugs are coming apart after only a few fish, my inclination is that it is due to a tying shortcoming. If so, my guess would be that the thread was not pulled tight enough with each bunch spun, and not adequately reinforced in front of each bunch. This should not be happening with a well tied bug.

 

aged sage

[TheCream 0]

I never really have trouble with the deer hair not holding up durability-wise, but I have noticed them becoming less buoyant and losing some of their floatation after fishing them a while. The Flexament would be something good to try. The floatability issue was the main reason I switched to more foam topwaters. Most of my tying is (or tries to lean towards being) functional in nature, and the foam gives me that. But, a well-spun deer hair bug is truly a work of art! :headbang:

[Steve P 0]

About the only deer hair bugs I reinforce is a mouse since they seem to get the most abuse.... I just put a decent layer of super glue on the bottom of them after trimming is complete. Other than that I just fish em.'

 

Steve

[Jackpott 0]

JSzymczyk is pretty much dead on with the Flexament. Most, if not all, of my deer hair bug making associates coat the bottom of their bugs with Flexament. Not so much to make them more durable, but rather to help waterproof them. The cut ends of the hairs that have 'empty' air cells exposed will take up water; resulting in a bug that becomes heavier, and thus harder to cast, and that also rides differently in the water. Coating the bottom with Flexament seals the empty air cells shut.

 

We also quite frequently coat the front side of the diving collar on a Dahlberg Diver to facilitate a slightly deeper dive with little effort. It is more rigid than uncoated hair and thus forces the bug down more effectively.

 

If your bugs are coming apart after only a few fish, my inclination is that it is due to a tying shortcoming. If so, my guess would be that the thread was not pulled tight enough with each bunch spun, and not adequately reinforced in front of each bunch. This should not be happening with a well tied bug.

 

aged sage

 

the bugs are not being destroyed at all, but definately do not resemble what they did when i posted photos of them. They look very similar to the bug that hairstacker posted above after catching fish. In fairness i am fishing for catfish which have tiny little rough teeth on their pallet. Even the plastic eyes have rough scrape marks on them. its just upsetting to see hours of work go to waste after a few fish, they are still most definately fishable but....just not the same

Believe me, the hair dont get tighter

[flyfishingtaz 0]

I throw two whip finish knots after each stack/spin of hair, then pack, and cement at the knot. It seems to work for Me. Then once the bug is completely tied, I add a thick layer of cement on the belly, and head of the fly. Seems to last for about 15 fish max. By that time, most of the bass have seemed to shred the fly apart anyways, no matter how well they were tied.