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KOKOEK9

tinsel bodied streamer

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Hi, can you weight a tinsel bodied streamer, I was wondering because with a tinsel body you need a smooth base and weight isn't smooth

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Yes you can. I presume you are talking about putting weight along the hook shank, not adding a bead or weighted eyes.

 

Lead tape goes on flat, you can easily put a tinsel body over that. If you don't have lead tape then you can roll lead wire flat using a small metal bar like a rolling pin. I use a round bodkin handle. Don't try to get it flat in one pass, work it thinner a bit at a time.

 

Start your tinsel at the head end of the hook shank and put layers down and back to the head. Then any step will be covered by the materials you attach there.

 

A couple of other tips. If you are using self adhesive lead wind it on with the adhesive side outwards. This makes it much easier to tie over.

 

You will need square ends to your lead. To get these hold the tag ends out from the hook shank at the angle you are winding it. Cur the tape with your scissors at 90 degrees to the hook shank. This will give you a tapering point, which, when wound, will finish off the lead square.

 

The self adhesive lead is best cut with a steel rule and craft knife (do not use a scalpel, they have a flexible blade, designed for cutting flesh, and will wander). If you score through to the backing tape but not all the way through you can cut the whole piece at once and have the strips of lead ready to go on the backing. Cut length ways along the lead to get more from your sheet. Each time you wind a strip there will be some discard. If you cut a longer strip it may do two or three flies per strip for the same amount of waste that you will get per fly if you cut it width ways.

 

Hope there is some help in all that.

Cheers,

C.

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Also you can use french metal tinsel which believe it or not adds a nice amount of weight to your pattern, like a lagartun flat metallic...assuming you are using a mylar which adds no weight.

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you can also use round lead wire that's been over wrapped with thread and a double layer of tinsel

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or you could use tinsel over lead wire for a cool ribbed look. Who says you have to "have" a smooth body?

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I use something like Diamond Braid over lead wire instead of tinsel. It doesn't look the same as smooth tinsel, but provides color and flash and covers better.

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You also can use a UV resin or Epoxy. Say you are going to tie up 6 streamers. take the hooks out and the weighting tape/wire you will use (tungsten or lead) and wrap the shank and position the material. if it's wire, a light dab of CA glue (super glue or similar) on the bare hook shank will hold it in place. wrap on your weight and use a bodkin needle or your fingernail to smoosh down the tag ends so they are smooth.

 

Set that hook aside so the CA dries.

 

when done with weighting, put the first hook back in the vice and lightly coat it with epoxy (then put it in a turner) OR with a UV resin like CCG, or bug bond or loon or what not. zap it with the light, and you are likely good if you put an even coat on.

 

With this approach, you will also be able to create a taper on and off the weighting if you want... just use the resin/epoxy to do that.

 

You can also create a modestly weighted tinsel body streamer by putting the tinsel on normally over the shank... But then cover with a few coats of resin or epoxy. that material in itself adds weight - often plenty for a bucktail streamer...

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Good idea Will K. I am not a big epoxy guy but I do like the new UV resins. Plus I never liked "wasting" floss on things like covering up lead wire. Which is a little silly since floss is one of the cheapest materials I have in my tying desk.

 

Steve

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