sulfernut

Come to think of it,C-Joe,your idea might actually make more sense!! ( You have more control over the size of the handle!) Many thanks!! Sulfernut

I really must agree with all of the respondents who have suggested using flat waxed nylon....I use it for ALL of my saltwater,and alot of my bass and warmwater work. Another suggestion I would offer,regarding keeping the head a managable and "neat" size: Instead of tying down a 4 inch length of bucktail for a 3 inch wing,and trimming the butts,measure the hank of hair you want to the size of the wing you want,and cut it off there,BEFORE you tie it in,leaving virtually NO butts to trim off!! I saw this trick on an instructional video some time ago,and have been using it religiously ever since. It really helps!!

Books are terrific,and I have my share...BUT... If I were you,I'd check out some videos!! I have been tying for close to 40 years...About 7 years ago,I found a fly shop in my area,that had an extensive library of videos that they would rent out. Naturally,I sampled them all!! I've got to tell you,I learned more watching a two hour video than I had in YEARS of trying to learn from books!!!! It was truly remarkable!! I had always had trouble with upright-divided hair wings....watched Jack Dennis's video on tying western patterns,went into my tying room,and turned out a dozen Humpy's and Wulffs,that were "proffesional grade"!! As good as books are,and there are many good ones out there,NOTHING can beat actually watching an acomplished tyer DO his thing,up close!

For very small flies ( #20- #26) I prefer CDC,provided you can find feathers with barbules of a decent length. I strip two bunches of barbules from the quill,align them "butt" to "tip" and tie them in...then,they can be either clipped or pinched to size. On larger patterns,where CDC is not an option, I'll use poly,but it must be the RIGHT poly!! Some that I've used in the past is just too dense,and/or winds up kinking and curling up,after a trip or two to the water! Just the other day,the very last fly shop within 50 miles of me closed it's doors I went there two days before closing looking for some deals but everything had been pretty much cleaned out...I DID however find some stuff that looks alot like Z-Lon,only with a finer texture. It turned out to be PERFECT spinner wing material!!! Stupidly,I removed it from it's original package,to put it on a rack that I use for such things,and I believe I DISCARDED THE BAG IT CAME IN!!!! Should I be able to find it,I will let you know!!!! PS: DID find some SA fly lines at 1/2 price,at the closeout sale!!

Does anyone know where one might find the bodkins used in the "Renzetti' and "Griffs" cement applicator jars? I have a BAGFUL of 1oz. polyseal jars collected over the years,and would like to make use of them,provided I can find some of the aforementioned bodkins at a reasonable price!