cougar_bait

I'd definately go for the removal of all veins on the non-used side of the feather. It sounds like the feather is rolling over due to the fibers' mass between the shaft and the shank. If you wrap the hackle by hand then learn the soft touch when wrapping that allows the feather to gently slide through your fingers as you wrap. With time you'll be able to hold the entire thing together as mentioned above with the opposite hand then, with the wrapping hand, let go and re-grip the hackle feather. If you lay your hackle with hackle plyers, try not holding the plyers but, instead, use your finger (thru the hole in the plyer) and let your finger work as a shock absorber, using finger tension. The plyers are tough for me but then... What's best for one is terrible for the other - best o'luck. Keep in mind also that the hackle from a different location on the cape may lay in the opposite direction and that can tell you a little something. Perhaps another cape sample? Also, if you've got an jewlers eye loop of magnifying glass, strip one side of the feather shaft and see if the shaft is at angle to its' centerline. Maybe wind the hackle backwards and see if you get the same result (you don't have to tie it off: trying to may cause all your tying thread to "flip-out" and you can lose the bug). Again, best of luck. Perhaps it is a tension issue but only you will figure it out. Line up all the ducks and knock 'em down one at a time. It will become clear at some point.

Howdy - Here's a few rantings from an old(er) guy. You didn't mention if it's a handling, laying or tying problem You also didn't mention: are you tying the hackle down at the tip or root? Are you stripping the excess from the root end prior to tying attaching it to the hook (just to get the riffraff out of your way)? Are you splitting the feather and as a result only using one side of the hackle? Is there a base material on the hook that the hackle is lying upon? Tying from one end leaves the hackle laying rear-ward, while trying from the other (small end) leaves the hackle standing tall. Remove all the short veins from one side of the feather to make handling easier and the finished hackle more controlled. Remove all the "riffraff" from the feather, that won't be used, in advance of attaching it to the hook. Tie from tip: leave the last few bits of the veins un-stripped from the small end, but remove a few where the thread will lay over it, then lay the hackle in... trim the tip. Removing just those few veins at the tip of the feather allows the thread to lay onto the feathers' weak-end of its' shaft very nicely. You may want to lay a very, very small amount of head cement upon the shaft to help hold the feather shaft as you wrap. Wipe-off almost all that you applied, leaving only a soft film which the feathers' shaft may sit quietly. Most importantly: make a zig-zag motion when wrapping the feather. This allows the individual veins to stand-up and not be mashed-down. With hackle, a large number of wraps is not necessary as it is used to make a blurred appearance on the waters surface when seen by the fish. Alas, the more veins the higher it will float and the dryer it will stay (& perhaps appear more alive or active to the fish). Hackle knotting tools can be a bear to operate. Look for finishing knots you can tie by hand; a simple half-hitch works to hold it all in place, though a single or double whip knot is not as difficult as it appears. Once you've tied 20 or 30 on a bare, long-shanked hook you'll have it down. Lay your non-thread-using finger across the hackle, on top of the fly, parallel with the hood-shaft, moving the finger slightly rearward until contact is made with the hook. This lays the hackle veins rearward and out of harms way and, also holds the tying thread in-place and allows you to introduce (dangerous) slack in the thread while you knot the bug. With your finger holding the fly hackle out of the way and the thread tight to the hook, use the thread-hand to create one half-hitch knot over the looped (leader) end of the hook - snug the thread. Now you can free the other hand from the bug and that one half-hitch will hold everything in place until you can throw a quit whip finish on the thing. As you get better/more sensitive holding the hackle and threads after the hackle is in-place, you can place two whip knots; trim and cement. Be certain to tie the body of the bug no further than over half the length of the hook-shaft as the hackle and head will take-up the other half. When I finish my fly, I lay my finger along the shaft as mentioned above then, when tying-off the bug I actually let the threads knot wrap my "holding" finger. The thread then slides from my finger tip onto the hook just behind the wire's hoop bend. Do this twice, trim, dope and it's ready for the box. The references made above to the feather might be viewed at http://www.kidwings.com/bodyparts/feathers/parts/index.htm. I don't know if I should mention this on this site but... I sell a product to make handling and tying knots a lot easier. Feel free to visit www.flytyersfingertreatment.com. Read about it and see if this may help your problem. I hope all this blither helps you some. Christopher Ps I'm certainly no bait fisherman, I couldn't catch the flu with bait. Any idea how I can change that little BAIT FISHERMAN text next to my name/handle? :crying:

Read about it - this is what others have said and are doing about their rough fingers and fly tying http://www.flytyersfingertreatment.com http://www.flytyersfingertreatment.com/TreatmentBlog/?cat=1 Fly Angler's On-Line has been the <almost> only info source for this stuff, it's new since mid-October, '06

I've tried all that other stuff, so I contacted someone to help me design the right stuff. 100% natural, not silicone based, washes off with water. Read the blog entries at http://www.flytyersfingertreatment.com/TreatmentBlog/?cat=1 The product is NEW... released this October to a select group and you really should read what they say. I've been making/using this stuff for years and only giving it to friends and a very select few, now I make it available to all tying folks. 35 years of tieing and laying laying lines and I'm looking forward to spending some quality time here. A new place for sanity in a wierd world. :wallbash: It's good to be around talent, knowledge and histerical.... no, historical info. Great to be here, lots of info to keep me on my game.

Fly Tyer's Finger Treatment... flytyersfingertreatment.com. You're welcome to check this site out and view the product. No CrackCreme, no Bankers Hand Creme, no Pumus stones. Thanks.