deer hair success!!!

[gill buster 0]

I got done with these few deer hair bugs and was wondering if I did a good job or not so I figured I'd throw it out there for you guys to see. I made the blue one from the "hide" of a stuffed animal i won at the fair last week and was wondering what you guys thought about it too. seems for some reason that i can only get one to load :wallbash: so here it is. well i tried but i cant get it to work so heres the url for my yahoo pics page...

[deeky 0]

Gill -

 

I would make a couple of comments, but consider them based on how you want them to fish.

 

First, the hair could be packed tighter, particularly if you want them to float high. For the diver, though, it may be ok as it will dive easier with less hair.

 

Second, I would have more of a tail on the black and white popper. While the name implies the popping action of the head is the draw for the fish, usually that only gets their attention. It's the smaller movements of the tail in the pauses that seals the deal. Tie in some hackles curve out or some marabou or something similar.

 

They will undoubtedly catch fish as they are, but if you are looking to improve, those are my suggestions. Good even trimming on the diver and good color separation on the popper.

 

Deeky

[Hairstacker 0]

Hey, you've figured it out! Congratulations, you're definitely on your way. The Tap's Bug in white with a red head is one of my all-time favorites, and I've caught A LOT of bass on those things. In fact, the bass in my avatar was caught on one.

 

A few suggestions. . . . It looks like you tied it on a long streamer hook. Assuming you're tying for largemouth bass, try a size 2 Tiemco or Targus 8089 bass bug hook instead -- it'll give you far better hook-to-fly proportions and will provide a good sized hook gap for better hook-ups.

 

In addition to spinning the hair, try stacking hair on both sides of the color line (i.e., a stack of white on top of the last spun bunch of white before switching to black, and a stack of black on top of the first spun bunch of black) and stack more black bunches as you move up and complete the head. These stacked bunches will provide a tighter head that is more integrated with the body.

 

After you spin and stack each of the bunches of hair, do 2 or 3 half-hitches, grab the hook with your left hand, and pack the hell out of the hair with your right hand. I mean it, use magnum force.

 

Lastly, tie in the tail further up from the bend. As you've seen, when you stack deer hair at the tail tie-in point, it tends to migrate this whole transition point backwards toward the bend of the hook.

 

Anyway, since I've tied a ton of these Tap's Bugs, I thought I'd just offer a few suggestions to get you to the next level.

 

-- Mike

[Hairstacker 0]

Deeky, on a Tap's Bug, the tail is tied with either bucktail or deer body hair. (I use bucktail myself.) Its length should be equal to the length of the body/head of the fly. Hard to tell by the picture, but it looks to me like gill buster got it just about right or maybe it should be just a tad longer.

 

When H. G. Tapply invented this bug, he originally experimented with hackles and what not for the tail. Ultimately, he settled on just deer hair so that it would offer little wind resistance and he could toss the things using lighter trout tackle.

 

As far as heads on a Dahlberg, actually you want those as tight as possible, actually much more so than on a Tap's Bug. It is the shape of the head and collar on the Dahlberg that allows it to dive, not a looser-packed head. By packing the head as tight as you can get it, it will float a little higher and will take a lot of air bubbles down with it when it dives. Unfortunately, no matter how tightly you pack the Dahlberg's head, eventually the head will become soaked, the fly will sit lower in the surface, and it just won't fish as well when you strip. It will also take longer for it to surface once the head is soaked, which will slow down your retrieve if they happen to be hitting a fast retrieve on a given day. In all cases, once the head on a Dahlberg is soaked, you'll want to tie a new one on. When I tie Divers, I strive to stack and pack the head so tight that you can no longer distinguish individual hairs on the top of the head once I trim it with a double-edged razor blade.

 

Conversely, if you pack the head on a Tap's Bug too tightly, it actually doesn't fish as well, as it will tend to skip across the surface a lot when you first start fishing it. With the Tap's Bug, there is a medium packing to strive for that will allow you to alternately fish it above and/or below the surface as you desire by manipulating your rod tip location and stripping style. That's the real genius and beauty of the Tap's Bug -- it can be made to retrieve and fish in so many different ways.

 

-- Mike

[jschmidt63 0]

heck not bad at all, great work. Watch your hook gap, get a brassy hair packer if you dont have one and think of trying gelspun if your not already, will help that much more.

 

 

[gill buster 0]

well now im confused... thought i knew what was going on but geuss not. i thought stacking was the putting the hair in the stacker and pounding it loud enough to make everyone in the house go crazy till the tips were lined up. sounds like what your trying to say its its some way to tie in hair. :dunno: :wallbash: :dunno:

 

but thanks for the comments and tips :headbang:

 

[Hairstacker 0]

gill buster, the term "stacking" is indeed used to denote the act of evening up the hair tips in a hair stacker, as you've just described.

 

As you noted, though, it is also a term used to describe a way of tying in deer hair. Basically, you just lay a bunch of hair on top, for example, and tie in tight thread wraps to cause the hair to flair BUT while retaining your hold on the hair so it doesn't spin around the hook. Thus, you basicaly have two methods of creating the body on a deer hair bass bug -- "spinning" and "stacking".

 

-- Mike

[gill buster 0]

i think i get it now but i gotta tie some flys for a swap now so itll be a bit before i can try. im probably going to be making a call or email to chris helms place requesting some red deer hair, a brassie packer, and gel spun. that taps bug was the first time for me to break 3/0 thread, and the second, third, fourth and fifth time too. but what about that blue leech guy will he work at all??

[gill buster 0]

i spoke with hairstacker in chat and figured id post the update so otheres can learn from my mistake or misjudgement. i thought when he said stack hair the way he described he ment to move along the shank but you actually pile it right on top of the bundle. and hairstacker i cannot say how much i appreciate your help and i look forward to someday swapping deer hair bugs with you.

[madkasel 0]

Nice! And I learned a lot from the suggestions everyone gave you, so thanks for the post.

 

Try mixing in some angel hair with the deer hair for the tail... works awesome.... adds a bit of sparkle and great movement.

[Guest]

You're off to a good start gill buster! Keep it up!

[gill buster 0]

so tonight i went to the vice and made a stab at a #10 tap's bug for bluegill use. i got to packing and a stacking pretty well. on what was going to be the last stack and pack i was packing and heard a distinct sound. it was different from that of the normal thread breaking sound. since my arm was halfway across the room i had an idea as to what it was when i looked in my hand and still saw the fly then in the vice and saw the hook i thought of another tip hairstacker left out. dont pack it so hard you break the hook :wallbash: :wallbash:

[Hairstacker 0]

I've torque'd a few hooks but I must admit I've never actually broken one. By the way, a time-saving tip: assuming you're tying Tap's Bugs with deer hair of adequate length, don't bother stacking the hair -- you're going to end up trimming off the unequal-length tips anyway.

 

-- Mike

[gill buster 0]

i meant tie in stacking not pound the tips even stacking. way to many stacking terms.

[gill buster 0]

 

well any improvements????