Half Hitch Vs Whip Finish

[tfraz560 0]

I've just started tying and I have been tying my flies off with a half hitch, mainly because a whip finisher in my hand spells disaster. Is there any problem with this?

[DeweyGreen 0]

I'm just learning also I do a lot of half hitchs,But I trying to do more with a whip finisher it makes a cleaner head and knot .If I can only get the hang of it..

[flytyingscotsman 0]

 

In my opinion it's worth the effort to learn the whip finish, by hand or by tool.

 

Practise on a bare hook - you'll get more concentrated practise and won't

feel like you're spoiling the pattern you just tied if you're not confident in

your whip finishing skills yet.

 

My personal preference is to use a Matarelli style tool.

 

Go to www.youtube.com and type whip finish - there are several videos there

that should help.

 

 

[deeky 0]

I whip finish and usually by hand. I don't have the rough hands that some of these other guys do, so fraying the thread isn't usually an issue. By whipping by hand, I can really control the placement of the thread and the last layer of the head (particularly on my classic wets) and get a nice smooth finish layer. You can probably achieve this same control with the tools, I just choose to do it by hand.

[Twofingerz 0]

I do a couple half hitches before I whip finish because I know its going to take more than one attempt to do it right, and I want to get good at it.

[nyflyguy1 0]

Try this site

 

[url=http://flyfisherman.com/ftb/jbwhip/

 

[SteelieD 0]

Good question. I can proficiently whip finish (Matarelli) but sometimes do a couple of half hitches on small flies where I want less thread near the eye. I figure with the head cement that it will be cool?

 

BTW - This worked for me: Whip Finish

[Batman 0]

I very rarely whip finish my flies, i know how i just don't like my results, never looked right to me so

for the last 20 plus years i normally use half hitches. I feel i have more control, to each his own i guess,,,,,,,,,,,,,,B

[Steeldrifter 0]

tfraz560-Whip finish is far more secure in most cases so its well worth learning. Its probably one of the easiest things to learn that looks MUCH harder than it actually is. I've been tying flies for 18 years and yet I just learned the whip finish about 3 years ago because back when I started tying we didnt have sites like this or the easy of which info flows now'a days. I use to half hitch all the time but after having someone show me the whip finish it only took me about 30 seconds to pick it right up and now thats all I use. So give it a try and watch those vid's the guys linked you to and you'll be surprised just how easy it is to do.

 

Steve

[oatka 0]

I'm going to have to put my vote in for learning the whip finisher.

 

I just tied on tails for a swap I'm in. Since I was just tying in the tails (at work) I had to secure the thread so it wouldn't come loose since I was going to tie the rest of the fly later. I did about 20 of these things sunday morning and whip finished just to hold the thread in place. having done so many so quickly, it was a joy. I looked forward to whip finishing each one. The tool makes you feel powerful and almost like you can tie at the speed of light.

 

my kids like the whip finisher too, but they have not quite gotten the hang of it. My 9 year old can do it if i start it for him.

 

 

[flykid 0]

My vote is also for the matarelli whip finisher. Once you learn it you don't forget it.

[Soft-hackle 0]

The whip finish, either done by hand or with the tool, is more secure that half hitches. In my opinion, the tool works for creating neater heads once you learn how.

 

Mark

[madkasel 0]

My 8 ... oh, yeah, now 9... year old has a big streamer hook covered in an eighth of an inch of thread from practicing with his Materelli style whip finisher. A gift to him from sturgeon_catcher. He's better with it than I am because he practices it and I don't. Weird that he owns a tool that I don't! On larger patterns I often do a double whip finish.

[Alex C. 0]

I'll also vote for the whip finish knot. From tying in the peep sight on bow strings, to finishing the wraps on rod guides, and even the nail knot you use to tie your leader to your fly line are all basicly whip finish knots. I did a short video on You Tube a while back that shows how to do it by hand and with a materelli style tool, here's a link

 

Whip Finish Video

 

The only time I use any type of cement on my heads is on big flies where toothy fish such as pike might be caught with it. So far, knock on wood, I havent had any flies come apart on me. For what it's worth, half hitches do have their place also, usually in between different steps as you're tying a fly.(e.g. between each clump of deer hair as your spinning up bass bugs, etc.)

[camoham 0]

im completely new to this whole deal as well.

 

with this said, to learn how to use the whip finish tool, i had to sit down for about an hour or two watching the video over and over until i finally got it. until my hand learned to lightly hold the tool and allow it to spin around the hook eye..........i pulled hair out. practiced on a plain hook.

 

after i got that i went onto practicing final wrap placement on different parts of the head. close to eye, middle of the head, etc.

 

paranoid person that i am............i whip finish twice with 3 passes each time and pull very tight at the end.

 

somebody outta make a slow-mo video to help out new people................from placement on the thread to each bend, angle or change in orientation. of course you would need multiple for each type of finisher.

 

camoham