Atlantic Salmon Flies

[Futzer 0]

Hey Jcons,

 

Very nice flies. In my opinion they are great. I personally like to have as small of a head on my flies as possible. I find when using squirrel tail you have to compromise with the size of the head because it is a very slippery material, i.e. you can pull the wing out of the flies if they are not tied in enough. I always give my wings a very tight pull after I have it tied in. If I pull it out because it isnt tied in well enough I can unwrap and tie it back in again. I do think your head on the highlander varient is a little big for my taste but I am sure that wing is locked in there solidly.

 

Oregon Midge has provided a very nice example of a body. He is one heck of a tier! For my fishing flies I like them to be fairly sparse and therefore I do not build up much of a body. What I do it start at the loop and work back always making sure my thread is flat and side by side with the last wrap. When I tie in materials I only use 2-4 wraps and do not make bumps while doing this. so when I move the thread up the head of the fly to tie in the floss the body is very flat. For my fishing flies I do not burnish the body, but it wouldn't hurt.

 

Anyways, where about are you located on the rock? Im on the Avalon. There are a few other islanders on this site.

 

All the best,

 

Phil

 

One tip Phil and JConns with the squirrel, I cut the stacked hair to length and while holding it in my left thumb and forefinger, with just the tie in exposed. I take my bottle of griffs thin cement that has a small applicator brush and put a drop on the tie in point, then tie it in with 3 wraps and 1 behind and two more in front. That will get rid of your loose hair issues. Shoot me a message if you'd like that demo-ed with pics.

 

Cheers Futzer

[RoyalWulff 0]

Thanks Futzer,

 

I always precut my wings no matter the material. I anchor the wing in with a few wraps and then do one behind the wing and finish in front. I do not put anything on the butt ends prior to whip finishing.

 

I am always open to honing my techniques. Futzer can you do that tutorial on a salmon fly in size 8 or 10. I would appreciate those sizes because those are the sizes I tie and fish.

 

thanks a lot you rock,

 

Phil

[Futzer 0]

Thanks Futzer,

 

I always precut my wings no matter the material. I anchor the wing in with a few wraps and then do one behind the wing and finish in front. I do not put anything on the butt ends prior to whip finishing.

 

I am always open to honing my techniques. Futzer can you do that tutorial on a salmon fly in size 8 or 10. I would appreciate those sizes because those are the sizes I tie and fish.

 

thanks a lot you rock,

 

Phil

 

You got it Phil, it will take me a day or two, got an interesting work week. But Happy too.

 

[FWALSH 0]

When you are using squirrel hair for the wing it helps to cut the butts at about a 45 degree angle and to secure the hairto the hook in halves . By this I mean to hold the hair on the shank with your left thumb and forefinger around the hair and carefully bring the thread through the lower half with a couple of wraps and then wrap the top half with a couple more wraps . At this point I usually stop and apply a bit of lacquer and let it soak in before proceeding further wrapping thread to form the head and complete the fly . I've used this technique for a number of years and it works well .........Frank

[RoyalWulff 0]

Frank,

 

Do you use this method for flies in size 10 and 12? I will give this a shot later.

 

Also are you heading to saen thursday?

 

Phil

[FWALSH 0]

Phil : I use this technique on all my salmon flies no matter what size . It makes for a more secure wing when properly done . With regard to SAEN for Thursday night ( Jan 29/09 ) it has been cancelled due to the snowstorm hitting us today....Frank

[RoyalWulff 0]

Thanks for the update Frank. I was planning on going until noon today. What an awful day out. I have had to miss my class because of the weather.

 

Phil