Bugle Bead fly mount

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

A few folks have asked what I use to hold the fly in position for photographing. A hackle plier or vise or hemostat is much easier and I use that often to show a fly. However, for this project for Stu, I wanted a more refined look so I went to the old shadow box fly mounting method I learned years ago. It is a little bit of work and set up but once you do a few, it gets easier.

It is a little bit different for a shadow box. For mounting in a shadow box, you poke a hole in the background and glue the bugle bead in place and then loop the fly to it and on the back of the board, jam the toothpick in and glue it. After the glue dries, you snip the tooth pick off flush with the back of the back board.

 

Kirk

 

 

 

Here you can put the fly in the loop to go around any part of the fly that will best hide the post, sometimes behind the head or around the body, etc.

 

Once the toothpick is in, you can pull the mono a little tighter if it has slipped loose any.

 

Here, you stick the toothpick in to the background, a good material is felt or light denim over a block of foam or cardboard.

 

 

Granted, you can see the post behind the bend of the hook but it is still pretty unobstrusive.

[Fred H. 0]

Wow. Thanks for posting this kirk.I definetly going to give this a try soon.

Fred

[MowestFlyfisher 0]

That is really cool I am going to have to do that with some of my flies

 

[Horseshoes 0]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

[Tybugs1 0]

Thanks for sharing that Kirk. It was a cool way to do this. I have a bunch to do and this was a cool idea.

[Mr. Vegas 0]

this is great! I have been cutting the ends off q-tips and sing the same thing, since they are hollow

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

You're welcome everyone, glad I was able to contribute.

 

Mr. Vegas, Q-tips are a good idea. I like that.

 

Kirk

[Mr. Vegas 0]

You're welcome everyone, glad I was able to contribute.

 

Mr. Vegas, Q-tips are a good idea. I like that.

 

Kirk

 

I am doing a fly tying demo and made some fly holders out of q-tips so I can pass them around whoever is watching. I also used rubber legs so they can strech to put the hooks in. I will tie a knot in the legs and I can cinch the hook down and it holds remarkably well

[Crotalus 0]

Thanks for the tutorial!!!

[centerx 0]

Very cool tip! Thanks!

[boynabubble 0]

That is a great way to photograph the whole fly that I would have never thought of. Thanks for posting this!

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi Kirk,

 

I love the idea and quite frankly over the years had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder BUT how do you get rid of the mono (or anything showing) around the hook? Do you use Photoshop? What tool? Currently when I want a pic of a fly outside of the vise I hang it from a mono loop and shoot the pic. Then in PS I rotate the fly 1/4 turn and clone out the mono. The process works great but I'm really looking for something better (and faster). Your process just might be it! Thanks again. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - (Gretchen &) Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Hi Al, I prefer not to have to do anything in Photoshop so I try to hide the mount point with the fly like in the sample at the top of the post. On some flies, I can thread the mono through the body too so it doesn't show.

If I was photographing for someone that was concerned about seeing any hint of the mount, then I guess I would have to clone it out in Photoshop. The other option would be to try and set the fly up on some kind of background that would support the fly for a nice presentation but look natural in doing so.

I usually process in Lightroom and do any image marrying, cloning, adding text or other manipulation if required in Photoshop.

 

Oh, I wouldn't call this process fast but it isn't very difficult. I do find I need to sand the toothpick with a nail file to get it to fit in to the bead. There may be other ways of securing the mono in the bugle bead. It does beat having to clone.

 

Kirk

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi Al, I prefer not to have to do anything in Photoshop so I try to hide the mount point with the fly like in the sample at the top of the post. On some flies, I can thread the mono through the body too so it doesn't show.

If I was photographing for someone that was concerned about seeing any hint of the mount, then I guess I would have to clone it out in Photoshop. The other option would be to try and set the fly up on some kind of background that would support the fly for a nice presentation but look natural in doing so.

I usually process in Lightroom and do any image marrying, cloning, adding text or other manipulation if required in Photoshop.

 

Oh, I wouldn't call this process fast but it isn't very difficult. I do find I need to sand the toothpick with a nail file to get it to fit in to the bead. There may be other ways of securing the mono in the bugle bead. It does beat having to clone.

 

Kirk

 

Hi Kirk,

 

Thanks so much for the reply, your results look really good. Like you I do most of my pic editing in Lightroom then do a Ctrl E to get the partly-edited shot over to Photoshop to finish the job. Gretchen got me a book on Lightroom 3 for my birthday so I've been spending my first hour each morning drinking a cup of coffee and studying it. Lightroom can certainly do some fun things. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - (Gretchen &) Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com