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Jackpott

Making deerhair bugs more durable....

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Hi gents

 

"... the deerhair fly is but a shadow of its former self :rolleyes:

 

Jackpott:

 

Sorry that I grossly misinterpreted your description of what they look like after a few fish. Assuming that I know understand correctly what your problem is, simply steaming them in the steam stream from a tea kettle will make them look like new again! You won't believe your eyes!

 

perchjerker

 

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Hi gents

 

"... the deerhair fly is but a shadow of its former self :rolleyes:

 

Jackpott:

 

Sorry that I grossly misinterpreted your description of what they look like after a few fish. Assuming that I know understand correctly what your problem is, simply steaming them in the steam stream from a tea kettle will make them look like new again! You won't believe your eyes!

 

perchjerker

 

Really? thats awesome!!! thanks for the tip mate, much appreciated! Absolutely nothing to apologise about ;)

I have tied a rough prototype (too rough for me to post lol) of a epoxy chartruese diver pattern. I layerd a very thin coat of epoxy over very tightly packed deerhair and....well...it looks GREAT! :bugeyes:

I did not put the eyes on properly or trim it quite as well as i should have as it is a prototype.

Im going to test it on the water and report back as to:

 

1. Action

2. Castability

3. Floatation

4. Durability

 

p.s still feels very light and have left the backward part of the deerhair collar free of epoxy, might drop a few drops of hydrostop permament fly floatant in there to seep in to the head from the back.... But i think the epoxy will actually seal in airpockets quite nicely. Was very impressed with the outcome.

 

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Right well the Jury is in about Epoxied Deerhair divers....

 

I N C R E D I B L E

 

i will never tie another diver again without giving it a layer of epoxy.

 

The fly dived better, it pushed more water, it popped better, it was easy to cast, it floated better---- EVERYTHING!

 

and after a full days fishing, and even when my dropper fly got stuck in its face after a mishap cast, the fly looks...... exactly like it did when it came out the vice.

 

The epoxy also gives it a nice shine and prevents the colour from fading. AWESOME.

 

Just try it.

 

Will post pix of the fly later this evening.

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"bottom of their bugs with Flexament. Not so much to make them more durable, but rather to help waterproof them. "

 

I water proof my bugs with a spray bottle of scotch guard !!

 

blessings,

jeremy

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The Scotch Guard does, in fact, work quite well. However, it needs to be periodically reapplied in my experience, whereas the home-made flexament is permanent. One treatment does it, and it is so easy to apply while you are using the flexament to cement the head.

 

I have used Scotch Guard for years to treat all of my dry flies with before ever putting them in a fly box. Works great; just needs to be periodically redone, like any other dry fly floatant.

 

This raises a question about Scotch Guard that hopefully someone here can speak to. In the '90's, the EPA banned the use of a couple of components of the formula, one of which was the propellant, but the other one was supposedly a major component responsible for the waterproofing quality. There was some concern at the time in the fly tying community among those who used it on their dry flies that the 'new' product would not be as effective as the 'original' relative to its use on dry flies.

 

Can anyone address the question of whether or not the 'new' product is as effective, or not, as the old 'original'? Or did everyone rush out and buy a lifetime's supply of the 'old' stuff while it was still available?I have never seen any kind of 'follow-up' on the concern. Just curious as I have a lifetime's supply of the old stuff (RESERVED what I had on hand, a new can, for strictly dry fly application!).

 

Cheers,

perchjerker

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When ever I hear this question, I always wonder how much hair you're putting on the bug? Or said another way, is your bug "tightly" packed? Most folks don't put enough hair onto their bugs, and as such they bugs are "loosely" packed and cannot hold up to much usage...

 

Can you easily trim and shape your bug with a razor blade or are scissors necessary to cut it? On a well-packed bug, you can easily "sculpt" it without moving the hair...

 

Also, honestly - What it the quality of your hair? Did ya' purchase your hair from Chris Helms at Whitetail, http://www.whitetailflytieing.com/, or use Waspi Primo Deerhair Strips, http://www.wapsifly.com/ ?

 

There is a whole bunch of lousy, low quality hair out there, especially when you look at dyed hair. No matter how good a tyer you are, utilization of poor quality hair can't result in a high quality, durable bug.

 

Bowfin47

 

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I tried some epoxy lasst night on some bugs and I still think that the flex seal is better because its much easier and its still soft which I like more than the hardness of epoxy for some reason.

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I tried some epoxy lasst night on some bugs and I still think that the flex seal is better because its much easier and its still soft which I like more than the hardness of epoxy for some reason.

 

have you tried fshing the pattern with epoxy yet? :)

 

the divers i make have an incredible bubble stream, keep their bright colours, pop louder and look exactly the same as they did when i took them out the vice.

 

You must only coat 3/4 of the bug. The back part you can leave so that it maintains that soft feel when fish mouth it, and also to have an entry point to squeeze some permanent hydrostop fly floatant in there towards the head with a syringe to make it beyond bouyant forever.

 

 

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