Often the head of the fly is created to cover up butts end or clipped ends of materials that we have used in the creation of the fly (Figure 1). Most tiers will begin forming the head of the fly by applying wraps of thread on the materials ends and advancing the wraps forward. The problem with this is the thread invariably slips off the abrupt end of the material and we then try to continue to wrap thread while "climbing" back up onto the materials. This will always end in a larger and sloppier head than we want. 

Instead, once all of your materials are bound in and you are ready to make the head and cover up the material ends, reach your thread up to behind the hook eye and start applying thread wraps away from the eye of the hook to form the head and cover-up any remaining materials (figure 2 & 3). This will help create a taper up to the materials as you are forming the head and thus have more control on your thread placement and the shape and size of the resulting head. 

The post 52 Tying Tips #11, Smooth Heads Start at The Eye appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

All modern hooks are made out of steel. However, steel itself corrodes very quickly when exposed to water. Because of this, hook manufactures apply a lacquer coating to the steel hook (I am talking about the freshwater 'bronze' hooks here, first image) to make them more corrosion resistant. If you tie your fly right on top of this lacquer coating then your fly will not really be attached to the hook if the lacquer coating breaks away from the steel. This is the case sometimes when your flies start to slid around the hook shank for no apparent reason.

The easy solution is to file away the lacquer coating before you start tying your fly. There are files for sale through fly shops that are made for this job but you can also use a common steel file you get at your local hardware store. Take a few swipes at the hook shank trying to remove just the lacquer around most of the hook shank. The second and third image show the hook with the lacquer coating removed on half of the hook shank. When you start tying your fly, cover the now bare shank with a layer of thread. This will provide better friction and keep the resulting fly from sliding around the hook shank. 

Keep in mind, if your going to loose most of your flies in trees then the added step to make longer lasting flies might not be worth it. But if you want a better tied fly then start with a bare shank and your fly will stay the way you want it.

The post 52 Tying Tips #10, File Your Shank appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

    

    

By applying your dubbing in small layers you have greater control over the resulting body. It might take a little more time but in the end your flies will look better, last longer and you will gain more experience in this method of dubbing. Eventually, you will be able to apply the correct amount of dubbing on the thread in the correct manner to complete the dubbed body in one attempt. 

The post 52 Tying Tips #9, Dub in Layers appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

Fly tiers are pack rats by nature. This might be due to the fact there are so many flies to tie and we never have all the materials we need so we hoard what we have. Or maybe we are fly tiers because we are hoarders. The Zen of fly tying! Big questions aside, there is one particular fly tying material you can simplify, if you want. All you need is one thread color to tie all your flies; white.

Roughly, 95% of the flies you tie end up with the only thread showing at the head of the fly. So why not simplify your tying by using white thread and coloring it with a permanent marker when completing the head and whip finish. Really, most of us only use about ten different colors in our fly tying and five of those cover 80% of our flies. So, get yourself some Copic markers, Prismatic Markers or Sharpies in the colors you use most. When finishing the fly, color the last layer of thread wraps on the head. Then color about 3 to four inches of the thread to complete the Whip finish. Now your fly has a head in the color you want and you have less threads to manage. 

One note, make certain you check to see if your favorite head cement is compatible with the particular permanent mark you use. Some head cements will cause the ink in the marker to run and the white thread will show through. Usually, a Copic marker works well because it is an alcohol based marker. There are also oil based Sharpies available that will keep the ink from running. You could also put a base coat of head cement on the stained head and top it off with another coat of your favorite head cement.

Now you have more brain power to tackle the difficult questions in life. Keep it simple.

The post 52 Tying Tips #8, Only One Thread Color appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

Natural materials, we're talking fur and feathers, are harvested from live animals. Sometimes these animals are breed and raised for human consumption or use and the fur or feathers are a byproduct of the harvest. Various chickens, turkeys, pheasant, deer, rabbit, and cows are a few of the common animals that fall in this category. However, many "wild" animals are also processed and used in fly tying. Bear, Moose, Elk, wild Turkey, grouse, Wood Duck, and partridge are some of the common 'wild' fly tying materials. Even though all of these are processed (meaning washed or bleached or dyed or tanned) sometimes small creepy crawly bugs remain. Mostly eggs that somehow survived the processing of the materials. If you buy your materials and then throw them in a bin with all your other feathers or furs you run the risk of these little buggers chewing up all of your other materials.

The post 52 Tying Tips #7, Keep Materials Seperate appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

First, understand that a thread is twisted (clockwise) on the spool to simply help the thread from drifting apart while you are using it. Any twisted thread that you use can be flattened by spinning the bobbin counter clockwise. Also, be aware that as you wrap your thread around the hook you are putting in a 1/2 clockwise twist for every revolution around the hook. So if you are already using a twisted thread you are twisting it tighter as you wrap thread on. 

There really is no one solution because for different flies or at various stages of tying a fly it might be better to have a twist and at other to have the thread flat. I prefer a thread to come off flat so if I need a twist I can put it in. This way I can untwist is when needed, like when putting in the whip finish. The thread in this last image is UTC thread and it has a very slight twist in it (take a look at the fist image) but for the most part comes off flat. I can use it to have a nice flat base or even for the bodies of small flies but if I need something stronger or something with more of a segmented look I can easily twist it up. As you can see the thread is very different whether it is flat or twisted when it is wrapped on the hook. The end decision it both have their place in your flies.

The post 52 Tying Tips #6, Keep it Flat or Have A Twist appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.

1. Create a new spreadsheet. 
2. Label worksheets for different categories of materials (i.e. hackles, dubbing, hooks, threads, etc…)
3. Place the various colors for the specific materials across the top.
4. On the left place the name of the specific material.
5. Where the color and the name intersect you can place an 'X' to indicate you have it or a number to indicate how many units of that item you have.

Now you have to go through all your stuff and add it to the spreadsheet. The nice thing is you can upload it to a Dropbox folder and keep updated copies on you smart phone at all times. That way when you are in your favorite fly shop picking up some materials for a new fly you can check to see if you already have the Estaz you need instead of buying yet another one.

Here are a couple links to empty spreadsheets to get you started.

Microsoft Excel version                Open Office version

Simply right click on the above link and select 'Save Link/Target as…' to save them to your hard drive.

The post 52 Tying Tips #5, Inventory Your Materials appeared first on Warmwater Chronicles.