Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2009 18:51:49 GMT
The Gold-bodied Willie Gunn is my fly in the December Fly Swap so, as well as posting there, I thought a few background notes on the way I tie larger metal tubes may be of interest and provoke a wee bit of debate on methods of tying etc.
Please note there is no one "accepted" standard dressing - I might have used about a dozen different ways/materials for the body and mix etc
Tube – 1.25” Copper
Thread – Uni Red 6/0 or 8/0
Body – Gold Mylar Braid laid on wet varnish
Rib - Gold Wire counterwound to Braid
Under Wing - 2 strands top and bottom of Pearl Mirror Flash
Wing – 50:50 mix of Yellow and Orange Bucktail overlaid with Black Bucktail
Head – Tying Thread and three coats of varnish
Use with hook and Tube extension in your colour of choice (which would be Orange in coloured water and Clear in all else – that is just my own preference)
Hold on tight if you fish with one!
Notes on the Tying
I quite like using Braided Mylar as a change; it has its own subtle shine.
Not having tied for a while (nearly 3 months), I found it a bit hard using a Vice and, so, went back to what I started doing as a teenager. I tied these Tubes without using a vice at all. It made sense to me at the time and still does.
Why? I find that, for larger metal Tubes, not using a vice actually improves and simplifies the whole process of tying. It is so much easier to manipulate the Hair and thread, also to measure the next fly against the previous one. And I find that thread snaps etc are easier to deal with and allow me to carry on without any great palaver etc. Even a Whip finish is easier- for me- to do without a Vice in the way.
I am sure others must have tried this method but, if asked and if I find the time, I will try to do a SBS or a wee video in early 2010 via Youtube for the Forum’s members. I think going Vice-less helps me get a better (but still not 100% perfect) consistency of fly tied. Mind you, I always feel no two of my flies ever look the same close up!!
But, hopefully, someone, somewhere will get a fish or two on one of them.
tweedbunnet
Please note there is no one "accepted" standard dressing - I might have used about a dozen different ways/materials for the body and mix etc
Tube – 1.25” Copper
Thread – Uni Red 6/0 or 8/0
Body – Gold Mylar Braid laid on wet varnish
Rib - Gold Wire counterwound to Braid
Under Wing - 2 strands top and bottom of Pearl Mirror Flash
Wing – 50:50 mix of Yellow and Orange Bucktail overlaid with Black Bucktail
Head – Tying Thread and three coats of varnish
Use with hook and Tube extension in your colour of choice (which would be Orange in coloured water and Clear in all else – that is just my own preference)
Hold on tight if you fish with one!
Notes on the Tying
I quite like using Braided Mylar as a change; it has its own subtle shine.
Not having tied for a while (nearly 3 months), I found it a bit hard using a Vice and, so, went back to what I started doing as a teenager. I tied these Tubes without using a vice at all. It made sense to me at the time and still does.
Why? I find that, for larger metal Tubes, not using a vice actually improves and simplifies the whole process of tying. It is so much easier to manipulate the Hair and thread, also to measure the next fly against the previous one. And I find that thread snaps etc are easier to deal with and allow me to carry on without any great palaver etc. Even a Whip finish is easier- for me- to do without a Vice in the way.
I am sure others must have tried this method but, if asked and if I find the time, I will try to do a SBS or a wee video in early 2010 via Youtube for the Forum’s members. I think going Vice-less helps me get a better (but still not 100% perfect) consistency of fly tied. Mind you, I always feel no two of my flies ever look the same close up!!
But, hopefully, someone, somewhere will get a fish or two on one of them.
tweedbunnet
