Pet hates in fly tying

[sage5]

Whip finish tools.
Fried my brain years ago and put me right off. Never actually owned one for nearly 20 years.
I only tie and fish piss easy flies so no particular technique gets on my tits.

As you well know Scot ,the simple and easy to tie flies catch probably the most fish.
Duncan

 

[m r roid]

Weirdly, I am not a "south-paw". A south-paw takes a boxing stance leading with their right fist. I lead with my left. I also write with my left, I tie flies with my left, I cast a rod with my left, I swing a tennis racquet with my left, I throw a ball with my left, I pull a shotgun trigger with my left, I pluck guitar strings with my left, etc, etc... Dunno why a southpaw leads with their right to be honest???

Col

When I said, 'South Paw' I meant left handed, but I think there are very few truly left handed people Col. I tie flies left handed, write predominantly left handed, can cast (badly) with either arm, swing a tennis racket left handed, but use a cricket bat and snooker cue right handed......
I think we're both ambidextrous, although I would say my left hand is probably about 60-70% dominant. The majority of right handed people couldn't find their arse with their left hand

 

[Scotty Mitchell]

I am ambidextrous. It’s convenient these days as I can swap arms when fishing long sessions and it stops me getting back pain.
I am very, very slightly right hand biased but that’s more down to habits and learned behaviour that being naturally right handed.

 

[Elwyman]

I suppose I've been tying for 40 years and, being self taught, I never really learned to do some of the basics properly.......doubling and winding hackles on salmon flies, tying split wings on traditional wet flies are obvious examples.
Over time I've learned the benefit of using good quality capes and materials. I've finally invested in a decent 360 degree vice and have done a fair bit of tying during lockdown. I've been watching a lot of Davie Mcphail YouTube videos to learn a few tricks and as Davie puts it, how to tidy things up.
I'm getting better at doubling hackles, just need to leave more room at the head to tie them in sometimes!

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

When I said, 'South Paw' I meant left handed, but I think there are very few truly left handed people Col. I tie flies left handed, write predominantly left handed, can cast (badly) with either arm, swing a tennis racket left handed, but use a cricket bat and snooker cue right handed......
I think we're both ambidextrous, although I would say my left hand is probably about 60-70% dominant. The majority of right handed people couldn't find their arse with their left hand

Sure - I knew what you meant. It's just that "south-paw" is a specific term to do with boxing and it doesn't equate to left-handedness very well.

I agree about the rarity of 100% thing. I hold a snooker cue left-handed, a guitar left-handed, a rifle left-handed, but hold a cricket bat a golf club and a spinning rod right-handed.

None of this changes the fact that when you buy a spool of tying thread, you might be disappointed when you try to use it left-handed and find that it splays apart!

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

I suppose I've been tying for 40 years and, being self taught, I never really learned to do some of the basics properly.......doubling and winding hackles on salmon flies, tying split wings on traditional wet flies are obvious examples.
Over time I've learned the benefit of using good quality capes and materials. I've finally invested in a decent 360 degree vice and have done a fair bit of tying during lockdown. I've been watching a lot of Davie Mcphail YouTube videos to learn a few tricks and as Davie puts it, how to tidy things up.
I'm getting better at doubling hackles, just need to leave more room at the head to tie them in sometimes!

Interesting stuff...

The Sinister Hand

 

[Elwyman]

Interesting stuff...

The Sinister Hand

Are you suggesting I'd be better tying left handed?

 

[suzuki15hp]

Bucktail, tying a lot of Salmon flies at the moment & I hate the stuff, unwieldy, flares & a bu$$er to mix evenly in a Willie Gun.
Spending a fortune on "quality" double hooks & having to take a file to most of the welds to smooth them out, apparently (according to the manufacturer) that is what happens at a price point.

There's a good tip for making your bucktail much more manageable. Give it a wash in warm water with a dollop of Comfort or hair conditioner. Then when its dry it'll be lovely and soft. Try it.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

There's a good tip for making your bucktail much more manageable. Give it a wash in warm water with a dollop of Comfort or hair conditioner. Then when its dry it'll be lovely and soft. Try it.

Not tried Comfort, but I use the hair conditioner trick on deer hair after dyeing it. Amazing effect it has!

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

When I said, 'South Paw' I meant left handed, but I think there are very few truly left handed people Col. I tie flies left handed, write predominantly left handed, can cast (badly) with either arm, swing a tennis racket left handed, but use a cricket bat and snooker cue right handed......
I think we're both ambidextrous, although I would say my left hand is probably about 60-70% dominant. The majority of right handed people couldn't find their arse with their left hand

Do you have a left-handed bread knife? Changed my life when I got one.

 

[taffy1]

Bucktail, tying a lot of Salmon flies at the moment & I hate the stuff, unwieldy, flares & a bu$$er to mix evenly in a Willie Gun.
Spending a fortune on "quality" double hooks & having to take a file to most of the welds to smooth them out, apparently (according to the manufacturer) that is what happens at a price point.

Try using Arctic Goat instead.

 

[Tangled]

Wings. Fruck 'em.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

Wings. Fruck 'em.

Jeez. You need some fly-tying lessons!

 

[suzuki15hp]

Not tried Comfort, but I use the hair conditioner trick on deer hair after dyeing it. Amazing effect it has!

It was my wife that suggested the Comfort on the basis "You're not wasting my good conditioner" That was me in the wrong again. But I found the Comfort is better.

 

[BobP]

What I used to do back when I was tying commercially and had to do things like Black Chenilles, Sweeney Todds and Appetisers that needed a squirrel wing or over wing was to put the hair bunch through a stacker first to level up the tips, then measure it against the hook in the vice. Next step was to cut the bunch to the correct length and then put a fair amount of varnish on the butt end. While it was still wet I would tie the hair in. I always knew when I had enough varnish on because it would soak through the whipping thread. Form a decent head and whip finish and then varnish as usual. When that was dry another coat of varnish finished it off.

This was in the days long before Hard as Nails which would do an even better job, but seeing as squirrel is noted for pulling out a hair at a time, the cellulose varnish of the day did a remarkable job. Back in the spring 2020 I went through an old fly box and culled out a lot of the lures I used to fish with in the 1970's, so the best part of 50 years old, some of them. The hairwings were still solid.

Re ambidextrous. I am dominant left handed. I cast left handed but shoot right handed. I use scissors right handed and tie flies right handed. I also happen to be 90% blind in my left eye.

 

[m r roid]

I'm lucky in so much as I'm equally happy using scissors with either hand. Odd isn't it, but it comes in very handy at times

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

It was my wife that suggested the Comfort on the basis "You're not wasting my good conditioner" That was me in the wrong again. But I found the Comfort is better.

I use Asda's 'white label' conditioner - it's about 50 p a gallon!

(I wonder what the chemical difference is between hair conditioner and fabric softener???)

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

I'm lucky in so much as I'm equally happy using scissors with either hand. Odd isn't it, but it comes in very handy at times

Yeh - all of us older than a certain age will have grown up before you could get left-handed scissors, so I reckon most left-handers will have learned to use right-handed scissors in either hand. I can use right-handed scissors in either hand, but I can't use left-handed scissors, because my left hand is trained to grip right-handed scissors.

But I find these are useful for fly-tying...

Vannas scissors

Great for snipping out stray fibres to give a neat finish... and of course you can use them in either hand.

 

[flytire]

 

[m r roid]

Yeh - all of us older than a certain age will have grown up before you could get left-handed scissors, so I reckon most left-handers will have learned to use right-handed scissors in either hand. I can use right-handed scissors in either hand, but I can't use left-handed scissors, because my left hand is trained to grip right-handed scissors.

But I find these are useful for fly-tying...

Vannas scissors

Great for snipping out stray fibres to give a neat finish... and of course you can use them in either hand.

They look great, thanks for the link. I think I'll treat myself