Problems tying Wulffs: Followup
 

Howdy,

I got some good suggestions when I posed my question about problems
getting the hackle to lie straight in front of the wings on a Wulff tie.

Over the weekend I tied a few, and they came out pretty well. The
two biggest factors that seemed to help were (1) not making the wings
too thick (thanks, Harry) and (2) applying some dubbing in front of the
wing (thanks to a lurker who shall go unnamed at least for now).

The second suggestion really seemed to make the biggest difference,
as a little dubbing helped even out the the transition from behind to in
front of the wings. It also gave a surface that the hackle could "bite
into", rather than tending to slide off a built up thread ramp.

I also played around using Parapost (tm) for the wings, as it
compresses easier than calf hair. My biggest problem with the stuff has
always been that it looks "frazzled" and tends to wind up all over the
place, tangling in everything it comes in contact with. What I did to
helpd deal with that was start with an overlong wing, put a drop of head
cement a little way up the wing (leaving the area which will be the tip
free from cement), and another drop at the very end of the oversized
wing (this kept stray fibers from going all over the place while tying,
but will be clipped off when the fly is finished).

After the fly was hackled, and the head finished, I took my scissors
and cut the wings to length. The very ends of the wings were nice and
soft and natural-looking, but the base was solid enough to keep its
shape and not have stray fibers all over the place.


Chuck Vance (FWIW)

Conan The Librarian wrote:

I also played around using Parapost (tm) for the wings, as it
compresses easier than calf hair. My biggest problem with the stuff
has
always been that it looks "frazzled" and tends to wind up all over
the
place, tangling in everything it comes in contact with. What I did
to
helpd deal with that was start with an overlong wing, put a drop of
head
cement a little way up the wing (leaving the area which will be the
tip
free from cement), and another drop at the very end of the oversized
wing (this kept stray fibers from going all over the place while
tying,
but will be clipped off when the fly is finished).

I sometimes use just a few strands of krystal flash in a pearl color
with the Parapost. The sun highlights the wing so that it is much more
visable. You might want to try a few that way just for ****s and grins.

Big Dale

Big Dale wrote:

I sometimes use just a few strands of krystal flash in a pearl color

with the Parapost. The sun highlights the wing so that it is much more
visable. You might want to try a few that way just for ****s and grins.

I'll have to give it a try. I had used Krystal Flash by itself
before, but wasn't happy with the way the wing came out. But just a few
strands mixed in sounds like it could be a plus.

I've been tying my parachutes with mostly chartreuse and orange
posts for visibility (especially on small flies), and it doesn't seem to
affect the fish's willingness to hit the flies, but I like the idea of
sticking with white for the posts.


Chuck Vance