cruncher advice

[bobblaikie]

so ive been tying buzzers and diawl bachs and am now quite pleased with the way they are turning out so ive decided to move onto something else, crunchers. heres one of my first...



ive been looking at a few different patterns and they all use hen hackle but i dont have any so have used cock hackle. does this make a difference in the way the fly fishes? should i stop now until i get my hands on a hen cape?

any other advice will be much appreciated.

thanks in advance for any replies.

cheers,

bob

[dabhoy]

Hi Bob hen would definetely improve it or if you have any other soft webby feathered birds. The cock hackle is much stiffer and wont have the same movement also the hackle needs to be much shorter.
The rest of the fly will do fine.

[draycote flyer]

Looks ok upto the thorax area
Hen will give you more movement also look at your proportions so your not filling up the head area with thread where your thorax should be.


Sorry for the **** photo but used it to give you some ides how i tye mine.
Im no great tyer but will try and help if i think i can.
Each to there own as to hackle length i like mine barb area length.

Cheers Craig
P.s keep going at it and you will crack it.

[maharg]

Classics: The Cruncher

Great piece of work here.

[Shamus]

You'll do well to look through the Classic thread, Maharg has highlighted. Lots of inspiration and advice.

Crunchified Rob's PR Spider the other night. ***** photo and plenty wrong with it but it got me back at the vice.

[bobblaikie]

thanks for the advice folks.

once i get some hen hackles ill shorten the hackle length and try and make the head a touch smaller.

thanks for your help and advice

bob

[maharg]

How are the crunchers coming on now you have some hen hackles

[bobblaikie]

hi Graham. ive managed to get a few tied up inbetween all the festive carry on and i think they are starting to look like real crunchers.

the hen hackle looks a lot better than what i was using. only problem is having never used hen before i had no idea how soft they are and have snapped a few while winding then round the hook. either that or im being a bit heavy handed.

ill take a few photos and start another thread and you can let me know what you think.

thanks again for all your help, its very much appreciated.

cheers,

Bob

[brannan]

Try using the feathers from the very top of your cock cape, you should have some 'henycocks' up there softer than the rest of the cape.