2 questions please for new tyer

[neil26]

after reading a recent post re peacock herl bodies im confused..... what i have read in my book suggests winding the three herls together before winding to hook yet many people said not to wind and seemed to suggest adding a single herl to make up the body- a bit like winding on a hackle. is this right??
also my book suggests tying a hackle in then winding hackle on then trapping end with thread but i have seen several SBS that suggest winding thread through hackle, after its wound on , back to eye.

probably lots of ways to do things but would welcome some advice.
thanks
neil

[r ian]

Hi neil ! iv'e srarted using one peacock herl for Diawl Bachs as it produces a nice slim body and when palmering a hackle i tie in a rib of wire, tie in hackle at head then wind to back then trap hackle wit wire making turns forward to the head trying not to trap fibres. cheers ian

---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

Using the wire rib helps the fly to last longer

[Chris Reeves]

Neil you answered your own question. As I'm always telling students there are no "wrong" ways to tie flies, just some ways work much better than others and all methods produce their own result.

Traditionally (and I think this was due to quality of available materials) the tiers of old used twisted peacock often incorporating the rib into the twist. Now we can buy fresh feathers of good quality the percentage that break during tying is greatly reduced and with care you can tie a nice body with just one herl. That said, I usually use two herls tied in head to toe, and clip 1" off the end where it is to be tied in. This gives me a level body and a bit more resiliance. I always rib peacock herl, usually with fine wire but also with thread on dry patterns. Different patterns call for different bodies and I use both the methods above as well as others as appropriate.

For your second question, I usually tie off a dry fly hackle at the eye. For a spider hackle I often use the through the hackle with the silk method. I don't like that method for dries as it is too easy to mess up the hackle. Resiliance in dries is not so much of an issue for me as invariably they need to be cleaned and dried after each fish so its just as easy to have a box full of lfies if you tie your own rather than durable but less pleasing dries (just my 2 pence worth).


With hackled lures and palmered dries such as Wooly Buggers and Griffiths Gnats where the whole body is palmered I prefer tying the hackle in at the eye, winding backwards and then winding a rib forwards through the hackle.
This leaves you with more room at the eye for a neat head and a very durable fly.

However as I said at the top, there is no "wrong" method. Experiment and find something you like and then learn to tie it well. I know over the years my favourite methods have changed as and when I get shown something different usually at a fly show somewhere.
To progress as a tier remember nothing is set in stone and that the only bad fly is one the falls apart before it hits the water.

Cheers

[neil26]

thanks for your thorough replies and good advice, i have been tying the hackle off at the eye on dries and spiders, but will try with thread through the hackle on spider patterns this afternoon. thanks