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“Terminology and Philosophy”
“I’ve
just started tying my own flies, and I like it! But I’m
confused about terminologies and the philosophies in
fly tying.”
If this describes you, then you have
come to the right place! Let’s go with terminologies,
first.
Hackle – in fly tying, most
often describes a way of using feathers, although the
feather, itself, is often called a hackle. Hackle feathers
are used to wrap around a hook so that the feather barbs
protrude outward in a radial fashion. Most of the hackles
you will use as a beginner will come from hen and rooster
feathers from the neck, back, and tail (saddle). Soft
hackles refer to hen feathers which are typically not as
stiff as rooster hackles. As a general rule, hen neck
feathers are used as soft hackles to make the collars of wet
flies. The soft, webby feathers from pheasants and
partridge also make great soft hackles. The neck feathers of
rooster capes are used for the collars of dry flies. My
description, here, is an over-simplification of a large body
of information about hackles. Check out these websites for
a more expansive and technical understanding of
hackles:
www.theanglersnet.com/fly-tying-101/hackle.asp?section=15
www.conranch.com/hackle_article.html
www.mwflytying.com/materials/feathers.html
www.derekspace.net/hacksel.htm
http://blog.riverwoodfliesonline.com/?page_id=149
www.flyfishingoutfitters.com/onlineshop-fly_tying_feathers
www.flytyingclub.org/fly-tying-articles/fly-tying-feathers
www.vodpod.com/watch/2939131-fly-tying-feathers-how-to-select-hackle-materials
Wet fly – fly fished below the
surface of the water
Dry fly – fly fished on the
water surface or in the surface film
Marabou – Marabou, or Blood
Quill, are the fluffy, soft feathers from turkeys and
chickens that undulate in a life-like manor in water.
Marabou gets its name from the Marabou stork located in
South Africa, which was formerly the singular source of this
fluffy feather. However, in the late 1930’s, it was
discovered that turkey down was incredibly alike, and a new,
innovative industry came into existence. Poultry processing
now produces mass quantities of Marabou. For more
information on Marabou:
http://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2010/01/12/fly-tying-with-marabou-primer/
http://flytyingclub.org/fly-fishing-articles/fly-tying-feathers
Dubbing – Dubbing material is
aptly named after the fly tying technique (also called
Dubbing) in which the tyer wraps or loosely “coats” a strand
of thread with loosely chopped and matted material and then
dresses the hook shank with this strand of “dubbed” thread
to create the body of a fly. This information comes from:
www.flyfishingoutfitters.com/onlineshop-fly_tying_dubbing
. Typically, when dubbing is made from natural material, it
is used for wet flies because the natural furs absorb
water. Synthetic material is normally used for dry flies.
Dubbing wax – a wax that is
applied to tying thread to assist the tier in applying
dubbing onto the thread.
Palmering – The term “palmer”
refers to a method for wrapping a feather over the a section
of a fly body. The name comes from the Palmerworm or
Caterpillar of old England. In palmering the hackle is
wrapped in an open spiral, somewhat evenly spaced, generally
for the length of the hook. This information comes from:
www.wmflyfishing.com/Palmering_new.pdf
Video
demonstration:
www.ehow.com/video_2353533_tips-palmering-fly-tying.html
More to come about:
- Nymphs – see insect tab
- Pupa – see insect tab
- Dun – see insect tab
- Spinner – see insect tab
- Bodkin
- Stacker
- Thread
- Floss
- Bead heads
- Hooks – gape, sizing, bend, x’s
- Pattern
- Filoplume
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