Helpful Hints
Good Heads
By Jon Bowman
Helpful Hints
Good Heads
By Jon Bowman
When tying off the head of a fly, think outside of the box. Is the hook eye area getting crowded, or is there a nice peacock or ostrich thorax or some other thing that you've just wrapped near the hook eye that you don't want to disturb or crowd? You don't have to tie off at the hook eye; you can wrap back carefully and tie off anywhere that makes sense for you; if you can do a hand whip finish, all the better to get around bulky hackles etc. Don't be a Mattarelli or half-hitch tool slave; learn to do a hand whip finish. Also, if your fly is getting bulky and you feel like you need to use stronger thread than 8/0 or smaller, try using the new gel-spun polymer threads ("GSP," Roman Moser Power Silk etc.) They are very thin and incredibly strong. Light diameter "Spider Wire" fishing line works well for some applications.