bingsbaits
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Tying tip for hook eyes....
CLEAN YOUR EYES.... Finally got to use some of the flies I have tied up over the winter and being new I didn't catch some of my mistakes till I hit the water... No amount of thread or material is acceptible on the eye of a #16 or smaller hook.. At least for my eyes you can't give up any of the hole if you want to try and hit it with a piece of 7x.... Run a needle through the eye of the fly "before" you put it in your box.... Found myself trying to push string through a bunch of glued shut eyes. Quite frustrating...I end up using another fly hook to bust it open...  Tight Lines.....BING
"There is a pleasure in Angling that no one knows but the Angler himself". WB
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KJH807
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 07:51:59
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 nippers with a needle on the back using a hook works just fine or... maybe use less head cement  i rarely use any on trout flies
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bigfoot
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 08:37:33
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I usually do one of two things to keep the hook eye open. I either use a small section of mono that I place in the eye before I seal the end of the fly, or I run a scrap section of feather through it after. I use either super glue or liquid quick dry clear nail polish to seal my flys. I also have a small pair of pliers that have a point incorporated into them that will clear a clogged hook eye. Have to use caution when doing so. Too much pressure and you will split the eye open.
"If someone offers you a breath mint, take it.
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clinchknot
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 09:16:33
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I don't give a crap if anybody listens to me or not.
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SonofZ3
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 10:16:18
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If you tie your own flies and you get too many fibers in the hook eye you can coat the head with cement to make it solid, then heat a bodkin and burn the fibers out of the eye. Works great.
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anchke
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 22:48:45
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I get debates on this, but IMHO there's no need to cement the head of a fly, except for cosmetic preferences, especially on dries which don't need more weight at this point. Leave 2X the eye length for tie off ... tie a small head ... use a whip finisher and lightly wax the thread before whipping. If I have any doubts, I'll add a 2nd whip finish. I've never had a head tied this way unravel -- or a sealed eye, either.
Exception -- I am fond of a nicely finished streamer head, complete with acrylic eyes and spend entirely too much time happily dithering with those.
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anchke
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 22:57:03
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P.S. Having trouble keeping the hook eye clear of fiber and glue? Try this: take a soda straw and cut off a piece a little shorter than your hook shank. Than take your scissors and cut the section lengthwise. You can now slip it over your thread, up over the hook eye and onto the body of the fly. In this position, the soda straw section will keep the eye free for tie off, will hold back errant fibers and -- if you insist -- clears a nice target area for your app of Sally Hansen.
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SonofZ3
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/24 23:10:28
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anche: they'll unravel if you burn your eye clear with a heated bodkin and the thread isn't coated with head cement.
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PeteM
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/25 00:20:36
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I thin out the Sally Hansens with a little bit of nail polish remover so that it drops much smaller and soaks into the thread better.
Makes it much more controllable.
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anchke
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/25 18:54:50
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>>>they'll unravel if you burn your eye clear with a heated bodkin<<<
Aaarrgh. You'll never have to heat another bodkin if you just learn to not crowd the head. Granted, if this were easy fewer tiers would have problems with it.
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anchke
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/25 21:18:59
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Pete -- Do you use any particular polish remover? I tried to thin SH with remover and it got cloudy and gloppy. Mighta just been too old.
I also trim the brush in the SH bottle to maybe half its original size to get a more precise app.
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PeteM
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/25 23:44:24
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The wal-mart equate remover.
To get a uniform mixture I tumbled it gently for about 10 minutes. I did get a little milky looking but cleared up after a few days once the SH and solvent became completely evenly mixed.
That stuff is slow.
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luvinbluegills
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RE: Tying tip for hook eyes....
2010/04/28 16:25:10
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You guys get stuff in the hook eyes?? 8-)
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