I use the shaft of a ball point pin for making bullet heads. Same method as the straw, except that the barrel of the pin is of a large diameter, lasts longer and will not cut the hair.
Tie the appropriate length of deer hair facing forward, then take the ball point pin barrel and slowly push the hair back to form the bullet. Make a few loose wraps of thread around the bullet, remove the barrel and tie off. The bullet always seems to explode after the first few fish, but the fish seem to like the fly better after its been broken in. On my bullet hoppers I usually tie orange and black yarn on the top of the bullet for visibility. I love the bullet hair hopper as it rides low in the water. I think it gives a more natural presentation. After tying a few you will find the bullet much easier and will be able to tie hoppers very quickly. I tie no other hopper since I became familiar with the bullet head. Pat Eller >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/04/02 09:54PM >>> To tie up different sizes of bullet heads, I ordered a set of different rod ferrules from Netcraft <http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/> Unfortunately, I can't get the ferrule page to load on-line, but order a hard-copy catalog (you know, on paper.....do you remember those????). <g> They're pretty quick on getting them out and also have pretty good service. After you tie your clump on the hook (see Tony Spezio's description), you just pick the right size of ferrule to barely fit over the folded back clump. If you're doing a Madame X, for example, it'll take a pretty small ferrule. If you're doing an Everett Drake Wounded Minnow, which folds the deer hair over a small bead, it'll take a much larger ferrule. If you got really serious and bought one of each of their rod ferrules, there are 11 of them covering sizes from 11/64" to 24/64". They run from $1.99 for the smallest one to $3.10 for the largest, so you're talking a $28 - $29 investment. Frankly, for the small flies, I like the idea of the straw! You can find some very rudimentary (looks like they were drawn by a kindergartner) for the wounded minnow at: <http://www.virtualflybox.com/ips2/i12a.shtml> Allan Allan Fish Greenwood, IN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
