Actually, thats more or less how I do it, yes. I don't wrap three wraps up and three back down actually, but I do sort of lift the hackle a bit and then wrap it downward to the bottom of the post. This is where the use of a foam post has worked out - when the post is tied in, it kind of bunches up and forms a groove for the hackle stem to seat itself into. I've found that giving much beyond three wraps of hackle seems to be a bit much, but I've never tried the secific technique you mention, so I'll definitely give it a try.
As for manually lifting the forward pointing fibers, this is generally what I try to do as well. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage I suppose because I'm a bass guitarist so my fingertips tend to be a bit hard. Therefore it can be a bit troublesome to lift those fibers out of the way. For now though, what you mentioned about picking out the individual fibers seems to be the best way to handle the cleanup! Thanks for the ideas! I'll give em a shot! John [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 10/23/2002 12:59:30 AM Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc: (bcc: John Roth-CPD/USA/MCCRK) Subject: Re: [VFB] A question for the pros. In a message dated 10/23/2002 12:50:33 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I still can't seem to figure out exactly how to handle the hackle so that it ties off evenly without tying down the forward pointing fibers and without taking a weird bend down the far side of the hook.� It looks easy in the books, but the elusive perfect parachute is still an extreme rarity! John Roth John do you wrap your hackle up the post and then back down? I do 3 wraps up and then 3 down, not touching wraps leave a small gap as you go up to allow room for the down wraps to fill those gaps. Then I try to use 2 fingers to raise the forward fibers enough so that they will not get caught in the thread and if they do I just pick them out before the front is dubbed and finished. This may not be the proper way to do it bit it does work for me. Bart
