Tom: That's how I FINALLY did learn... I got a video, clamped my vise to the coffee table, got all the materials together, and played, paused, rewound, played, paused etc, and just did what he did... That is the best idea on leaving length on the wings. that is what the video did..with my poor vision up close, even with reading glasses, it would just frustrate me trying to work with those tiny bare quills, Chuck
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Davenport" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 1:08 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Bluegill fishing with the Adams?? > I don't know it the big Bluegill you guys fish for in the warm water > states are smarter than the smaller ones we have in ponds around > here, but it has been my experience that Bluegill will take just > about anything including a bare hook. When I was a boy we had a pond > down the road and I spent many a summer catching and releasing > Bluegill by the dozens. We each had a stick with a little mono > wrapped around the end (and a hook). We'd catch a grasshopper and > start fishing and I don't recall ever having a slow day. These fish > were mostly hand sized, and we each had special mark that we would > make in their tales before releasing them so that we could we could > tell if when we caught a the fish more than once. Sometimes, just > to amuse ourselves, we would put a piece of leaf or just use the bare > hook, and still catch fish. > > In the spring when our rivers are blown out I still go out to a local > pond and catch blue gill with dry flies, and they have never been > picky, taking flies of every size and shape. So are those southern > Bluegill smarter, or what? > > Now as far as tying the Adams goes, yes, I can remember when it was > hard, and most of the difficulty came from the picture instructions > in the book I was using. They showed two hackle feathers to be used > as wings that had the barbs stripped away till the feathers were > exactly the final size, and I had a devil of a time trying to lash > them on the hook using those two tiny naked quills. Later I learned > (through trial and error) that it is MUCH easier to get two saddle > feathers that were twice as long as the final size, leave them just > as they came off the neck. Put them together back to back and hold > by the butt section (heaviest part of the quill which will eventually > be cut away) straddle the hook over shank with the wing tips going > over the eye and tie the top (wing) end to the shaft using a pinch > loop. Check to see if wings are the right size. If the wings are > two long, just pull the feather through by the butts until the tips > are the right size, if two short, release the loop and try again. > Most of the time I tie them a little long, then pull them down till > they are the right size. Then lash it with a couple more pinch > loops, cut off the the butt end, pull the wings up, throw some loops > in front of the wings to prop them up, go back and lash down any butt > ends that were left from cutting and your done with the wings. I > also don't mess around with using a figure 8 to prop the wings apart, > the opposing curve of the wings does that anyway. > > I typically do everything in this order: Wrap a thread base to the > bend, lash on the tailing material, wrap forward to where you want > the wings to be and attach them. Then go back and dub to the wings, > attach hackles, dub in front of the hackles, bring thread back to > front of wing, wrap hackles and tie them off in front of wing. Wrap > head, pull hackles and wings back with your fingers and whip finish. > Trim off any stray hackles . > > And, rather than trying to wrap both hackles at once, it is > perfectly OK to wrap one, tie it off, then wrap the other. As you > gain confidence you won't have any difficulty wrapping the together > if you want. > > I hope this helps, it would be much easier to show you than describe > it. If you want, maybe I could make you a little video. > > > Tom Davenport > >
