Pete: i see.. so that extra "just the barb" gives Me room to make one round before actually starting to palmer, to then the barbs will be sticking out straight if I understand correctly??? Chuck
----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Gramp To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 8:41 PM Subject: Re: [VFB] Griffith's Gnat Question Or, if you use a "fold and lock" tie in (make a loose wrap or two over the hackle stem, then take the hackle stem's butt and 'fold it' back towards the tip of the hackle, then wrap over everything - both 'strands' of hackle stem - to 'lock' into place), you can simply strip the hackle stem for 1/4 to even 1/2 inch or so (instead of the trim you mention) and use some of that 1/2 inch for the tie- in. That way, when you start the wrap, there's a little bit of "stripped hackle stem" left after the tie-in (obviously without barbs) that will give the leeway needed when you start to palmer. I only mention the 'fold and lock' method because without it (that is, if you just wrap over the hackle - the "normal type 1" method, as Paul Mariner words it in the 'how to choose fly tying threads' pamphlet), the absence of the trimmed barbs will, over repeated wet-dry cycles of using the fly, allow the hackle to eventually pull out (of course, that relies on me not catching a tree with it, first...). Just my personal opinion and experience, as I find that I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to applying thread tension while tying - your results may vary. Hope that makes sense and helps more than confuses. Tight wraps, Pete On Dec 27, 2007 8:52 PM, Mark Beresford II <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: strip half the feather before tying it in. or trim once tied in before the palmering. Mark. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Folks: I have been tying some Griffiths Gnats..To tie in the hackle feather to the back of the hook to start the palmering forward, I trim the barbs real short for about 1/16th of an inch (cause it's on a #18 hook), tie that in from front to back. Then, I take my thread back to the front of the hook, towards the eye..When I make a sharp right turn to wrap clockwise towards the eye, a few of the barbs stick straight back, and up at an angle, then start getting into the normal palmered position and goes on up the hook, where I tie it off at the hook eye.. Those few wild hairs kinda look like a tail, so it's not that back, but my question was, how do you tie in the hackle so that you don't get those few stray hairs??? Anybody see what I'm saying??? Thanks, Chuck ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
