Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2012 19:42:12 GMT
Alright folks, here you can learn how to tie one of the most successful flies I have ever fished in the UK. You can tie them in various colours, with different size and colour beads. Whatever works for you.
The materials:
Cul the chicken or Chickabou or marabou for the tail (I often just get a clump of rabbit fur and tie that in..in essence anything that is mobile will score)
Tungsten beads (slotted) in various sizes
Jig hook so that you will not snag the bottom that often ( I prefer Dohiku but any czech, slovakian or japanese brand works)
Strong, and I mean strong tying thread you can split. Power silk or similar is my choice
Various dubbings (dyed hare's guard fur and underfur, ice dubbing, slf and the list goes on, just mix a few together for the required effect)
Optional: hackle, any game or domesticated bird will do
My kit for the job:
Glue on the head (I usually apply a few layers of tying thread to improve grip)
Pinch a feather like this
And tie it in ( I tend to snip off the very tip of the middle)
For the sake of this forum I made an attempt to tie a taddy in tenkara style, so there goes the hackle on. Offer the feather so that when you start going around the shank the fibers will point forward
Moving towards the tail wrap on the hackle and secure the stem
get some dubbing and mix them together. I will leave it to your imagination how you wish to sort out the exercise. I do it by hand some may have a surplus coffee grinder.
Then you want to split the thread with your bodkin, needle or anything with a fine point. To flatten the thread you may want to spin the bobbin holder a few times whilst letting the thread lie on the tip of your index finger to check when the job is done
Stick the dubbing mix in between the split thread. You want to increase the amount of dubbing as you approach the end which you suspect will go right where the bead head is. Do not ask me what length is adequate. I suggest if you are not sure go for a longer dubbing "rope".
Once you have done with the above you want to spin the bobbin holder. This is why you need a good thread. Any conventional one would eventually snap when finishing the head. I know the frustration so save your time and buy some decent thread.
When you are done do not let the bobbin holder go. Give your dubbing rope a brush with a piece of velcro and wind it on whilst gently guiding the fibers backwards, all pointing towards the tail. When you get to the head I tend to use a touch of head cement or superglue on the tying thread and just make a couple of turns so the thread gets a grip. Then you let it untwist. Once you find the thread does not want to twist by itself when you let it have a bit of slack you do the usual whip finish. The beauty of the power silk is that you can pull like crazy and apply some brute force. That way it is guaranteed the thread wraps will not come undone.
An there you have it, the tenkara style tadpole is done.
When you are using the big ones (4.5-5.5mm heads) just lift your rod gently when trying to hook up or you may snap the tip. Last time (Gary's write up from the weekend) I was using a zoom tenkara (a rather useful rod in fact and you can check it out on ebay, just key in zoom tenkara) of a stiffer kind and I could animate even the bigger taddies reasonably well. Size 14-12 with 3-4mm heads for trout and chub and 12-10-8 with massive heads for chub and perch. Jig them for perch and move them slower for chub with the odd twitch.
Enjoy!
Pete
The materials:
Cul the chicken or Chickabou or marabou for the tail (I often just get a clump of rabbit fur and tie that in..in essence anything that is mobile will score)
Tungsten beads (slotted) in various sizes
Jig hook so that you will not snag the bottom that often ( I prefer Dohiku but any czech, slovakian or japanese brand works)
Strong, and I mean strong tying thread you can split. Power silk or similar is my choice
Various dubbings (dyed hare's guard fur and underfur, ice dubbing, slf and the list goes on, just mix a few together for the required effect)
Optional: hackle, any game or domesticated bird will do
My kit for the job:
Glue on the head (I usually apply a few layers of tying thread to improve grip)
Pinch a feather like this
And tie it in ( I tend to snip off the very tip of the middle)
For the sake of this forum I made an attempt to tie a taddy in tenkara style, so there goes the hackle on. Offer the feather so that when you start going around the shank the fibers will point forward
Moving towards the tail wrap on the hackle and secure the stem
get some dubbing and mix them together. I will leave it to your imagination how you wish to sort out the exercise. I do it by hand some may have a surplus coffee grinder.
Then you want to split the thread with your bodkin, needle or anything with a fine point. To flatten the thread you may want to spin the bobbin holder a few times whilst letting the thread lie on the tip of your index finger to check when the job is done
Stick the dubbing mix in between the split thread. You want to increase the amount of dubbing as you approach the end which you suspect will go right where the bead head is. Do not ask me what length is adequate. I suggest if you are not sure go for a longer dubbing "rope".
Once you have done with the above you want to spin the bobbin holder. This is why you need a good thread. Any conventional one would eventually snap when finishing the head. I know the frustration so save your time and buy some decent thread.
When you are done do not let the bobbin holder go. Give your dubbing rope a brush with a piece of velcro and wind it on whilst gently guiding the fibers backwards, all pointing towards the tail. When you get to the head I tend to use a touch of head cement or superglue on the tying thread and just make a couple of turns so the thread gets a grip. Then you let it untwist. Once you find the thread does not want to twist by itself when you let it have a bit of slack you do the usual whip finish. The beauty of the power silk is that you can pull like crazy and apply some brute force. That way it is guaranteed the thread wraps will not come undone.
An there you have it, the tenkara style tadpole is done.
When you are using the big ones (4.5-5.5mm heads) just lift your rod gently when trying to hook up or you may snap the tip. Last time (Gary's write up from the weekend) I was using a zoom tenkara (a rather useful rod in fact and you can check it out on ebay, just key in zoom tenkara) of a stiffer kind and I could animate even the bigger taddies reasonably well. Size 14-12 with 3-4mm heads for trout and chub and 12-10-8 with massive heads for chub and perch. Jig them for perch and move them slower for chub with the odd twitch.
Enjoy!
Pete
or just simply get some of those polish nymphs. They are nice in smaller sizes.