Nifty fly finish trick I never learned...

[John Sv]

EVERYONE probably already does this but I never did until I was messing around on you tube watching someone tie a tiny dry fly. I learned to tie from my Dad and he taught me this weirdo hand tie off instead of whip finishing. Same end though pretty much. Anyway, instead of glopping glue on the finished head (on small flies), this guy on you tube held the finish loop open with a bodkin and applied cement to the thread. Then he pulled the thread snug and pulled out the bodkin, and voila! A cemented head without the mess/matted hackle/cemented hook eye, etc. So if I am not the only one that didn't know this...give it a shake!

[audax]

I've done something similar for a while now; that is, I will apply some lacquer to the bottom of the open loop before closing tight. It does help in those situations that make applying directly off the bodkin difficult or messy. The caveat is to apply only a small amount of lacquer,...or watch the excess get absorbed into the adjacent dubbing or hackle.