Just starting out with tying proper soft hackles

[letumgo]

Darin - Let me also add my "Welcome Aboard". You've gotten a lot of great feedback. I love working with Pearsall's silks. I've used all of their varieties (Gossamer, Naples, Marabou and Stout) and found that they all tye nice flies. Keep in mind that they each have their place (tying thread, floss, rod building) and take a bit of getting used to working with. One of the main struggles people have with Pearsall's tends to be with thread build-up. The Gossamer silk thread is comparable to a 6/0 thread. The Naples is even thicker (more like a 3/0 tying thread), but can make some nice segmented bodies. The Marabou and Stout are silk floss, which makes nice abdomens, tags, streamer bodies, etc.

Once you start playing with them, post some pictures and let us see what you've come up with. We would be glad to offer pointers, if you have troubles working with the materials. You will find these guys and gals to be very helpful & knowledgeable.

Welcome aboard.

Ray "letumgo"

[hankaye]

Dwclapp, Howdy;

What can I add to the advises you've already been given, .......
nothing that I can think of at the moment....
I joined 2 1/2 years ago, as a knuckle draging non tyer. I still am very
self-concious about showing any of my ties but they get me involved in the
swaps that pop-up every once-in-awhile, so they get photographed that way.
It's also a great way of bumping up your skills, by the way, at least for me.
These folks have shown me the patience of Job and more understanding (?),
than a body could ask for. More if ya need it.... This forum makes Disney World
look like it's populated with depressed folks of all ages... , , ,

hank

[Greenwell]

Darin,

IMHO, get yourself some Pearsalls Gossamer Silk. Using it will teach you control and pressure better than synthetics ever will; just don't use as many wraps as you would with the modern threads and don't pile wraps over each other. I find there is a tendency to make more wraps than necessary with the micro threads and working with silk you'll find how few turns of thread you actually need to construct a durable fly.
Begging Lance's pardon regarding how small a fly one can comfortably tie with silk, but I routinely dress flies down to 20 or even 22 with Pearsalls. It's all in the amount of wraps you use!
Also remember that silk dosn't have the streatch that synthetics have. This may take a little getting used to and is, I believe, one of the reason some find silk breaks easily. True, it also dosn't have the tensile strength of nylon, etc but it's plenty strong. Another, and I feel important and overlooked, advantage of silk is that it "ties round" and won't cut delicate materials. Plus the colors are much richer and brighter than the new stuff. (Are you beginning to get the impression I like silk?!)

I'd suggest the following colors in Pearsalls: #2 Straw, #3 Primrose, #4 Light Yellow, #5 Yellow, #6a Light Orange, #8 Purple, #9 Black, #11a Scarlet, #19 Hot Orange. There are several other useful colors but this will be a good start.

Best of luck!

[Dwclapp]

Thanks for all the well wishes and welcomes!! The information you all have provided has given me the motivation to take the plunge. I have ordered some Pearsall's gossamer in a couple colours to get my feet wet. I'll load up some of my modern thread based soft hackles (if I can find one that hasnt been torn up too bad by our finned friends). I'm sure once the silk gets here I'll have lots of questions for the group.

In the thread much has been mentioned concerning wax. Firstly, does waxing one's silk make it easier/harder to tie with? What are the advantages of waxing versus tying with unwaxed silk? Generally does the group prefer waxed or unwaxed? Additionally, how does the wax affect the fly in the water? Does it make it more or less buoyant? Cobblers wax and white wax appear to be the primary waxes used, is pure beeswax a useful wax in tying (I have easy access to it as my sister-in-law is a beekeeper)?

Thank you all for putting up with the newbie questions.

Best Regards,
Darin

[William Anderson]

Darin, a big welcome. Sorry I'm just getting to follow up on this. You've been steered in the right direction by some of the best, so I have little more to offer. I was going to recommend snooping around Donald's site as well. He has put years into providing a resource that is invaluable.

I started a page, that needs some work, but offers something to consider. I would like to finish labeling the silks in the first gallery and show many more both wet and waxed, but it is a start.

http://www.williamsfavorite.com/soft-ha ... silks.html

Also with posts like this http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3893 you're going to have a hard time finding a better place for this kind of information.

I'll just add that I was where you are, and I've tied spiders, soft-hackles and flymphs with silks and modern threads and there are benefits to each. You'll have a good time exploring with the different methods. It's good to hear you have the silk on the way. Learning to tie clean spiders with silk did worlds for my tying. I have to agree with Greenwell on learning to tie using the silk to its advantages and learning to keep the wraps to a minimum.

There is a lot of great reading throughout the older posts, so spend plenty of time mining the different forums here, but please post any question when it occurs to you, rather than trying to sort through to find an answer.

w

[Kelly L.]

Sorry, I am just now reading this thread. Welcome to a great forum, and some of the best tyers in the world. These are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. They are very helpful to those who want to learn. (I know from experience...lol) This is THE PLACE to learn about soft hackles, flymphs, and the like. I like Pearsalls Gossamer for my soft hackles. I have also been quite happy with YLI silk too.