FLYMPH FORUM

Jackdaw and Jade
Hook - Mustad Model R50 (Size 12)
Abdomen - Pearsalls Gossamer Silk (Light Olive 20 - Coated with Cobblers Wax)
Thorax - Beaver Dubbing (Dark Olive)
Hackle - Jackdaw Coverlet Feather (Tyed in by the tip)
I can't wait to see this fly in natural sunlight. The photo doesn't seem to capture the color properly.

Magnatized scissors........pretty tricky. Very nice tye.....really cool pic.

The tricky part was balancing the hook on it's bottom edge. It kept wanting to flop over to the side.

Now where have i heard that before..... .....or is it, "that's what she said".....to the pirate.

Fantastic construction. It's great to see Jackdaw used so well. I ordered a Jackdaw and found it difficult to tie with. You've obviously conquered the bird. Great to see the materials come together so nicely.

w

Beautiful tie Ray!!

Lovely tie, Ray. I love how jackdaw seems to go every which way. That characteristic bothered me at first, but then I decided that it may look more "real" to the fish than bug parts that are all perfectly aligned. About the scissors:
I was wondering about that when you showed us your tool holders. Any problems with everything being a magnet?

Ray,

Beautiful fly. Did you strip one side of the jackdaw before tying it in to get such a sparse hackle?

REE

tie2fish - I intentionally magnetize my scissors to help me pick up hooks. I've been tying with magnetized scissors for quite some time and find it to be very helpful, especially when working with smaller hooks. I find it an easier way to pick them up. When I get a new pair of scissors, the first thing I do is to magnetize the tip.

Ron (REE) - I tyed the jackdaw feather by the tip after it has been prepared (see photos below). I first select a feather and strip of the fibers along the base of the steam. I then brush the fibers so they stand out roughly perpendicular (90°) from the stem. Leave some of the fibers pointing forward, where you want the tye in point to be. Clip off the end, leaving a small section roughly the length of the head of the fly (approx. 1 eye length). Trim the fibers on each side so they come to a point. The tye-in point will be shaped like a little diamond. The feather at the bottom of the photo has been prepared and is ready to tye in.



This method makes it very easy to control how many fibers you want to hackle the fly.

Here is a look at the feather after it has been tyed in in front of the thorax.



I just noticed that I tyed the feather in upside down. The feather should be tyed in with the good side towards the tyer. The natural curve of the stem should be tilting downwards, back over the fly.

I thought it may be helpful to see Mark's hackle wrangler tool (small piece of a coffee stirrer) in use. The plastic ring holds the hackle fibers out of the way during the whip finish operation.



Here is a photo of the finished fly. The fibers of the jackdaw feathers curve outwards in many directions. I like their buggy appearance (i.e. - nature = chaos).