FLYMPH FORUM

Candy Apple Caramel
Hook - Mustad Model 3906 / Size 6
Thread - Black UNI-Thread (6/0)
Under Body - Silver Mylar Tinsel (Size #14)
Mid-Body/Butt - Insect Green Danville Rayon Floss (One Strand)
Outer Body - Golden Brown UNI-Floss (One Strand split in half to reduce bulk)

NOTE - The golden brown floss body is painted with one coat of Superglue to give the body a hard shiny finish like a caramel apple. Allow the body to dry before going on to add the soft hackle feather.

Hackle - Ruffled Grouse Body Feather (One side stripped)

Candy Apple Cinnamon
Hook - Mustad Model 3906 / Size 6
Thread - Black UNI-Thread (6/0)
Under Body - Silver Mylar Tinsel (Size #14)
Mid-Body/Butt - Insect Green Danville Rayon Floss (One Strand)
Outer Body - Red Danville Rayon Floss (One Strand)

NOTE - The red floss body is painted with one coat of Superglue to give the body a hard shiny finish like a candy apple. Allow the body to dry before going on to add the soft hackle feather.

Hackle - Ruffled Grouse Body Feather (One side stripped)

BEAUTIFL........so you run the mylar tinsel down the whole length of the shank? i've done that usin' the Pearl stuff.....shines thru nicely when you only use a single strand of floss. Great looking flies Ray. The sparse Ruffled is really nice.

Yeah, the tinsel is tyed in at the eye and wound to the bend of the hook and back. The process is then repeated with the green silk (just stop a little short so the tinsel tag shows) and then the outer color of silk (again stop a little short so the first color shows). The tinsel helps reflect the light back through the layers of silk, making the body more translucent looking. The superglue is used to give it a hard coat, durable body. The body can then stand up to many fish without getting destroyed.

Exactly.....it's all bout usin' opaque materials to infere translucency. And starting at the eye and goin' down and back insures you no bumps where materials overlap.....smouvve transitions. Great tyin' Bro.
p.s. personally, i never worry bout lost/beat-up/torn-up/hung-up in trees/etc., etc. flies. Just means i get to tye more.

Exactly.

Here is another method, I frequently use, when wrapping tinsel or floss bodies. I very carefully count the number of thread wraps I make when tying in the floss (usually 5 wraps). After the floss body has been wrapped, and the floss is returned to the tye in spot, I UNWIND the tying thread by one less wrap (usually 4 unwraps) and then secure the tag end with 2 or 3 wraps. The floss material is then secured with less than 5 total wraps (instead of 10 or more). Repeating the process with each material, minimizes the number of total wraps needed to create the fly, minimizing thread build-up. I am a firm believer in counting your wraps and trying to making each one count.

Does anyone else use a similar technique?

"Just means i get to tye more."

Good point. I will remember that the next time I loose a fly. Maybe that will cut down on my #$@%@% (swearing)

Absolutely Ray.....i do a LOT of unwraping throughout a tye. Many of the wraps you make tying things in should be undone when you tye the next thing in.....(for instance between mounting a tail and tying in the ribbing or butt material), they're only used to temporarily hold things. It's all about the single MOST important thing in ALLLLL of fly tying....."Thread Control." Case Closed. Which leads right to the second most important thing, materials control.....so if you can undo 3 outta the 5 wraps you used to tye in a tail, as you then tye the next thing in securely.....you've done it.
Bulk is your enemy just as is drag, when dry fly fishin'. Although there are times when you want drag, and when you want bulk.....but you have to know when those times are. There's no guess work involved.....cept for maybe in the beginning when your still figuring it out............which never ends.
But your dead right bout unwrapping.....NEVER using any more wraps than nessessary is the standard rule of thumb, just to keep things neat and it forces you to get the most out of every wrap. i "count" a lot as well. Find myself doin' it even when i don't realize i'm doin' it sometimes...... .......go figure.