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Tying On Spider Legs....


Fisherwoman

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Hi, I've been tring to find somewhere on the internet info when to tie on my rubber legs for my conehead rubberleg woolly bugger fly!. I have all my goodies now, have tons of info on how to make it and learnt tons about this fly... Do I tie my rubber legs before the dubbing I'm going to use seal dubbing instead of chenille.. ? In between or after... I thought I would ask here... I always ask here for help...

 

Please, and thank-you...

 

 

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Hi, I've been tring to find somewhere on the internet info when to tie on my rubber legs for my conehead rubberleg woolly bugger fly!. I have all my goodies now, have tons of info on how to make it and learnt tons about this fly... Do I tie my rubber legs before the dubbing I'm going to use seal dubbing instead of chenille.. ? In between or after... I thought I would ask here... I always ask here for help...

 

Please, and thank-you...

Tie on before, just knot them in place then whip some tying thread around them.

By the way this post should be moved to the fly tying area.

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Hi, I've been tring to find somewhere on the internet info when to tie on my rubber legs for my conehead rubberleg woolly bugger fly!. I have all my goodies now, have tons of info on how to make it and learnt tons about this fly... Do I tie my rubber legs before the dubbing I'm going to use seal dubbing instead of chenille.. ? In between or after... I thought I would ask here... I always ask here for help...

 

Please, and thank-you...

 

Either way will work, for me it depends on the fly, the bulk of your material and how you want your legs to stick out. If I'm working with non-bulky material I'll usually dub forward lightly past where the leg is to be tied in, then dub lightly back to the tie in point, tie in the legs with bare thread wraps, being careful to keep each consecutive wrap over the last, dub over top of the thread wraps, again trying to wrap over the last as much as possible, and then move the leg out of the way, and dub forward. I find that by dubing forward and then back, you don't get any bare spots, and you don't have to dub so tight to the front leg causing it to stick out perpendicular or backwards instead of in a V. I also find the legs are more secure by making a couple of bare thread wraps instead of tying them down with dubbed wraps.

 

Here's a few things I find make tying in rubber legs easier:

 

Always tie in your legs long, and trim when the fly is done. To get the legs even, gently pull both sides upwards and trim together.

 

When you tie in the legs put your thread in the middle of the leg, grab the two ends of the legs, and use your thread to pull the legs to the top of the hook instead of trying to place the legs on the top of the hook and tie them in, especially with round rubber legs.

 

I find that to get the legs to flare out in a nice 'V' try and keep your wraps over top of each other as much as possible, and not bind down too much leg to the body/thorax/shank. This is easier with a bit of dubbing than thick chenille.

 

If you want your legs to stick out straight to the sides, keep your figure 8 wraps over the top in line with the shank as much as possible and not binding down any extra leg material. You want a skinny 8, where the middle of the 8 looks like an X, not a fat 8 where the middle looks like a snowman with a tight wide belt. With bulky material like chenille, you can always cheat and use the chenille to wedge the leg into the right position.

 

If your tying in 3 or 4 legs on each side that are fairly close together, peel off a strip of 3 or 4 legs, and don't separate them, cut to the approximate length, tie them in with a skinny figure 8. If you use a snowman, you'll bind the legs over top of each other, and your spacing will be uneven. After the fly is finished trim, and then pull at the ends of the legs and let them snap back to separate them. By tying the group of legs in together, you'll get them perfectly spaced, it will be much easier to tie them in, and it will save you the time of tying them in individually.

 

While it's nice for the tier to get the legs where you want them, I don't think the fish care, but I do try to make sure that the length is not so long that the legs get fouled in the hook, or too short that you don't get any action from them.

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