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I am trying to tie up some of Scott Howell's Prom Dress flies after seeing Skagit Master 2, but I am struggling with getting he polar bear to spin in the dubbing loop correctly. What appears to be happening is that as the loop spins up, the hair bunches up and slides into big clumps rather than individuals strands getting trapped inside the intertwining stands. This causes these ugly clums of many stands of hair to form, which never flare out.
once the loop is fully spun, I can't pick out the hair like he does in the vid, and it has a tendency to fall out.
I've tried more hair, less hair, distribution the hair across a longer loop, spinning faster, slower, tighter, looser, using dubbing wax, no wax... argggg!
Soon I will be pulling my own hair out! How the heck does noe spin this stuff effectively????
get rid of underfur before you put the hair in the loop use a mustache comb to get rid of the underfur in each hank you trim from the pelt.hope this helps.
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace
get rid of underfur before you put the hair in the loop use a mustache comb to get rid of the underfur in each hank you trim from the pelt.hope this helps.
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace
For best results you want to use some nice soft PB. I cut a small amount from the skin and I leave most of the guard hair in. Using wax does help but when using he right kind of PB it's not really needed.
After you cut it off the skin if you can spread it out, and it more or less stays together, your on the right track. If it all falls apart you need some softer stuff with more guard hair.
When spinning the loop I place all my hair in after a little wax. Then I pinch the loop at the bottom right above my dubbing twister and squeeze fairly tight. Once I have done several turns I slowly start to loosen my grip allowing the PB to start to spin.
If your using the right kind of hair and you go slow, you should not have to many difficulties.
I do the same thing Brood Dude explains however i make sure to make a dubbing loop big enough that i have a decent amount of room between the hair and dubbing twister. I pinch below the hair/fur or any other material im spinning, I then spin the twister until it starts to bunch the slightest bit (the thread bunching i mean) i then pull to towards myself and let go of the thread and Zing !! she spins fully and then just palmer forward making your wraps tightly against each other
Depending on what im spinning i will brush it out after i spin it but before i wrap it. This works great to turn your spun hair into more of a hackle like thing I brush out my Arctic fox, Polar Bear, Rabbit, etc. before wrapping
once you have done this a few times you will unlock the possibilites to spin things like Amherst, Ostrich, Rhea and well, basically anything
So what, exactly, is the right kind of PB hair???? It's bad enough that it is illegal for us in the U.S. to posess the stuff. What I have, I got as pieces from a taxidermist eons ago. Have no idea from where on the bear it came. And it's probably old and brittle by now.
So what, exactly, is the right kind of PB hair???? It's bad enough that it is illegal for us in the U.S. to posess the stuff. What I have, I got as pieces from a taxidermist eons ago. Have no idea from where on the bear it came. And it's probably old and brittle by now.
I think it sucks largely that you guys in the US can't possess it. I was going to send a bunch of flies to a buddy in the US, but he put a stop on that because they were largely polar bear bucktails. I don't know of a decent substitue.
And you make a good point. In Skagit Master 2, Scott says "Use good bear"... Define "good" please!
Even the old and brittle stuff can be fixed easily. Hair conditioner is a wonderul thing...... I find if you spend some time with a small comb and comb out the PB while on the hide it makes life easier for spinning.
Don't pull out the Gaurd Hairs, makes a bigger 'bump' to hold out the Flash. After I spin I spend some time with a bodkin and pick out all of the pieces that have wrapped into the thread. I also do this after each wrap onto the shank so nothing gets trapped.
Synthetics really do not allow for the same stiffness as PB, but you could always spin Deer Hair like the original Intrudr
I have used pb but you can use different materials, I use a e a body Mylar tied on then pulled back, there is a thread I posted called "so who says you can't use marabou..." granted it's not howells exact version but all synthetics. Also for a tube fly version I tie it reverse... There is a thread I posted called something like reverse prom. Good luck!
i find that PB and fox work really good. i don't use deer as it is buoyant and when i m looking for winter run fish it seems, counter productive as i want it to get down.
a guide buddy uses a big ball of chenille and it seems to work, but it does hold more water.
as far as marabou goes i only use it on tubes when i m doing two collars, and i will only use it on the one at the stern. it allows me to use less rhea.
no its because they have really old good quality PB obviously. I can get a 2" square at my local shop for about $5 but its not of great quality which is lots of the reason why i use Arctic Fox instead
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