Preparation Is Key

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

 

When tying flies I find lots of mind numbing activities that lend well to being done while watching a movie or otherwise paying attention to something else. Preparation of  materials such as feathers for wings or crest for tails on salmon flies can be time consuming if being done fly for fly. By processing a large amount at one time you can have plenty of prepared materials on hand for the next year or two of tying making certain styles of flies more enjoyable to tye. Here are a few of the things that I do in advanced to be prepared and allow myself more time at the vise tying.

Bronze Mallard - When tying classic salmon flies or spey flies bronze mallard is a feather that is used very often as wings. Finding good quality feathers can be tricky but is worth the time and effort in the end. Once you have found a good supplier you can deal with the odd feather that is damaged, ruffled or ratty by steaming them.

I use bronze mallard from a Canadian company that sells them in 12 pairs (24 feathers, 12 left, 12 right) for $7-8. I purchased 5  packages and then spent an evening processing, steaming and sorting them so I would save time when tying at the bench.


Step 1: First I stripped the fluffy base fibers from both the left an right side of the feather and then stripped back the off side of the feather as well. I roughly sorted the feathers into three grades at this point and kept the lefts and rights together.

Step 2: At this point I took any feathers that were ratty, damaged, twisted or other wise unsavory and steamed them. You can use a kettle, electric kettle or what I do is take a pot with a tight fitting lid and only lift one side to direct the steam. After steaming you can gently caress the feather to marry all the fibers together. Once steamed place somewhere to dry.

Step 3: Allow the feathers to dry over night before placing in a storage container sorted by size and left or right. At this point when tying a fly that requires bronze mallard wings I simple select a left and right feather in the correct size for the hook and keep on tying. This stash should last me a good long time and represents around 3 hours or so of work and effort. If you are a presentation fly tyer you may find washing the feathers with a mild dish soap and allowing them to dry before preparing will be beneficial. However as a person who ties fishing flies this is pointless to me, I will get them wet and washed on the end of my leader.

Golden Pheasant Crest - When tying classic salmon flies, spey flies, or even steelhead flies golden pheasant crest comes into play a lot of the time for tails. As always you want to find the best quality materials that you can but even the best GP crests still have some longer feathers with twisted fibers. Preparing an entire head or two at the same time can be a little labor intensive but will save you time when tying down the road. The method outlined below will help give you straight feathers that will be perfect for tying in tails on many different patterns.

Step 1: Pluck an entire head and size the feathers roughly into three different groups, small, medium, and large. Once the head is plucked entirely and sorted take three small glass dishes, fill them with hot tap water and a SMALL dab of dish soap and place the different size feathers into their own dish. Allow the feathers to soak for 8 or so hours stirring occasionally.

Step 2: After the soak you want to find a baking sheet or some other large flat surface. Take each feather one by one and lay it flat on its side on the sheet. This is the labor intensive part and can get really mind numbingly boring. Once you have all the feathers laid out allow them to dry for 24 hours before placing into storage. Those who tie presentation flies will place the feather on the sheet and then with a bodkin separate the fibers of the feather to create the cascading effect when tied in. For someone who ties fishing flies this is not needed.

Articulated Shanks - When tying intruders or stinger hook patterns in the past I found that the most time intensive part was preparing the waddington shanks or hair pins. If I came home from work and wanted to tie a few flies I could easily spend half of it on just preparing the shanks. Instead I take a few hours and pre tie the shank bodies that I plan to use and set them aside stuck in foam or in a container. It usually takes me around 2-3 hours to tie up 2 dozen shanks and I find when sitting down after work to tie a few flies I can get a LOT more done as I am spending all my time tying and none of my time preparing shanks.

Other Activities - There are all kinds of things you can prepare ahead of time to make tying a batch or order of flies that much easier. When you have down time watching T.V, taking a lunch break at work, or otherwise doing something that does not require your full attention preparing materials be very productive.

- Preparing hooks with beads, lead/lead free wraps, cone heads etc.Preparing a dozen or so flies you plan to tie ahead of time with under body weight or bead heads can save time when you get down to tying.
- Prepare feathers for soft hackles, buggers, etc. Stripping and preparing feathers ahead of time can save a small amount of time.
- Knotting pheasant tail on the stem for grasshopper/terrestrial legs.


The list can go as far as your imagination really.