Northwest Fishing Reports

1/4 oz pearl, #1 Mustad.

Yep.
Lots of shiny pink stuff!
Body is estaz.
Tail is a single hackle + polar chenille. (spun)

HillbillyGeek wrote:Yep.
Lots of shiny pink stuff!
Body is estaz.
Tail is a single hackle + polar chenille. (spun)

I thought that was the way you must have did it. How do you keep it from drooping?

The tension keeps it tight. It's hard to explain.
The tail is actually folded over so the tip and base of the hackle are both at the end of the estaz body.
Spin it, then keep tension and fold in the center. I use the tip of my whip finisher because it swivels.
The two halves want to "unwind" in opposite directions when they are folded together. This causes them to "embrace" and stay straight.
A plastic clothespin and hemostats work great for tail spinning. (There's a very bad joke there somewhere...)
Does that help? I could take some pics of the process.

Nice! The guy up at Ted's showed me how to do that. Hard to explain, but works really well.

Toni wrote:I think I get it. Do you think this works better than, say, rabbit to get the fish to bite it? Or just something different? It is very interesting and creative!

I wouldn't say that this is better than rabbit. Both have unique properties with advantages and disadvantages.
They also have a completely different look in the water. Rabbit strips can be cut very long. My tail hackle twisty thing is limited to about one inch.
The profile is similar to an aero jig which works well when fish want a bait that is short and slim.
I love mixing materials. Synthetics have lots of visual pop but tend to be stiff. Natural materials undulate like crazy but can be dull.
I need to go fishing and try it out!

That looks like a tasty one. I have a mental picture of the twisted hackle but would love a pic or two showing it.

Bodofish wrote:That looks like a tasty one. I have a mental picture of the twisted hackle but would love a pic or two showing it.

I'll take some pics this weekend & post them.
I don't think there is a "right" way to do it. Many of my creations aren't pretty but they catch fish. Naturally, I've also made jigs that looked awesome but fish would not touch them.
That's what happens when you experiment.
On the bright side, all you need is a razor knife to start over.

HillbillyGeek wrote:

Bodofish wrote:That looks like a tasty one. I have a mental picture of the twisted hackle but would love a pic or two showing it.

I'll take some pics this weekend & post them.
I don't think there is a "right" way to do it. Many of my creations aren't pretty but they catch fish. Naturally, I've also made jigs that looked awesome but fish would not touch them.
That's what happens when you experiment.
On the bright side, all you need is a razor knife to start over.

Yeah, I know that one! I usually see a pattern I think would cool and start tying. end up with a bunch, some work some don't...... the tying is good.

Basically take 2x the length you want.
hold one end of it with the thumb & forefinger of your right hand
hold the other end with the thumb & forefinger of your left hand
roll/twist it forward with the right hand a few times
roll/twist it backward with the left a few times
fold in 1/2 and tie on

When you fold it in 1/2, the tension will twist against itself making it stiff.
The longer the piece and the limper the material the more twists you need.

I've also taken a pair of forceps and held the length in one hand, clamped the forceps on the other, let them hang straight down and gave em a spin.

I'll give it a try. =)