Spinning Deer Hair

[Nick Riggs]

First of all, my hat's off to anyone that can do this successfully. Does anybody have any tips to make this easier? Every time I attempt this (even on simpler patterns like Wogs, where it's pretty much only spun deer hair) I can't seem to pack even half as much hair onto the hook as some patterns I've seen.

[Zach M]

Make three lose wraps around then deer hair then pull tight. Let the deer hair unravel slowly and it will fill out the area you want it to. Then move up the shank and pack more. It just takes some practice

[gigharborflyfisher]

I have been tying a bunch of spun deer hair flies in the last few days, and as Zach said the key is to do at least a couple of lose wraps before first. Then you will want to do a tighter wrap and allow the hair to spin around the hook shank. Also make sure that you are using a big enough clump of hair so that it will be full when you trim it. I do the next clump just in front of the last one, than I try to push the two closer together and repeat the process until I have covered enough of the hook shank.

I hope this helps.

[kosel80]

You may also want to try a few different threads as the thickness of the thread can make a difference.Using a thicker hair like caribou can help too,but like the other posters said,practice makes perfect.

[riseform]

I'd add that the hair quality will make a difference as well. Even though it says "spinning hair" on the package, make sure you select hair with a good long wavy hollow base.

[PETI]

Spin on a bare shank, no thread base. Took me a while to figure that out, with some help from people on this site.

Peter

[hikepat]

Also make sure to cut off the tapered ends of the deer hair and just spin the thick part of the hair. This will allow the hair to flair better and not leave gaps if the trimming does not remove some of that tapered hair.

[Monkey Salad]

Get yourself some gel-spun thread, not only is it impossible to break, it is super slippery, so you can spin hair on it even if you have wrapped the hook with thread.

[Salmon fisher]

These are all great tips. I'll add that you really need to pack the hair well to get dense bodies. Don't be afraid of hurting the hair or anything.