Dressing tail hooks

[Motor Fish]

I'm sure many of you dress your own hooks. I was just wondering what kind of material(s) you use. What is it called and where can I find it?

I'll hopefully head out after work to track some of this stuff down.

My first batch is almost done.

Thanks.

[afterhours]

best bet is to go to a shop that carries fly tying materials, they will have a wide variety.

[Jigman]

I use guderod rod wrapping thread in size A to tie them. Bucktail, and sometimes kyrstal flash on the hook. A little epoxy over the wraps.

Jigman

[Gooch]

I don't build but I tie flies and redoe the hooks on all my plugs. Definitely go to a fly shop. I use bucktail with some krystal flash and flat waxed nylon thread. A little head cement , epoxy or zap a gap will do ya. Depending on how much you want to spend, there's also the basic fly tying tools like vise and bobbins. But if its just for some siwash hooks and don't want to spend money on a fly tying vise, a small table vise works fine. A thread bobbin is kinda a must have though. Ask them to show you what to look for in bucktail for tying saltwater flies/plug hooks and what part of the bucktail to use. Bucktails differ on quality and where you take the hair from, but a good fly shop will tell you all this. I know my answer was pretty basic but if any other questions just ask.

Oh yeah, I like to match the color bucktail to the plug. I also like the flash to stick out a little farther than the bucktail tips. Pretty standard stuff.

[NEXT2NUN]

Motor fish, Bears' Den in Taunton, has everything you need!!

[Motor Fish]

Ahhhh, YES! I've been looking for another reason to hit Bear's Den.

Thanks everyone.

[BigFish]

Or RodBuilders in Kingston!

[bassmaster]

I redid some tail hooks with mylar flash only and no bucktail.
one of the High liners I fish with showed Me it and it really stands out in the water. plus Im lazt to tye the buck tail

[Gooch]

straight flash sounds like a good idea.
is it matched to the plug color or simply pearl or silver?

[bassmaster]

pearl

[Gooch]

thanks

[Hip]

"Fishair" is AMAZING as a hook dreessing. I like bucktail and tie most of my flies with natural materials but that stuff comes alive on the back of a plug.

[UserRemoved1]

motorfish, use flat waxed nylon as it allows you to really pull down on the bucktail hairs without splaying it up too much as a round thread can do. use only the bucktail from the lower 1/3 UP to the top....the bottom hairs are coarse and will just blow up when you try to tie them down. You'll see when you do it what I'm talking about....

[Motor Fish]

This is a lot harder, and a lot more time consuming then I thought it would be. Having 10 thumbs didn't help either. The bucktail will probably fall out on my first cast.

Live and learn. And try not to make the same mistakes twice!


You can see how they came out in my "1st Batch" thread. Definitely a lot of room for improvement.

[UserRemoved1]

lol easy when u get the hang of it....wrap the hook with about 6-10 wraps of thread, let bobbin hang, put pinch of flash on and wrap in, reverse wrap if you can, helps to captivate it in the thread, then use your left hand to hold a pinch of bucktail and your right hand to spin it up. 3 loose wraps then pull tight, cut the ends of the bucktail back at a tapered angle, then wrap forward to the eye. whip finish and seal with hard as hull cement.

If you're local to uxbridge/mendon or want to take a ride sometime i'd be happy to sit down and teach you...