Leisenring Style

[hankaye]

IronBlue, Howdy;

Glad to see you post. Jumped right in with both feet.
Thanks for th information and the image.

hank

[IronBlue]

Hank, nice to meet you too.

I should have mentioned that the spinning block diagrams posted by dnicolson in the first page of this string came from the Anglers' Club Bulletin article on the Clark Spinning Block that I referred to.

I've been experimenting with the Clark Spinning Block myself, and it is a lot harder than it looks, especially to get that fine, tapered effect that Leisenring showed in his book.

[willowhead]

Great stuff. Seems to me that the only real reason to use a block is to make up the brushes in advance, so one might be able to sit down later, and do a handfull of flies in less time. Can anyone enlighten me on any other advantage(s) of using the block to make the brushes in advance, over just using loops when doing the flies one by one? Of course, i'm asking in reference to all of this being focused on doing small Trout flies? For BIG flies on BIG hooks, i'd much rather use brushes, although a series of loops can work just as well. Tkx.

[IronBlue]

Thanks Willowhead. Good question. From looking at the books on tying small flies, it seems most pros would agree that it is preferable to dub the bodies right on the fly. Leisenring's chapter seven on spinning a body starts off explaining how he does that. But then he goes on to recommend the pre-spun dubbing loop, mostly because of its strength. He said it survives more abuse from trout teeth, and is better at holding some of the less pliant furs such as seal. And he likes the "undercolor" of the two strands of gossamer silk mixed in with the fur color.

For me, I feel I have more control over the fur blends, density, the taper, and two-tone bodies, when I spin the bodies in advance and store them on the card. It is a pretty intense little art in itself. I have gotten into the rhythm of doing one session of spinning bodies for every three to five sessions of tying. I like the change of pace, and I also like having a big selection of bodies to choose from when I am in the middle of tying. The hardest part is to keep the bodies delicate. I tend to load on too much fur, which then results in a body that is too bulky.

When the fur is wound tightly into this little rope of waxed silk, and slipped into the notches of the card, it takes a few hours, or overnight, to set. When it is set, I can pull the loop out of the notches without having it unwind and release the fur, which is what happens if I use the body too soon.

I've attached some samples of bodies that I spun on a Clark Spinning Block last week. I've been looking at a lot of photos of duns and spinners, and notice that the bodies are frequently more yellow, and the thorax more brown. That is why I have been making more of the two-tone bodies.

[Roadkill]

Iron Blue

Thanks for the clarification, I am 300+ miles from my copy of the 1970's book and couldn't refer to it to refresh my old memory before I added to this thread. Donald had identified the Clark block earlier, I only meant that without Hidy creating the Flymph and showing the block method in the edition where he added & Fishing the Flymph to The Art OF Tying the Wet Fly my copy of the block, this Forum and discussion about spun body Flymphs would not exist. I totally agree that it was Clark's block but I merely suggest that Hidy's contributions popularized the spinning block Flymph body style.

Beautiful work with the spinning block!! Looking forward to seeing your finished flymphs online.

[IronBlue]

Roadkill,

I am so glad that you got this string going. I love it. The spun body is the core of the Leisenring/Hidy method, and not very well understood yet.

I'll eventually post more photos of my flies, but meanwhile here are a couple.Don't look too close. My technique is pretty sloppy compared to what I am seeing on the internet. The one on the left is a new design that I am experimenting with for the March Brown Dun Flymph, using that two-tone, yellow and cinnamon body. Still not happy with it, but will keep fiddling til I get it right. The hackle is is a variegated feather from a hen pheasant that I love, and doesn't seem to be too popular for reasons that I can't figure out. Great soft-hackle alternative to partridge and grouse.

[daringduffer]

Gunnar Johnson printed a series of "Fly Tying Letters" in the early eightees. Number 3 presents " Flymphs" by Vernon S Hidy, with a short foreword by Gunnar.
Pete says that the advantages of spinning the fur between two threads of silk is durability but also that the silk becomes part of the colour composition. That way one can, with only few dubbing materials mixed with different silks, get a lot of of natural looking colour nuances. He goes on to tell his preferred hair and hackle and then describes the method. He says that it can be an advantage in the beginning to use a spinning block, but after some practise one can do it directly on a table.
This letter was written in july 1981.

dd

[CreationBear]

IB--Late to the party here, but great looking flies (and photo's). A question I always ask when I get a chance: what kind of dubbing blend are we looking at?

[IronBlue]

The one on the left, as I remember, is plain old ginger rabbit on the body, and baby alpaca for the darker red-brown thorax. I bought a skein of the baby alpaca at the local weaver's and knitter's shop for $10. A great color, that matches a lot of the coloration of the aquatic insects. I just got it last week, and haven't tried blending it with other fibers yet, just this two-tone thing. You can see some of the same bodies on the card I posted earlier. The baby alpaca is significantly more delicate than the mohair I'd been using, but not as fine as rabbit of course. After I shred the yarn, I cut it up a little to shorten the long fibers. I also cut up the rabbit a little. As you can see, the body is still a little too bulky. It looks so sparse when I'm laying it on the thread, but then it gets denser and heavier when I wrap it on the hook. If I manage to tie one that I am really proud of this week, I'll post it. But I'm interested to seeing what others are doing too.

[CreationBear]

It looks so sparse when I'm laying it on the thread, but then it gets denser and heavier when I wrap it on the hook

Ha, I've muttered that a few times myself. Thanks for elaborating--alpaca is one I haven't considered before. Another question: when chopping down your long-staple fibers like from mohair, what's the length you usually go for? I'm thinking perhaps the width of the hook gap as a rule of thumb?