I...hate....deer.....hair!

[338Bluff]

Well any tips? I don't know how many times I can watch those you tube clips on how to tie a Muddler. It looks like the simplest thing in the world. Just can't see where I am going wrong. The flies catch fish, but I just can't seem to get that well packed head you see at the shops.

[pikergolf]

If your anything like me the problem is you don't trust the thread to hold and over wrap the thing after it's already done. Other thing is, a lot of how good it looks is in the trimming. You might just be to hard on yourself as well.

[Bigtoad]

Take a plastic pen apart and use the hollow shaft to pack the hair back.

Cheers

[pipercub17]

^^^what he said ^^^

[JReed]

Originally Posted by 338Bluff

Well any tips? I don't know how many times I can watch those you tube clips on how to tie a Muddler. It looks like the simplest thing in the world. Just can't see where I am going wrong. The flies catch fish, but I just can't seem to get that well packed head you see at the shops.

I agree, deer hair is a pain in the ***

[nick0danger]

You also want belly hair for spinning deer hair, its longer and more supple

[grinr]

A tip you might find useful if you don't already is to tie your Muddler heads in two bunches(lifts) of deer hair.The first lift obviously has the tips pointing rearward to form the collar.Pack it with your fingers or pen as suggested,whichever you prefer,and hold it back with just a few wraps on the shank.For the second lift,hold the lift of deer in your fingertips by the butt ends,with the tips extending forward over the hook eye,or in other words,exactly opposite of the first.Spin and flare the hair as usual,then you'll have a forward facing "collar" with nice long tips to work with.Bend and hold those long tips back and secure with wraps behind the eye,and trim head to shape.You should end up with a tight packed head and the long forward oriented tips are much easier to tie back nice and neat behind the eye then if you trim the tips before spinning or spin it butts forward.

[SimonB]

Here is the best video that i found on spinning deer hair ! Really helped me.http://vimeo.com/57061474

[pikergolf]

Nice link, makes it look oh so easy.

[Fish along]

Very nice and informative , that razor blade nice trick

[trooper]

One method that works for me is to pick out the fuzzy underfur before you stack it. I find that the underfur tends to inhibit stacking hair.

[SimonB]

Yeah you guys should subscribe to their channel. Its called tight line production and there is looooots of great tying vids that are really well made. pretty much the only guy I can stand watching video about fly tying. I find that other videos are either waaaayyyy to long and have stuff that doesnt matter on just poor quality.

Cheers

[rycoma]

when your stacking hair trim the tips off before you tie it to the shank. also pack it to the rear of the hook. I used to struggle with it for years Untill I started doing these two things and what a difference.

[gilbertslake]

Some folks down east use one of those small beard mustasche clippers to trim their buck bugs and bombers.
The other thing is to use a serrated curved scissors. I use a pair of Anvil 70C Ultimate curved scissors. I like Anvil as the finger loops are adjustable.

[338Bluff]

Thanks for the tips.

[Fly Tyer]

what I like to do is to use caribou hair. I also clip off the tips of the hair before I spin it on the hook, so that i tie in the most spinable part. I also like to grab a bigger bunch than I think, because that way i know it will be spun fully around the shank.

Then I twist and push the hair backwards. However, I find the "rolled muddle" a much better pattern, and is tied very slim and sparse. You might want to take a look at that pattern.

[ranchobendecido]

nice work...

[Lornce]

Another tip: clip the individual bunches short before using for spinning (about 2"). Using hair that is too long just gets in the way, you are cutting it down anyway.