Anyone can glue a salmon fly together. Ordinarily I agree with folks opposed to using glue to compensate for lack of technique. There are exceptions.

Have you noticed that in framed salmon flies older than, say five years, the Macaw horns are no longer erect? I have see such flies with horns nearly parallel to the body. Those flies are suffering from insidious horn droop. The symptoms of this affliction do not seem to affect other feathers.

The problem is easily prevented. When the fly is finished, perform whatever contortions are required to cross the horns a short distance from their tips. Place a "mircodot" of very thin Flexament (or thinned GOOP) at the intersection. After this treatment, the horns will nevertheless droop over time. But, the sag will stop when the cemented intersection hits the topping.

The choice of glue is critical, it should be flexible and easily removed from feathers. If a mistake is made with Flexament of thinned GOOP a quick wipe with a toluene soaked cotton swap will enable you to try again.

Counterwound thread or I should say pre-counterwound thread. Everyone (?) counter-spins their bobbin in order to flatten the tying thread. Tie enough salmon flies and the constant spinning becomes a nuisance.

The method I use to eliminate this nuisance is: mount the spool of thread in the bobbin. Wind the thread (whatever length you wish) around convenient posts on opposite sides of your tying area. Extend a reasonable length of thread, counterspin the bobbin, reel the counterspun thread back onto the spool. Continue this procedure until all of the thread you wound around the posts is counterwound and reeled in.

There is a bit of finesse involved with this. The length of time you let the bobbin counterspin must be determined by trial and error. Try short lengths of thread at first and you will soon discover your ideal spin. Also, this procedure does not entirely eliminate counterspinning at the vise. Just most of it.