HAVE YOU TICKLED YOUR BUTCHER LATELY?

By Wayne Luallen

When tying a body that calls for seal or a seal substitute, my preference in most cases is to have a very loose, stringy appearance. To achieve this I have found that the combination of a tool called a "tickler" and some specific dubbing techniques achieve my desired result.

If loose dubbing is desirable, some teasing out of the fur will be required at some point after wrapping. You will find that over-wrapping seal over seal will reduce the desired shaggy appearance and possibly lead to broken thread due to over zealous teasing. One method I use is to dub seal loosely and fairly thickly and tapered on the thread. I hold the bottom-most

portion of the seal as I wrap, not adding any additional twists other than what is inherent with the wrapping thread. Another method I like is to twist very tightly a tiny bit of dubbing out of a well blended batch of seal, make a wrap over the shank with it and hand wrap the remainder of the seal down the thread into the desired taper, pinch as before and wrap. Still another approach is to begin the seal as with the last approach and while the thread is wrapped forward allow the seal to be pulled out of a blended batch in your hand. The more pressure applied to the seal the less seal released resulting in a thinner body, and vice versa for a thicker body. The inherent twist created in the thread by wrapping around the hook will carry the seal with it. I would not recommend putting the seal in a dubbing loop. It will take more vigorous teasing to get the desired result and may lead to broken thread.

No matter what technique you use, be sure to taper the seal near the head to avoid a resulting bulk that would force the wing upward.

You can decide if you want to tease the seal prior to wrapping the rib and body hackle or after. My preference is to tease before and after. The advantage of teasing before is that it allows the rib and hackle to seat deeply enough so that it isn't loosened by teasing after the fact. The disadvantage is that it takes more care and effort to seat the rib and hackle while not trapping strands of stray seal. The advantage to teasing after wrapping the rib and hackle is that the strands pushed out of the way by the rib and hackle can now be realigned and blended with the hackle. The disadvantage is that care must be taken to avoid breaking the hackle rachis or rib.

I have tried a variety of tools to tease out seal: bodkin, velcro, trimmed tooth brush, .22 gauge gun brush, root canal burr (ouch! - ed.), etc. Finally I was introduced to Gordon Mankins' "tickler". It is basically a small handle with multiple wires sticking out about 1/4 inch from one end. As is, it is fine for most things. If a stiffer brush is required, simply wrap thread around the base of the wires as they leave the handle.

When I first received this tool, I must confess I was a bit skeptical since nothing had worked as well for me as the slow process of pinching out the seal with a bodkin. I promised Gordon that I would give it a try. It was a few weeks before I put it to the test. Now, a few years later, I'd hate to be without it. It is amazing what other uses I have found for it from using it on #22 midge pupae up to large fur leeches.

Footnote: Not all of us have real seal or choose to use a material no longer legal in some areas.

A product that is readily available is "African Goat", a Mohair byproduct. The very straightness of this material makes it a bit more difficult to dub and it lacks the crinkled appearance of real seal. A solution to both problems is to simply wad up a clump in the palm of your hand and smash, crush and damage it to your heart's content. Then reblend it and dub using one of the above methods.

Another material that is quite new is Davy Wotton's Synthetic Living Fibre or SLF. This product is available through shops that sell Partridge products and comes in 48 different colors. I have only limited experience using it but my feeling is that it does not dub as well as natural fur as it lacks the scales on the fibers that help to interlock the fur blend. The colors, though, are lustrous and consistent. I understand that some colors are offered in hanks that may prove useful on "mane" flies such as the Beaconsfield.