Howdy,

I was tying up a bunch of Madam X variations for warmwater species
down here, and having the usual hard time getting the heads to look
decent. For those who don't use the Madame X, it's got a dubbed or
thread body (the original was yellow, I think), deer hair tail and a
wing and head made of deer hair tied in with tips forward and then
swept back and tied bullethead style. It also has rubber legs tied in
an X.

Anyhow, I didn't have any problems getting the hair to sweep back
(I guess I got enough practice on that while tying various
extended-body drakes and dragonflies), but wasn't happy with the final
appearance of the bulletheads. They weren't uniform, and they tended
to be a little offcenter.

Then I remembered a technique that I think I picked up from Harry's
tutorials on tying humpies. Once you get the hair swept back into a
single bunch, take the bunch and give it a slight twist around itself
at the tie-down point to compact the head before tying it down. It
really makes it easier to control and the resulting flare of the wing
is much neater that way.

You guys may already know this, but it was something of a
"light-bulb moment" for me.


Chuck Vance