Comparadun wings

[benjamin]

I have a problem getting the fanned wing on my comparaduns to stay upright and not lean toward the eye. Any suggestions on how to keep them straight up? Thanks
Ben

[Fishin' Junkie]

What kind of material are you using for the wings? There are a number of materials out there that you can use, but I prefer to use a combination of cdc and bunny fur for mine. I find that I have an easier time getting them to stand upright than when I use deer hair for the wing.

Also, you might try a thicker diameter thread with fewer wraps. Sometimes it is effective if you can really "torque" on the thread, especially when you are making the wraps in front of the wing to get it to stand straight up. Try pushing the wings back with your fingernail prior to wrapping in front, this techinique works for me.

FJ

[fulano]

There is a good tutorial on troutflies.com, I am trying to post the link.

http://www.troutflies.com/tutorials/sparkledun/index.shtml

It is for a sparkle dun but goes into some good detail about how to tie the wing which is the same as the comparadun. The point he makes is that the thread must be what holds the wing in place, don't get lazy and do a half assed job with the thread and expect the dubbing to reinforce. My comparaduns are not things of beauty, but they do catch fish and the wings stay pretty much upright now, mostly due to this tutorial.

[Fred]

I use deer hair and tie the wings on first, then the tail, then the dubbing. The dubbing in front of the wing before the whip finish will keep the wings up. Make sure to leave enough room in front of the wing and it should't be a problem.

[benjamin]

Thanks for the replies. I am using deer hair specifically for comparadun. Thanks also for the link it should help.
Ben

[Jeff Camomile]

Make sure it is of the highest quality deer hair. This not only makes it easier to tie, but it will float better and be more durable.

[Mike A]

Instead of just trying to get the whole bunch to stand up nicely with just the thread in front, try pulling back 1/3 of the hair, making a single tight thread wrap through the base of the hairs, pull back another 1/3, single tight wrap, then the last 1/3 and make some thread wraps in front of the wing. It's the way Dave Hughes does it in his books and it's worked beautifully in my experience. I've never had problems with getting a comparadun-style wing to stand straight up when using this method.

On smaller comparaduns where it's difficult to separate 1/3 of the hair, try it with half instead.

[Jason]

Tie in some dubbing right up against the hair to force the hair up. You gotta really push your thread and dubbing up close and tight.

[adams]

A little head cement in front of the wing keeps it upright along with dubbing. Also, make sure you have really good deer hair. Western Rivers has some really nice deer hair. Make sure you get a patch where the tips do not have a lot of black on the ends. Practice makes perfect. I cleaned out my fly box and got rid of a dozen or so of my old compara's the wings were laying forward, and the bodies were twice the size they should be.