How long?

Usually 2-3 minutes per jig for the actual tying part. Painting and gluing on the eyes are the longest part of the process for me but I usually do those in batches. You can speed up the tying process significantly by having all the tools and material in easy reach and tying multiples of the same pattern.

If the marabou is spinning around when you tie off it means your wraps over the feather aren't tight enough or there isn't enough of a thread base for it to grab onto. Other materials like calf or squirrel tail are slick and hard so they should be glued to the shank but marabou compresses pretty well.

I have not timed myself but I guess it takes me around 5 minutes to tie a jig.

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Originally Posted by Shmang

My method is to do the weedguard afterwards if possible.
Good luck.

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I don't know how that would be possible.

One other thing about increasing your speed... Learn to love monofilament thread. You don't need to use the ones marketed for fly tying. I bought a 2200 yard spool at Joann's for under $10. Brand name is Sulky. It is transparent so it blends with every color. No need to change thread. I use it on all my chenille body jigs with the exception of chenilles that are very dense like crystal antron or have long springy fibers like estaz. It's very slick so those materials can make it slip. You will need to use head cement for sure. I like Fly Tite since it doesn't smell.

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Originally Posted by Shoemoo

One other thing about increasing your speed... Learn to love monofilament thread. You don't need to use the ones marketed for fly tying. I bought a 2200 yard spool at Joann's for under $10. Brand name is Sulky. It is transparent so it blends with every color. No need to change thread. I use it on all my chenille body jigs with the exception of chenilles that are very dense like crystal antron or have long springy fibers like estaz. It's very slick so those materials can make it slip. You will need to use head cement for sure. I like Fly Tite since it doesn't smell.

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How do you get it on a spool to put it on a bobbin? Is it monofilament fishing line that you're using?

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

How do you get it on a spool to put it on a bobbin? Is it monofilament fishing line that you're using?

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It comes on a 2" spool. Small enough to fit a standard fly tying bobbin with the legs stretched to max. I use the el cheapo bobbin I got with my Cabela's beginner's fly tying kit I bought when I first got started. It's not even ceramic. The thread is basically the same thing as monofilament line, just very thin. Here is the manufacturer's web page:

https://www.sulky.com/item/sulky-inv...-2200-yd-spool

Let me say the set up is as much as the tying for sure! Once you can tie fast the cutting feathers, getting out your chenille and painting heads will account for a lot. Personally when I am tying a bunch of hackle tail chenille jigs, the tying part is about 1 minute each. You can see my tying of a strange chenille jig in the video I posted. Here it is again. This was probably 10 years ago.

YouTube

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