C&F Tying Tools
Brad Harris makes easy work of tying flies.
Who would have thought that a humble thread bobbin holder could bring so much joy? I’ve been tying for years, and only ever had the most basic equipment. You know, the cheap Indian stuff, and some embroidery scissors. But I recently splurged and got some of the new C&F tying gear. It seemed like it might be a bit ‘gimmicky’, but I was to be pleasantly surprised.
After unpacking it, with the odd smirk about some of the Japanese translations, I got straight to the tying bench to knock out some parachute duns. I put a hook in the vice, loaded the thread into the bobbin holder ((Model CFT-60) using the threader-loop (and how have I gone without one of those for so long?) and wound some thread onto the hook. I tied in a tail and wound again. WOW! I never realised how much the hand/ bobbin interface influenced how well you tie. This thing just fits perfectly into the palm of your hand, and the thread comes out smoothly. It’s got Teflon coated arms and a ceramic tube, and even a slitted disk of foam at the back of the tube to stop your thread from shooting back to the spool when you cut it under tension. Neat.
I grabbed the scissors (Model TS/2) next, which are a funky design with tripped-out-hippy twisted handles. The finger loop size makes them easy to pick up, or keep on your fingers while you tie, and the tiny points are perfect for trout fly work, right down to the smallest size you’d tie. The short thin blades of the ‘straight’ version don’t cope so well with thick deerhair and some synthetics, but those materials kill scissor-edges anyway, so I use my old clunky ones for that. I imagine the curved blades (Model TS/1) are similar.
After dubbing the body the ‘3-in-1’ thingy (model CFT-70) was used to tease out the dubbing. Years ago I had actually made each of the three tools it features, using an old paintbrush, a needle and a Velcro dot. Of course, each one is always buried under materials when you need it. This baby has all three uses in one neat tool—angled needle point applicator, wire teasing brush and half-hitch tool—and it performs each task better. I like!
The hackle pliers (model CFT-120) were called into service for the parachute. My old pliers were like a wire loop with flattened pincers, which I always found awkward to load and use. This bad-boy has a big fat pair of grips on the clip, plenty of purchase area under the flared points, and a flexible rubber neck between the clip and the finger-loop. I’m sure it should help prevent hackle stems from snapping while winding. Anyway, it’s cool too.
My new best mate ‘3-in-1’ was used to tie off at the eye under the hackle fibres. There’s another dedicated half-hitch tool available, which has three different sized recesses, one of them being really deep for doing hitches along the hook shank. It gets a run sometimes too.
The thread holder has an optional extra—a segmented bobbin (model CFT-60/T) that you can load three different threads onto, in case you’re travelling or… I don’t know… something. Anyway, it’s available if you want it.
My one fly box (coincidentally a C&F 3308, which I love) and 2 spools of tippet fit in a small bum-bag, so clearly I’m not one for useless accessories. As gadgety as these tools look, they all work beautifully and my conscience sits quite well with owning such cool-looking equipment.
Distributed by Mayfly Tackle. Phone 03 9899 0034 for your nearest stockist.