How to Use 5-Minute Epoxy for Tying Flies

Epoxy has a wide variety of uses in tying flies. It can be used to create a glossy wing case on nymphs, as in Umpqua's "Micro Mayfly," designed by Mike Mercer, or, as in most cases, to create a head on saltwater and fresh water streamers that is durable and looks good, as in Umpqua's "Sea Habit Bucktail" fly. As in its name, 5-minute epoxy only takes 5 minutes, but the first 2 minutes in which you mix and apply the epoxy are the most crucial. If you are tying commercially or for a big fishing trip, a motorized, revolving fly dryer would suit your needs best. If you are only tying a couple of flies, apply the epoxy while it is in the vise and control the drip of the epoxy manually.

Things You'll Need

  • 1 fly completed with thread and bobbin detached
  • 5-minute epoxy (like Z-poxy)
  • Small index or business card
  • Toothpicks
  • Fly dryer
  • Rotary vise
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Instructions

    • 1

      With your fly completed and still in the vise, mix your epoxy by combining equal amounts of the resin and the hardener on a business or index card. Mix your epoxy thoroughly with a toothpick. (Use a toothpick and business card because they are disposable. There's nothing worse than trying to strip dried epoxy off of a $5 bodkin.) Mix your epoxy in the shortest amount of time possible because the epoxy will set completely in 5 minutes, but it becomes difficult to work with after 2 or 3 minutes, when the epoxy gets too tacky. If you are production tying, mix a larger batch of epoxy so that you can apply it to numerous tied flies at the same time.

    • 2

      With your epoxy completely mixed, apply a generous amount of epoxy evenly over and around the head of the fly. Apply it liberally at first so that the epoxy can penetrate all the fibers of whatever material you have tied your fly with. If you are applying epoxy to multiple flies, do this quickly, insert your fly into the rotating fly dryer, and repeat this process with the next fly. If you are applying epoxy to only one fly at a time, which you may prefer to do because the end result always seems to look better, take your time.

    • 3

      Control the epoxy manually as it dries, which requires patience. When you see gravity start to pull the epoxy downward, which it will do more lethargically as the 5 minutes wears on, rotate the fly 90 to 180 degrees so that the epoxy may roll, or droop, in the opposite direction. Using a fly dryer controls this process a little more haphazardly than does controlling it manually. The rotations will become more infrequent as the epoxy hardens; just make sure that the head of your fly does not have an epoxy hump from allowing the epoxy to dry as it drooped.

    • 4

      If you want to see if the epoxy has dried, don't test it by touching your fly but by touching the card upon which you mixed the epoxy. Once it has dried, remove it from the fly dryer or the vise, admire your work, and fish away.