The Chironomid Pupa

 

 

 

The Chironomid Pupa is one of my favorite flies when there is no discernible hatch going on in the spring. Chironomids are always hatching or preparing to hatch in the spring and the more subdued hues of this fly imitate the pupa that are not quite ready to begin the dangerous journey to the surface. Instead of silver to rib the fly to imitate the silvery appearance of the pupa moving to the surface, grey ribbing mimics a more immature stage of the pupa. Other colors can be used as well, I have had good luck with red as well as tan ribbing. The fly is more realistic than the various bead head flies which for some reason appeals to me as well.

 

I fish this fly quite close to the bottom of the water column and try to stay close to weeds, not because the pupa lives in weeds but because I find trout like to hang around weeds and their various food sources. I like it under an indicator or float, just suspended without any movement on my part. Takes can be quite subtle so a lot of concentration is required watching the indicator for movement. I find if I strike sideways instead of up at the take I hook a higher percentage of fish. I think lifting up a lot of movement of the rod is wasted in straightening out the bow in the line which inevitably forms when still fishing.  When I strike side ways, the weight of the water keeps tension on the line, and even though there is a bow in the line, it is in a more direct motion, if that makes sense. Some people fish this fly without an indicator, I would find this difficult as I think a person would miss a lot of subtle takes.

This fly should be fished hanging vertically, and would benefit from being tied with an open clinch knot found here.

 http://alaskaflyfishingonline.com/tips/tip1clinchknot.html

 

Materials for this fly would be; Mustad C49S hook in size 10 to 16, super floss in brown, small ribbing of your choice in color, pheasant tail fibres, peacock herl, some poly, antron or nylon white gill material, lead substitute weight and black Uni thread in 6/0 or 8/0. 

 

 

 

 

 

First step is to lay a base of thread and tie in about a dozen pheasant tail fibres, on top of this tie down the gill material.

 

 

 

 

Then I add a little lead substitute to help the fly sink faster, tie this down so it doesn't move on you. Next I tie in the wire ribbing and a split four inch piece of super floss. When you split the super floss keep the piece that will give you the body size you desire, stretching it as you apply it can be done to make it thinner as well but I don't like to get carried away with that, as I worry about fatigue in the rubber. I don't want it breaking before I even get to use the fly.

 

 

 

 

 

Wind the super floss foreward and tie off, I counter wind the ribbing so that it keeps everything in place and tie that off as well.

 

 

 

 

Break off the last two inches from the tips of two pieces of peacock, this will leave you with a stronger piece to wind. I then tie them in and wind my thread around them about six times for strength, then make a couple of wraps with this and tie off.

 

 

 

Split the gills into two equal sections and bring the wing case back between them, tie this off behind the peacock and then whip finish the thread behind the wing case. Trim the gills at about 1/8 in.

 

 



 



 

The finished fly will have the two gill plates coming out like this. Try this subdued version of pupa when the hatch is slow in the spring, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

 

 

The Simple Scud

 

 

Scud lakes grow big fish, it doesn't seem to matter what species, they all grow big. Scuds are incredibly prolific and can fill the water column with hundreds in cubic yard of water space. Fishing them can seem an impossible proposition when faced with the dizzying number of naturals available. I'm lucky enough to live near a scud lake where the numbers of scud are more manageable and have had some very good days fishing them. I honestly can't speak to the situation of overwhelming numbers of naturals but admit it would be a little daunting.

 

 Trout seem to love them and my best luck has been fishing under indicators. I have been wondering about this a lot in the last year and after observing the little buggers swimming am convinced I was using a hook that was too heavy when retrieving them. Under an indicator a heavy hook doesn't matter because it's supported. Unsupported, my hooks were sinking like little stones and I think the fish were put off by this. I was trying to come up with a floating scud imitation and so far have drawn a blank, so have had to settle for trying a much lighter hook. I will report back later once the season starts and see if my theory held.

 

I fish scuds around weeds, as I said, most of my luck was suspended below an indicator. The lake I fish they are quite small, 14 or 16, if the hooks were stronger I would even go to an 18 but in this lake an 18 would get straightened out quickly. Retrieving should be done with the natural's swimming motion in mind, fairly quick and steady six to twelve inch pulls followed by short rests. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason as to when they will take scuds other than maybe a lack of other hatches.

 

Materials for my scud are a Daiichi 1550 hook in size 12 to 16, small gold wire, a clear or light green 1/8" scud back, Arizona Scud blend in Olive grey and Uni thread Olive in an 6/0 size. Feel free to use colors that match your particular water, keeping in mind that most colors darken when wet.

 

 

 

First I lay a base of thread and then tie in the wire and scud back, scud back hanging off the front of the hook.

 

 

 

Then I work the thread back to the rear of the hook and dub a noodle of my dubbing material.

 

 

 

Next I wind my dubbing noodle forward and then work the thread to the eye of the hook.

 

 

 

I make one turn with the wire before I bring the rubber back and then lightly stretch the rubber over the top of the fly. I do one wrap of the wire over the rubber, binding it at the back before winding the wire to the front of the hook. I then tie off the wire and helicopter it off.

 

 



 

Gently pull on the rubber and have it fold in two with the peak of the fold pointing up. Cut the rubber, the fold will create two small peaks on the outside of the rubber. 

 

 

 

 Either brush or pick at the dubbing to create the legs of the fly. That's it, a very simple, easy to tie scud imitation.  



 

The Chromie

Chironomids are spring staples in the diet of trout. They are small but readily available in countless numbers in the awakening season. They are the hatch that stirs the hunger in the dormant fish, and fish gobble them by the hundreds. Hatches are available, typically all day in the spring, and can offer some outstanding mid day fishing to the in-tune angler.

The Chromie was developed by Phil Rowley, I have stayed true to his design save the collar, he uses Peacock herl and I have substituted ice dubbing for durability purposes. It imitates the pupa on it's way to the surface to hatch, the silver mimicking the gas bubble the insect uses to help it to the surface. I fish it under a float, casting it out and letting it settle to the predetermined depth. I let it sit for a few minutes and then slowly draw the line through my hand, imitating the slow rise to the surface of the pupa. I then let it settle and repeat the cycle until I need to recast.  Here is a good video of the pupa making it's way to the surface, note the silvery sheen of the natural.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGQEPZqNZU8

The Pupa come in a myriad of color combinations. I have had good luck with this one as well as black on silver instead of the red. This fly definitely benefits from being tied with an open clinch knot found here.
http://alaskaflyfishingonline.com/tips/tip1clinchknot.html

Materials used for this fly are a Mustad C49S hook in size 10 to 16, antron or nylon gill material, silver tinsel, red Flashabou or small red wire, a small bead in gunmetal finish, peacock ice dub by Hairline and Uni Thread in black 6/0.

 

 

First I place the hook in the vice and tie in a hank of gill material, keep the winding small to allow the small bead to slide over it.

 

 



 

 

Next I place the bead with the small hole to the eye of the hook. I then tie in the red flashabou at around half the hook bend and take a few wraps up the shank before I tie in the silver tinsel; the tinsel pictured is gold on one side and silver on the other, I tie it in with the gold out and then as I wrap it the silver is out. All the while I am mindful of my wraps as I want to build a nice taper of thread to the bead.

 

 



 

I then wrap the tinsel forward and follow with the red after creating a bit of a red butt first. This is followed by dubbing a small amount of the peacock ice dubbing onto the thread.

 

 

 

I finish the fly with a couple of wraps of the ice dubbing and then whip finish. It can be given a few coats of nail polish to add durability, just keep it off the ice dubbing.

 

 

I find the best time to fish the fly is during the heavy part of the hatch, late or early in the hatch I find a more subdued fly is a bit more effective. Happy fishing!

The Balanced Leech

 



 

Leeches are a trout staple and in early spring and late fall are a constant in their diet. I had heard of peoples success with balanced leeches and began looking into them when my wife expressed an interest in accompanying me on my fishing trips. She doesn't fly fish so I set her up with a Thill float system and the balanced Leech along with some other balanced flies which I will present in later posts, they seemed to be naturals.

 

As I looked for patterns I began to notice that most balanced leeches looked just like their unbalanced counterparts, bodies were more bushy than I would like in a stationary fly. My thinking is that a fly drawn through the water has the dubbing pulled down along its side when it is pulled through the water. This creates the illusion of life and movement. A stationary fly on the other hand can't draw its materials to its side so I aimed to make a thinner profile fly. I achieved this with a marabou body. It's slim but still has some very fine fibres to give the illusion of movement. The marabou is reinforced with a rib of copper wire counter wound to the marabou, this gives the fly a segmented look as well.

 

Fishing this fly is quite simple, cast it out and let it rest beneath a bobber. It can be retrieved very slowly if you so desire, either way the marabou tail weaves its magic and solicits strikes. I find it best fished over dead weed beds, suspended a foot or two over the bottom. It is effective in both the spring and fall cold water periods and can be tied in a myriad of colors. I like claret or wine, brown, black and even olive. Strikes can be soft or aggressive depending on the mood of the fish.

 

Materials for this fly are; jig hooks in size 10 or 8 (I use Mustad), 80lb. test mono, 1/8in. black bead, Woolly Bugger marabou, blood quill marabou, small copper wire and brown 6/0 Uni thread.

 

 





 

First I take a short length of 80 lb. mono and heat one end, I take the hot end and press it against the vice and create a ball on the end of the mono. I slide a bead on with the large hole to the ball. Others use a cut pin instead of the mono. I don't like pieces of needles bouncing around the house so I bought the mono, either works.

 

 

 

Lay a base of thread on the hook and then tie the mono in with about a half a bead past the eye of the hook. I find with mono I don't have to super glue it on, if you use a pin a drop or two of super glue it's probably a good idea.

 

 

 

Next, I tie some woolly bugger marabou in for the tail, make sure you get the marabou off the side of the feather and place to length so you don't have to tear it, this gives a nice action to the fly. Then get some nice long marabou fibres from the blood quill and tie in by the tips with the tips facing the front of the hook.

 

 

 

Take a pair of hackle pliers and grasp the blood quill fibres as close to the base of them as you can. Spin the fibres, not too tight or they will tear, and then wind them forward. If they are nice and long you will get to the front of the fly. If not, tie them off and trim and then dub a few fibres unto your thread and continue winding to the front of the fly. Wind the ribbing in the opposite direction to help keep the marabou on the hook shank and to add segmentation to the fly. Tie off the wire and whip finish.

This fly would defiantly benefit from being tied on using and open clinch knot found here.
http://alaskaflyfishingonline.com/tips/tip1clinchknot.html
This knot will allow maximum movement with the fly, something a stationary fly can benefit from. Enjoy.

The Floating Boatman

 

The Floating Boatman, another fly that is an absolute blast to fish when the trout are on them. Mostly fall action, during the flights when they return to the water after mating. I have also had outstanding days early in the spring, it seems the lack of heavy weed cover can leave them a little exposed. Mostly shallow water in the spring, in the fall they seem to crash into the water from their flights in a haphazard way and can be found all over the lake.

I fish two types of boatmen, a floating on a sinking line and a sinking on a floating line. It is my belief that the floating boatman on the sinking line offers a better presentation and that the fish are more easily fooled by the floating presentation. I cast the fly out and give the line time to sink a few feet and begin an irregular quick retrieve. At the pauses, the fly begins to rise in the water column much as a natural does due to the air bubble it drags around with it. I find this a better presentation than the sinking effect of the sinking model when paused, although if you keep the sinking one moving at a good clip it doesn't get the chance to sink at rest.

When fishing, keep an eye out for splashy rises in the spring, that usually indicates the fish are chasing boatmen around. I fish over shallow, dead weed beds and retrieve the fly at a good clip with some long pauses to give the fly a chance to rise like a natural, takes are usually quite confident. In the fall watch for the boatman rain, it will look like it is raining, usually in the hottest part of the cool days. Boatmen that can't break through the water surface tension will flail away trying to get through and down. I have heard of people having outstanding top water action on these days but myself have never witnessed this, my fish come subsurface. In the fall I use a fast jerky retrieve and cover a lot of water, even trolling if I have to. The action seems to last through the hottest part of the day and when it's over, it's over. I don't spend a lot of time fishing a backswimmer unless I'm into fish, it seems when they are on backswimmers, you will get bit and when not, they won't budge on this fly.

Materials for the fly include a Diiachi 1550 hook in size 12 to 16, a strip of brown foam about 3/16 to 1/4 in. wide, Super Floss or other small dia. rubber for legs, small Waspi woolly bugger chenille in tan, it has a little flash to it and imitates the trapped air bubble nicely.

 

I begin by splitting the super floss in half, I use the bigger of the halves when split.

 

Next lay a base of thread and tie the chenille on the underside of the hook at the bend, then figure eight the super floss legs about a third to half way back from the eye.

 

I tie the foam in but only use enough wraps to hold it in place, any extra foam is left full as it aids in floating the finished fly.

 

 

Pull the chenille along the underside of the hook. I don't wrap it, again, I want to help the fly stay buoyant. Then pull the foam over and tie off with about six wraps and then get thread to the eye of the hook and whip finish under the head. Trim head to a suitable size.

 



 



I color the foam with a permanent marker. The foam can be covered with a nail polish to give it more durability.
Have fun.

 

The Floating Dragon Nymph

 

 

Trout are passionate about the dragon fly nymph, I still haven't figured out if it's love or hate. I am sure they hit a well presented dragon nymph hard, it is the one fly I get broke off regularly and it's always on the take. I suspect it has something to do with the way a dragon nymph can swim, they can move very quickly by expelling a jet of water. I was lucky enough once to come upon a lot of nymphs staging in shallow water waiting to hatch. I tried to catch some by hand and was left with an impression of how fast they were, I never caught a one. My hand would get within inches of the nymph and I would make my move and nothing, didn't even see them dart away. The other thing that left an impression was their size, two to three inch monsters, a good meal for trout.

 

I did a lot of reading and studying trying to find the best pattern. The one thing everyone emphasized was the necessity of having a fly that didn't sink like a rock and get hung up in the weeds. A 4X streamer hook is heavy. Spun deer hair seemed to be popular but I worried about the fly standing up to numerous fish. I noticed a lot of guys using foam for the eyes to help the fly to float and started playing around with a foam body and coloring it. The permanent markers turned out to be not so permanent so I began experimenting with a yarn body and that is how the fly was born.

 

I always fish the fly around weeds, because it floats, it requires a sinking line to get it to go down. For the lakes I fish, an intermediate or type one line works best, if you are in water deeper than six or eight feet, the faster sinking lines should work. Retrieves should be brisk with three to six inch pulls, with some long pauses. Trolling around weed beds has worked well for me as well as casting. As I have said, takes are hard and I try and not to hang on to the line too tightly to avoid breakoffs. Watch yourself casting this monster, you will feel it if this sucker nails you in the back.

 

 

The material list for this fly includes, a 4X streamer hook in size 6 or 4, some variegated yarn I picked up at Michaels; some 1/8" window screen foam available at any hardware store; pheasant rump feathers, mine are dyed green, and wing case material. This can be green scud back, raffia, or even pheasant tail fibres. I use a good strong thread for this fly, nothing delicate about it and I like to compress the body foam a little bit.

 

 

First step is to lay a base of thread and tie in the yarn, trim two pieces of foam at a 45.

 

 

 

Tie the foam in by the 45's at the back of the hook laying them side by side. Cut two more 45's about 2/3's of the way to the eye of the hook and tie in. Bind the two pieces of foam fairly tightly, you want the body wide but thin. Next, figure eight a piece of foam in near the eye leaving room for a head.

 

 

 

Tie the wing case material in ahead of the body and then tie in a pheasant rump feather by the tip and wind twice and tie off.

 

 

 

Wind the yarn forward and build the body manipulating the wing case and legs. Aim to keep the legs coming out the side of the fly. I try and get one figure eight around the eye foam and finish with the yarn at the top of the fly behind the eyes. Here I tie it off and trim the excess.

 

 

 

Bind the wing case behind the eyes with a few wraps and then get the thread to the front of the eyes. Pull the wing case between the eyes and tie off and trim. Finish the fly with a whip finish.

 





 

Trim the hackle fibres to make two even sides of legs and then trim the eyes to be about a body width wide. One coat of nail polish can be brushed on the yarn to give it a little sheen and hold everything in place.

 

 

 



 

The Woolly Bugger

 

 

 

The beloved Woolly Bugger, if I was reduced to one fly for the rest of my life this would be it. The Bugger seems to catch fish no matter what, but to tell the truth I don't like fishing it. I would rather be imitating a specific bug than fish a fly that doesn't seem to really imitate a specific insect or bait. I think the reason a bugger works so well is that it just looks good, tied properly it looks alive with sensuous movement and an eat me swagger. It has saved a lot of days for me and even turned those tough days into banner days.

 

The secret to tying a good bugger is good marabou and good hackle. For Buggers and leeches I always recommend Waspi Woolly Bugger Marabou. Pick the marabou off the side of the feathers and place them to length, don't tear it, and the action on those fibres is magical. Hackle is a bit tougher, for years I used cheap Chinese rooster capes. The quality of these capes is getting better and even the number two's feathers are now too stiff to use for a bugger. I ordered myself a Whiting hen cape and am well pleased with the length and the softness of the feathers. Bugger hackle should be nice and soft, when you pull on your line, ideally the hackle will collapse and then flair out again as the fly stops. This creates a nice swimming motion to the fly, trout can't seem to resist. I tried the Whiting Bugger Hackle packs but found the hackle far too stiff. It is almost a dry fly quality hackle and the hackle doesn't collapse at all. While flies tied with this hackle look good in the vice, the performance on the water, in my opinion, is not there; over dressing the fly is another fault in my opinion, I want my buggers to breathe.

 

I don't usually use weight or beads on my buggers as I want them to track in a straight line. An intermediate line is usually my first choice, and I fish the fly in shallow water. If I troll, this fly or a dragon nymph are my first choices, I don't troll unless I can't get a fish and this fly, as I said, has saved many a day. I do tie it with a bead head for people that request it, most of them use it with a floating line in shallow water with good results.

 

Materials for this fly are Waspi Woolly Bugger Marabou, Waspi Woolly Bugger Chenille, copper colored wire, and furnace hen hackle. This is tied on a size 14 to 6 2XL nymph hook with Uni 6/0 thread. Colors I have tied range from black, brown, and shades of green to white. My personal favorite is the brown. If you desire a little more flash try ribbing it with gold or silver wire.

 

 

 

First lay a base of thread from the front to the back of the hook. Next strip a hank of marabou off the side of the feather, tie in leaving a little less than a hook length out the back. Then tie in the copper wire, the chenille, and the hen hackle by the tip.

 

 

 

Wrap the chenille forward and tie off leaving room for a head.

 

 

 

Wrap the hackle forward keeping the front face of the feather forward, use your hands to manipulate it if you have to. Tie feather off and then counter wind the copper forward, try not to knock any fibres down as you do this step. It helps to work the wire back and forth between the fibres as you go. Whip finish a small head and it's done.

 

There it is, a basic version of a classic, good luck!

 

 

 

 



  The Blood Leech

 

 

 

Trout love leeches, plain and simple. If there are no hatches going on you can do a lot worse than casting or dragging a leech around. Early in the spring and late in the year they are a staple for me, and trout hit them hard. Not sure if it's because they are fairly elusive, I have noticed the same thing with dragon flies, these two flies get hit hard. I will be posting plenty of leech patterns and I think they all work if you follow some basic guidelines. After that, it's just a matter of picking a favorite and having confidence in it. Confidence plays a big part in any fly a person uses, if you don't have faith in your fly it's not going to stay on for very long.

 

Flies that imitate leeches should follow some basic guide lines, they should be weighted in the front, I find this easiest to do with a bead. They should have lots of waving movement, along with a skinny profile. The weight creates imbalance between the front and back of the fly causing the fly to  constantly bob which creates the nice waving of the materials. Using nice soft materials creates the skinny profile and adds to the movement of the fly. I also find using a knot with a loop in it creates more movement to compliment the bead. Here are directions for an Open Clinch Knot. http://alaskaflyfishingonline.com/tips/tip1clinchknot.html   

 

The fly does best when retrieved slowly in six to eight inch pulls. The lakes I fish are fairly shallow so I use a floating or intermediate fly line and give the fly some time to sink to the required depth. Keep a tight line while it sinks as I have had many hits as the fly settles into the fish zone. It works well when slowly trolled as a person looks for fish, but remember to keep the movement sporadic and not a steady pace; it is the stop and go that gives the materials their nice action.

 

Materials I use for this fly are a Daiichi 1760 hook in size 10. I would think any 2X or 3X nymph hook would suffice but the Daiichi has a bit of a nice curve that I like. I tie leeches in size 10, I know others go both bigger and smaller. The lakes that I fish are heavily pressured so I like to stick with a natural size and smaller. The tail is marabou, blood red, claret, burgundy whatever the company you buy from calls the burgundy color. I cannot get Waspi Woolly Bugger Marabou in the correct color so I have to use different marabou than I like. For this reason, this is one of the few times I rip the marabou instead of leaving it natural like I would with the Waspi product. Arizona Simi Seal dubbing in a blood leech color, nice and soft dubbing with a little bit of flash thrown in. Uni 6/0 thread in black and a black 1/8" bead.  

 

 

 

First step is to slide a bead to the front of the hook and lay a base of thread down, then tie in a clump of marabou. If it has long fine ends I leave it long and tear it off later.

 

 

 

Then I make a dubbing loop and loosely fill it with the simi seal. A little goes a long way.

 

 

 

Twist the loop fairly tight and wind the loop towards the eye, get it nice and tight to the eye.

 

 

 

Whip finish.



 

Brush out dubbing, I concentrate more on the front of the fly as I don't want the material coming too far back into the marabou and interfering with the nice action of the feather. Last is to tear the marabou, when we need to shorten marabou we always tear rather than cut it. This ensures that all the ends don't end at the same place giving the fly an unnatural blunt cut look. To do this, wet the marabou and brush it back, grasp at both ends of the length you want and tear it. You should have a nice uneven finish on the fly.  



 

Well that's it for this one, give it a try and hang on.

 

 

                 The Bug Eyed Damsel                                          

 

     My favorite pattern to fish is the Damsel. For years I went skunked when the damsels were hatching but a chance discussion with a fellow fisherman who encouraged me to "not forget about the damsel" fueled a desire to find a pattern that worked. Many years ago I lay on a foot bridge to an island at the crack of dawn watching nice trout pickoff the damsels that let go of the piles. I tied on the closest thing I had, a hairs ear and watched trout rush it and stop short and look for the telltale wiggle. I never had a fish spend more than a few seconds inspecting my offering and left discouraged. I was sure that motion was the key but could not think of any way to impart that seductive wiggle.

    With my friend's words pushing me on I started to read and was surprised to see in the years I was gone others had gotten interested in damsels. I studied the various patterns in Philip Rowley's book 'Fly Patterns for Stillwaters" and tied them all. I was not really happy with any of them and began to experiment and ended up with an amalgamation of all of them.

   I think the key to my pattern is a light hook and the hen hackle that helps slow the descent of the fly. Damsels sink very slowly when not swimming and that was my main aim, to have a fly that sunk very slowly. The seductive wiggle of the marabou and bug eyes help finish the illusion. I fish this fly on an intermediate line and retrieve very slowly, just fast enough to get the marabou waving. This takes a lot of self discipline as it feels like I'm doing nothing, takes are not hard but rather a tightening of the line. I hope you try it and give it a fair shake, that means retrieving slowly and not rushing. Good luck!!

 Materials are Daiichi 1550 hook size 12, Waspi Woolly Bugger marabou, fine olive dubbing, a thin thread, olive latex scud back, a hen hackle and eyes made from small beads and 30lb test mono.
  

     Heat one end of a short piece of mono to melting and press against the vice to create a stop for the beads, slide two beads onto the mono and then cut to a length that will allow another stop to be created and heat and stop. Tear a hank of marabou off the side of a marabou feather and tie in, aim to keep the overall length of the fly a one inch. I think it's important to use marabou off the side of the feather and keep the natural ends of the fibers, I'm not a fan of torn marabou as I feel the action is not the same as the natural ends. Next the eyes are figure eighted on the front of the hook, leave a little room to finish the fly at the end.

 

 

 

Tie in the 1/8" scud back material and dub a small thorax.



 







  

Prepare a hen hackle feather by cutting the end off and the pulling about 8 fibres forward.

 

 

 

 

Loosely bind the feather with two wraps of thread.

 

Pull the rubber over, not much tension and apply one wrap.

 

 

 

  

Gently pull on the feather until you have the desired amount of feather sticking out and then tighten and lay a few more tight wraps.

 

 

  

Cut the feather and pull the scud back between the eyes and secure at the front of the hook, whip finish. Color the mono that is sticking out of the beads a dark color.

 

 

The finished fly.

 

 

I also tie this fly with a larger single bead eye, this works better for commercial tying and I don't notice a difference between the two success wise.