Mitch’s Bobbin Whirler
by Al Beatty

Mitch’s Bobbin Whirler Demonstration Watch the Mitch’s Bobbin Whirler Demonstration on HatchesTV which showcases over 45 minutes of video showing you the variety of uses this unique bobbin offers!

It’s not very often I agree to “test drive in print” a new fly-tying tool. Quite frankly most of the “new” tools are just a re-hash of something already in use much like many of the “new” fly patterns people believe they have invented. Every now and then something truly new does come to the fore, be it a tool or fly pattern.

My case in point today is the Mitch’s Bobbin Whirler. It is a new tool that really does deliver what the good people at Wasatch Custom Angling Products promise. It really does revolutionize the use of the dubbing loop as we all have come to expect. I don’t know about all of you but I often use a dubbing loop because I like the result on the fly but I also find the darned thing to be a bit of a pain in the neck (or other body part you may choose)!

Those us who are skilled in the use of the dubbing loop have learned to do one thing really well. It’s what I like to call “Dodging The Bobbin (DTB).” DTB is required because the darned bobbin just hangs there on the hook in the way waiting for it’s turn to go into action, usually to tie the dubbing loop off after it has served its purpose. I’ve tried different methods to keep the bobbin out of the way while using a dubbing loop even to the point of positioning it at the back of the hook and reverse tying the fly by applying materials front to back rather than the more traditional method. That idea works great on one or two patterns but unfortunately I use many other flies on which that process is next to useless.

So guess what? Most of the time I’m just like you, figuring out a way I can DTB with a minimum of frustration. All of this changed a couple of weeks ago when I got a surprise package from my long-time friend Dean Childs owner of Wasatch Custom Angling Products in Sequim, Washington.

When I first looked at the Whirler I had to chuckle and wonder whose nightmare produced that crazy looking bobbin! My chuckle soon changed to a grin that quickly faded to a jaw-dropping-look-of-amazement as I reviewed the instructional DVD that came with the tool. It didn’t take me five minutes to figure out that the developer Mitch Smith (owner of the Two River Fly Shop in Albany, Oregon) had created a great new tool! Contraption! Whirler! Whatever you want to call it but it excited me about tying like nothing had in many years and at my age I’m not easily excited.

After a few minutes I turned off the DVD player and took this new tool directly to the vise. The next couple of hours were more fun than I’ve had sitting down in some time. I came up with many great ways of using this unique tool based on the first five minutes of the video only to later learn when I watched the rest of the DVD Mitch did an outstanding job of demonstrating my “discoveries” in great detail. I should have watched ALL of the DVD first and then let my mind run wild! I suggest you not make the same mistake I did.

After spending a few weeks with Mitch’s Bobbin Whirler I’ve learned several things I’d like to share with you. Some of the items I’ll cover are on the DVD you get with the Whirler and some are not. I offer them in no particular order of importance other than the first one outlined in the next paragraph.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Take note of my hand-to-Whirler position in Figure 1. I call this the “home position” and from it my fingers travel to perform the different functions I’ll share with you in the rest of this piece. I highly recommend you teach yourself to always return to the home position after completing a function. I like to equate this position to the home row many of you learned about in computer keyboarding class (typing class for old timers like me) where your fingers always return home after completing a task and before starting on the next. Notice my right forefinger rests on the dubbing-loop slider ready to move it from side-to-side (Figure 2) or up-and-down (Figure 3) depending on the task at hand. If I always return to my “home-row position” I know where to go next without having to look at the tool. I can’t stress enough the importance of learning this position if improving your tying speed happens to be important to you. I’m a commercial tier so you can guess why I find it important. (FIGURE 1 PHOTO CAPTION: My “home position” not only includes where I place my trigger finger on the slider but it also includes how I feed thread off the spool. I like to place the “feed side” closest to the palm of my hand so I always know which way to twist the spool to take up slack should the need arise and it will in a few short minutes.)

I’m going to start by explaining something so simple that many of you more skilled tiers will not want to bother trying it. It’s nothing more than wrapping a thread base and applying a half hitch near the back of the hook. The half-hitch process I’m demonstrating is a REQUIRED FUNCTION of the tool so please put it on the hook exactly like I am in the illustration. It will make future operations much easier to understand because you have filed away a very important bit of knowledge in your minds-eye database for reference when needed. Let’s start by tying a very easy pattern with a couple of new twists (pun intended!).

continue to page 2>>