Best glue for big eyes

[Mike Lewis]

I’m having a problem with the eyes on my big flies such as the one shown above. After a fish or two and banging a few rocks, the fly body is fine but an eye or two is gone.

I have been using zap-a-gap or berkley fishing glue to secure my eyes to the flies and then covering them with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails. I have not made the step up to epoxy or Clear Cure Goo yet.

There was a post on here about CCG a year or so ago but was wondering what type of durability you guys have experienced from that product. $50 for a glue kit seems high but I would get it if it was a sure-thing solution.

Thanks!

[Bob Riggins]

I have been using GOOP adhesive to attach eyes, although I would also be interested in other suggestions.

[Zach Matthews]

GOOP is the best glue, but it isn’t very tacky initially.  Once set, it will shear almost any surface before it breaks the bond to the eye.  It isn’t good for you to inhale, incidentally.  You can get it cheapest in the shoes aisle of a Wal-Mart where it is sold as something like ‘Shoe Goo.’

CCG meanwhile is great for building actual solid heads where the eye is encased, but it is poor as a straight-up adhesive, because it is really just a curable plastic.

[jarrod white]

ccg is not really a good adhesive because it is hard for the curing light to hit it when putting 2 things together.. Goop is awesome though !

[Chris Beech]

Go the goop – work a little into the materials of your fly by rolling your bodkin on the spot before pressing the eye in place.

CCG is actually pretty economical. You only buy the kit once and the actual material goes a long way – you have zero wastage, flies don’t yellow over time, no air bubbles – it’s worth it.

Best Regards,

Beechy

[Jon Conner]

The cheap way to get into the light cured acrylics is Loon UV Knot Sense/Wader Repair,

[Neal Osborn]

Goop is good, I use it.  Basically all the “goops” are similar.

For the best results, IMHO, pay $30 and join Enrico Puglisi’s site and watch all his videos http://epflies.com/index.php/fly-tying-materials/tying-materials-accessories/zap-goo-1oz.html on how to properly burn hair and add the goop and eyes.  If the eyes are applied correctly (i.e., burn a hole, add goop, apply eyes, and squish them into place) the fly will swim true in the water!  If you just add goop to the hair of the body of the fly and squish the eyes into place without burning a hole first, the fly tends to act funky in the water.  Seriously, the fly guys in Florida won’t fish flies that don’t swim true in the water.  After fishing big snook for a few years, I have come to believe that the big fish really do ignore funky flies.

1.  Hair Burner – awesome little tool!
http://epflies.com/index.php/fly-tying-materials/components/cautery.html

2.  Zap Goo – it’s what I use (but all “goop” is similar).
http://epflies.com/index.php/fly-tying-materials/tying-materials-accessories/zap-goo-1oz.html

Remember to use your bodkin correctly to apply just the right amount.

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks for the advice guys. The top pic is of course a used fly right before loosing the eyes. I am going to try the goop, let it sit a day then experiment with some CCG and SHHAN.

Here are a few that I have been working on that are missing the magic.

[Peter E.]

I always epoxy mine on. It makes all the difference in the world.

[olle bulder]

Second the epoxy. Easy and they will never come off.

[M. Wood]

I use Beacon 527 works great.

[Zach Matthews]

Interesting talk.

Neal what kind of thing are you using to burn the eyeholes in?

[Neal Osborn]

Interesting talk.

Neal what kind of thing are you using to burn the eyeholes in?  Are we talking spun deerhair flies?  A lot of my patterns, I am just locking the eye to the outside of a mass of material.

Zach

I guess I should have clarified that the EP flies and deer head or spun flies are what you want to burn for eyes holes.  Example would be the following fly.  Notice the vertical profile is very slender and there is no bulk to the sides, thus you need to burn an indentation for the goop to sit before attaching the eyes, otherwise the goop just squishes out and gums up the fine feathers or deer hair or hairs.  When that happens, the fly swims funky and not true (i.e., it tends to warble). These would be flies that sink very slowly and are retrieved as baitfish.

If you wanted to add eyes to a deer head fly like this one below, you would need to burn holes on each side to well the goop.  You can’t just squish on eyes or the goop will mess up the deer hairs and thus the profile of the fly is ruined.

SUPER SECRET trick using the burning tool to add eyes to foam!  You get the point.

ALSO, if you use eyes with a bit of the nub still attached, they will insert into the goop inside the burned hole and anchor very well; much much stronger than simply slapping goop on a flat surface.  Thus, longer life to the fly!

For sinking flies or epoxy head flies, it doesn’t really matter.  Just attach eyes and let the fly swim underwater.

The burner I use is from EP, see the link above.

[Bob Riggins]

Burning the eyes in is something I would have never thought of.

[Peter E.]

I still have a good bit of two part Z-Poxy so until I run out of that, that’s what I use.

[Mark Sides]

This one took a series of serious maulings before I decided to retire it.
I have always used the simple two part epoxy from the hobby shop, coat the head and eyes and let it cure on the drying wheel for about a half hour.

[kelly l.]

I use a 3M product for plastic and vinyl.

[mike w.]

A tying friend of mine turned me on to ladies false nail glue. It really works well and you can set the eyes in it an pinch for a few seconds.
Mike

[Alan Corbin]

I use a variety of things; epoxy , 527 glue

[Phil Brna]

Interesting to see this come back but I like when they do because it usually means someone added something.

[Author]

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