Eyes of all kinds - tie them better

By Martin Joergensen

Mono eyes: top in an angle and unpainted, bottom straight and colored with a black marker

Melted monofile
These eyes are actually quite easy to make, but can tease a bit if you want to do them both on the same piece of monofile -- which is the neatest way to do things.
The alternative is of course to make two 'stalks' and tie them in seperately This works fine on many patterns, but it can be hard to get the eyes to sit perpendicular to the hook shank.
You need a lighter or a candle and some small scraps of monofile. Select a thick monofile (depending on the size of the finished fly). I usually keep a candle lit on order to have the flame ready whenever I need it, but a lighter will do fine.
After the eye has been formed you can leave it as it is or color it. I use a permanent marker which works fine, but black varnish will do the job as well.

The trick
The trick is to melt and not burn, but just to melt the nylon. And the hard part is to control the melting process. Grab the line and put it near the flame -- not into it. Let the line melt. It will form a small ball. When properly controlled this ball will sit right on the end of the stalk, but if the process gets out of hand it will either melt too much and drop or even burn. If it burns just put it out with a blow. It might still do, but if it drops and you can't correct it. Cut it off and take a new try.

If you want single eyes that are more perpendicular like the ones on the top of the picture here, just put the newly formed eye over the flame, not too close. This time the mono just behind the eye will melt and the eye will drop down in an angle. Hey presto...

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