Like most tiers, I typically tie my
flies from start to finish, one fly at a time. But one night when
wanting to do some tying but not really having an idea of what to
tie, I came across a real time-saver.
Most of my nymphs are tied with an
underbody of lead wire. I thought, why not prepare a
bunch of hooks by adding the lead, covering the lead
wraps with tying-thread, tying off the thread, and
coating the wire with nail polish? Then, when you decide
what nymphs to tie, the hooks are ready for rapid nymph
production! 
Many tiers favor the extra step of coating the
lead with head cement or nail polish because it protects the body
material from becoming discolored. I had never before coated my lead
wire wraps because I didn’t want to wait for the coating to dry.
The problem was that I was tying one fly at a time. That night I
prepared a couple dozen hooks with wire wraps and nail polish
coating. I have since found that after a dozen hooks are prepared,
the first hook will be a bit tacky but nevertheless dry enough to
complete a fly.
 A bottle of Sally Hansen brand Hard as Nails. If it
gets too thick, thin it with Acetone (first choice) or generic nail
polish remover. Nail polish remover is basically Acetone plus
a fragrance. But
unlike Acetone, nail polish remover comes in small bottles.
This system also helped me realize that thread
size or color can be changed in mid-stream, so to speak. That’s not
exactly rocket science, but I had never thought about that before.
The hooks in the images here were prepared for three sizes of
fur-buggers. I will finish the fly using Danville 3/0 or 6/0 thread;
but, in preparing the hooks as pictured, I used Danville Flat-Waxed
because it allowed me to cover the hook shank and wire wraps quicker
and more thoroughly.

Finally, if you haven’t already discovered this,
the white foam trays that come from the meat department of any
grocery store make great hook trays. They come in a variety of sizes
and depths, and are perfect for keeping your finished flies
organized until you put them away in your vest or stock box. Just
stick your flies along the edges, as shown here.
 Fur-bugger sizes from L to R: TMC 3769 #10, TMC 5263 #10,
Mustad 79850 #8.
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