Yesterday my email let me know a packaged was delivered. Last week I did a search and found some 3d tab eyes on eBay. I ordered the 10 mm eyes, 180 count for less than $15. Remember the cost of those 12 packs back in the day.
I liked what I saw out of the package and dropped down into the vice to tie up a fly and try the eyes. These are the 10's and as soon as I saw them I went back and ordered the 12 mm's. Now the tabs are, well, not the strongest, but you can tie them in easily, the tapered point helps. I have used solid plastic
tabs that you adhere an eye to. Funny is, Mike sent them to me last February, and as I was writing this he called me to talk about....tab eyes. You can see below what he sent me,
The other day Ru Harvey, a fantastic tyer from across the pond, posted that he now has a line of tabs he markets for the fly tyer. I am sure they are a little more "hardy" than the tabs that are connected to the eyes that I purchased. The beauty of tab eyes, like Ru's, is they dont' have to be glued to the head of the
fly, which can then change the look and action of the fly, it almost becomes compressed as you apply pressure withyour sauage fingers and a tab eye loaded with Superglue. Below is a video Ru dropped on how he ties his eyes in,
For some tyers eyes are overrated. Bob Popovic's is all about the profile and taper, while others, like Ben Whalley, tie with eyes. Below are a few of his masterpieces. It looks like he uses a tab-eye-mask. I have seen them, where there is a cut out for the hook eye that swallows it and makes both sides even on the fly. I would like to findthem and give them a shot, as tying tabs in isn't always easy or pretty.
Some say eyes are more for the tyer and fisherman then for the fish themselves. I like the way they look, especially on the bigger flies. At times, when you look down while swimming a fly, the eye is what jumps out at you. I think the fish can key on that also, and maybe even guide them on how to go about swallowing a fly face first and whole.
Below is where I got the eyes off of eBay, they came from the seller in New York. Enjoy!
