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The fly tiers pinch is sometimes referred to as the "cinch" or "up between the fingers" tie in technique. It is a way of tying in materials in a fixed position without allowing previous wraps of thread to loosen or the material to move round the shank of the hook. If you just wind the thread around the shank of the hook in an attempt to tie material in at a fixed position in most cases material being tied in will be pulled out of position in the direction that the thread is being wound. The fly tiers pinch overcomes that problem of slip.

The "fly tiers pinch" technique for a right handed fly tier is as follows. If you are left handed please remember to switch the instructions around.

Process

A	You will already have some thread and possible some other materials secured to the shank of the hook. The first step in the fly tiers pinch is to take the thread to exactly the position where the next material is to be tied in.

B	Use your left hand to hold the material to be tied in tightly in the tie in position. For example if your going to tie in a tail hold the tail firmly along the top of the shank of the hook exactly where you want to tie it in. Instead of winding the tread around the tail material pull the thread up in front of the hook shank between the fingers that are holding the tail material.

C	Now feed the thread back down between the fingers but this time behind the hook shank. Repeat the process a second time without releasing the left hand grip on the materials.

D	If you have done the fly tiers pinch properly you should now be able to, whilst retaining tension on the thread, remove the left hand and the material being tied in should be exactly where you were holding it.

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