Hareline Zap-A-Gap

What it is

Hareline Zap-A-Gap is a cyanoacrylate adhesive in a medium-viscosity glue that wicks a bit but still stays where you put it. It bonds fast with no curing light and dries without adding weight to the fly. Once it sets, it gives an ultra-strong bond that’s handy at the bench and for quick repairs.

What to tie with it

Use it anywhere you need to bond fly-tying materials to the hook shank or to each other, especially when you want to lock things down before you cover them with thread. It’s a standard choice for attaching bead chain eyes and for locking thread wraps so they don’t spin or unravel after a few fish. It also sees a lot of use for repairing flies and even reinforcing connections in your rigging, like securing a braided leader butt to fly line.

Flies and the fish they're for

Zap-A-Gap doesn’t belong to one pattern so much as it shows up in the steps of a lot of them, especially flies with eyes or parts that like to twist. When you’re tying baitfish and shrimp-style patterns for redfish in the marsh, stripers in the surf or bays, or smallmouth in rivers and lakes, a drop on the eyes and key thread wraps keeps the fly fishing straight and holding up. It’s just as useful on freshwater trout flies when you want a wing case, rib, or head to stay put through repeated takes.

How it compares

Compared with Loctite Ultra Gel Control Super Glue, Zap-A-Gap is lower viscosity while Loctite Ultra Gel is thicker. Zap-A-Gap also isn’t packaged as single-use tubes, but the bottle can dry out and some tyers find the cap can glue itself on over time.