BigEHokie

Makes perfect sense. I'll give it a shot next time I'm tying (probably not until Friday night, my Hokies are playing on TV tonight)

Interesting! The west blacknose dace has black on top: I'm from the east so I'm guessing I should tie mine with the brown on top. This has been a great discussion, thanks everyone!

I've seen numerous tied that way (even in the Orvis book, they have it tied both ways). However, if you look at this picture of a black nosed dace, it looks as though the black should be on top: Also seen here: Anyone know the proper color combination?

Thanks for the suggestions all, I'm gonna tie a few more and shorten the length of the bucktail a bit. After looking at a few pictures from the linked thread above, I think the colors are in the right order according to what a blacknose dace looks like. I'll be sure to post a few pics of the next ones I tie.

That's a great thread. Thanks for sharing.

FYI, I used the Orvis Fly-Tying Guide as my reference in tying this fly. I see several people mention the length of bucktail as well as the order of the colors. The step-by-step instructions in the book identify the color order as I have them on my fly as well as the instructions and pictures depicted show the length much longer than the shank. The instructions even say to tie use bucktail 1.5 to 2 times the length of the shank (mine is still a bit too long). However, if you look in the recipe list in the back of the book, the picture there has the bucktail MUCH shorter (about the length of the shank) as well as the ordering of the bucktail colors completely different!!!!! Amazing that the book has such two different depictions of how a fly should be tied. If any of you have this book, look at the step-by-step instructions finished product on page 94 (looks like my fly), then look at the recipe in the index on page 324 (looks much different, minus the use of mylar tubing for the body). Oh, I did use a 4x length streamer hook, but the length of the bucktail I have doesn't really show that

Well, I started tying flies about 6 months ago. I tied about 3 different patterns -- Woolly Bugger, GRHE nymph, and a pheasant tail nymph. I have only tied about 30 total flies within the first month, then I moved and had my first child. Needless to say I've been quite busy and haven't had much time to tie; I'm still quite the "beginner". I tried to get back into fly tying last night and tied my first fly in about 5 months (and still one of the first few I ever have). Not sure why, but wanted to try a bucktail. Here's my first, a size 10 Black-Nose Dace Bucktail. It was by far the most difficult I've tied yet, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

As soon as I saw your first post I immediately though of a beetle. One question though, you don't have problems with the fly sinking with the coffee bean? I wonder if the fish are being released with a small buzz after striking :hyst:

That's a great looking fly. The head of yours is so clean. Any tips you can provide on that?

Okay, I know this might sound like a really odd question, where do you draw the line for using materials to fly tie? The reason I ask is....I have two rather large hairy dogs that shed ALL OVER the place. One is a yellow lab and the other is a st bernard/border collie mix. When we brush them, we get huge balls of hair...some of which look a lot like fly tying materials I've seen in magazines (I'm still new to all of this). Don't worry, I'm not gonna go shave the family dog I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this? Is this a really silly question? Do any of you have any odd sources for fly tying materials that deviate from the norm?

Okay, I've tied about 5 or 6 of these Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear nymphs. This last one is my best I think. I've really enjoyed tying this fly as I get to use a several different techniques. The wife's not crazy about some of the materials for my new hobby. I quote, "You have to cut a rabbit face?' She's still supportive, she has sent me a link to the local Y, they are offering beginning fly tying classes. Think I'm gonna sign up. Anyways, here are a couple of shots of the last GRHE nymph, size 14. I'm still not great at finishing the fly, still have a lot of junk around the eye. However, this is 10 times better than the first few flies I tied. Thorax may be a little too bushy but that can be cleaned up.

Tony, I did quite a bit of fly fishing on the New this past year and since I don't have a boat, I have to wade every where. If you're looking for a few spots to hit, let me know. I've fished the New mostly between Blacksburg and the Claytor Dam, however I'm looking to try north of Blacksburg this year. I hear there's great wading at Eggleston and Pembroke. There is NOTHING like fighting a 2 to 4 lb smallie on a fly rod. I love the scenery when fishing for trout...I love the fight when I'm fishing for smallies.

That is one good lookin fly Carl!

Well, I made my 2nd and 3rd attempts tying a gold ribbed hare's ear nymph. Minus the crowding of the eye and the crud around it, I'm fairly pleased with my 3rd attempt. I think I have good proportions between the abdomen and the thorax. I think the thorax has a nice buggy feel to it, although could probably stand to have a little more of the hairs pulled out. The gold wire that came with my kit is fairly fine, I wish it were a little thicker so the segmentation shows up a bit more... One question....how do you guys cut trim off around the head of the fly without having all the material extending out from the head and covering the eye? I just can't seem to do it at this point. Every fly I have tied I just can't seem to nip it all that close. Anyways, here's attempts 2 and 3. Number 3 is by far the best I think.

So, this is the 6th fly I've ever tried to tie and the 1st hare's ear nymph. I'm ready for some advice, you guys have been great so far. Taking closeups of the fly and studying them myself really helps me see things on my own. I can see that there's a little crud around the eye (however I can pass a needle through, so I'm thinking my leader will still make it as well). I've tried to trim it up as best as I can but I just can't manage to cut away whatever little stuff is left there. I can also see that maybe the abdomen is a little too bushy. This was my first time doing any sort of dubbing so I'll chalk that up to inexperience Because the abdomen is too bushy, there doesn't seem to be a difference between an abdomen and a thorax. I'll work on that. I did attempt to make the abdomen longer (unlike my posted pheasant tail nymph) and I think I succeeded but I'm not sure you can see that through all the bushiness. Anyways, here it is!

Thanks for the support and advice guys, I appreciate it. While I do like the DVD I have (Whitetail Outfitters Beginner's Fly Tying Kit, with Lefty Kreh) that's one thing that it certainly didn't cover was correct proportions. Think I'm gonna look into some of the books identified in the stickiy posts in the Beginner's Forum. Hopefully instructions from those will help me with items the video doesn't cover. Thanks again everyone.

Great pictures, thanks for the reference!

Those are supposed to be legs as identified in the DVD I'm using to learn to tie. Mine don't look quite as good as the DVD's, so that might be throwing you off a bit. Also, I had to use a size 12 x2 length hook to tie, so that screwed up my proportions a bit I think. This was the only nymph hook I had that came in the kit. I'll need to go out and buy some better sized hooks. Thanks for the comments!

Great story sherrib, thanks for sharing!

Well, I've only been tying for about a week now. I first tackled the wooly bugger and decided to try the pheasant tail nymph next. I struggled with this fly a bit more than the bugger. I realize it's probably an easy fly but it gaves me fits. The biggest problem I had was with proportions of the pheasant tail fibers. The first one I tied, became an unraveled mess as I was trying to finish off the fly and had to be tossed. The 2nd one I completed, but it looked ugly as heck and I had to cut off the legs that were supposed to be there. I'll keep this one and see if any fish are fooled at all. My third attempt was the best of the three (although still not perfect). Here it is, I'll take any all advice given. This is only the fifth fly I've ever attempted to tie. Thanks in advance!

So I went fishing today and took the wooly bugger pictured earlier in the thread. I actually caught my first fish on a fly I tied, it was great! But there is a funny turn to this story... After catching and releasing this fish, on my VERY next cast I get hung up in an over hanging branch and lose the fly! One and done! Pretty funny...we have tight quarters here in the Blue Ridge Mountains so I lose a lot of flies. Guess I'll just have to tie another.

Well....I had my first throw away tonight. 1 out of 3 flies aint bad I tried a 14 pheasant tail nymph. Man, that size 14 feels so much smaller than a 10 when tying. I can't imagine tying size 20 flies. Think I got too crowded on the head and and cut the pheasant feather a little too short for the wing casing. When trying to finish off the fly, the casing kept slipping out from under the wraps and everything else just followed. I'll give it another shot tomorrow night. I might try with a size 12 hook tho.

I did cut with scissors and with your advice I'm looking at the fly again and that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to try that the next one I tie.

Yup found it. Also found the manuals to the camera so after a few test photos, I finally got a few pics that look ok. So....here's the 2nd bugger I tied. I'm too ashamed to show the 1st As I said, other than the tail twisting slightly on the shank, I think this one looks good.

WOW, what a diff thread makes. I went and bought a spool of waxed thread from my fly shop. I have no idea what the thread is called that I was using before but this bugger went MUCH MORE smoothly (and enjoyable) with the waxed thread. Other than the maribou tail turning on the shank slightly, this bugger actually looks pretty good (I'm proud of it). I took 2 pictures of the 2nd bugger however, they are SERIOUSLY out of focus. The camera seems to want to focus on what's in the background. You guys have any suggestions for taking good pics of your work? Thanks all!