Dallasblues

19 minutes ago, utyer said:

You should keep right on tying your "ugly" buggers.  The original pattern had longer and softer hackle than what you find in the shop.  The "professional" flies available in shops and on-line are to catch anglers NOT fish.   

Well said!

I tie ugly Woolly Buggers. I’ve caught some nice trout and bass on these homely things though. But when I compare mine to the kind I see at a fly shop I notice one major difference. The hackle that’s wrapped around the professional buggers look nice, proportional, and fairly uniform going from eye to the bend of the hook. Using the basic saddle hackle I find online at fly shops, mine don’t look anything at all like that. The biggest difference is the size of fibers of the feather. The fibers are so much longer! Are these nice, pro-grade, buggers being tied with something different? Or are they trimming the fibers shorter after wrapping them? 
 

Does any of this make sense?

I’m just curious. I catch fish on my ugly ones but I’d sure like to tie a pretty one someday. 

1 hour ago, WWKimba said:

Looks like it'll catch fish!  One GENERAL rule on soft hackles is that the hackle should end at or just before the bend of the hook.  As I said this is a general rule and as the old joke goes "I never studied generals in school!".

Kim

That’s good to know! All I have is a bag of loose Hungarian Partridge feathers... most of which aren’t very good. I kinda have to dig around to find something close to usable. Once I’m more confident in my tying skills I’d like to get a good partridge skin. I’m sure better hackle could be taken from that. 

On 2/20/2021 at 8:15 AM, BHouk said:

Try when you tie in your pheasant tail to leave the thread at the back of the hook.  Then, as you wrap forward the thread will help hold the fibers in place.  The thread will be in the right place when you are ready to tie it off.

I tried this a couple nights ago and it seemed to work fairly well!

I’ll try to get some better pics of it tonight after work!

Hey folks. I tied this one up last night after seeing a nice YouTube tutorial of a Peacock & Partridge soft hackle. Any criticism... constructive or belligerent... is welcome. 😂

2 hours ago, WWKimba said:

Sorry Db!  I think we took your thread on a little tangent!  We are NOT making fun of you or your question ("The ONLY dumb question is the UNasked one!" - my mantra when I taught).  We're just having some fun!

Kim

Hey I’m all for it! I knew it was pretty screwball when I posted it. Ha ha!

3 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Hard to determine if they had the second one. I had my first one but can't spare any hair. BTW, make friends with a pet groomer. Unlimited supply of free hair.

Well I’m a barber. Hair is pretty much unlimited for me anyway!

This guy looks like he has something to offer. He was kinda brindle up top. 😂

16 minutes ago, cphubert said:

Well at least you could use hair coloring to dye it😇

Oh I get all colors in here on a busy Saturday. There’s lots of grey and white on the floor today. 😂

32 minutes ago, Bimini15 said:

To me it would would be weird, knowing that it is human hair. But plenty of people use kanekalon and other fake human hair for streamers, so... why not?

as far as commercializing it, I wonder if it is consistent enough across all heads or if you can get enough from one head. One of those weird hypotheticals to ponder.

Oh I wouldn’t think of selling it really. Just got my own use. 

5 minutes ago, flytire said:

if cat and dog and other furry creature hair can be used then go for it!

gold mine? if it was we'd be seeing packages for sale

Yeah. That was a bit of sarcasm that doesn’t translate to text very well. Ha ha!

Im thinking I might give it a try this weekend to see what happens. 

Okay... hear me out on this one. I’m new here, new to tying, and have a cornucopia of dumb ideas and questions to ask. I’m also a barber by trade. Looking down at the floor after a day of cutting hair made me wonder... can human hair be used in fly tying? If so, I’m sitting on a gold mine of materials... or at least a few dollars worth.
 

This could just be the ridiculous ponderings of a middle aged mad man but it’s worth asking. Ha!

DB

3 hours ago, Flatsflytying said:

welcome, you will learn fast here if you post up pics of flies as you tie them. There is a lot of very skilled people here!

Thank you! I’ll do that!

22 minutes ago, Poopdeck said:

Ditch the hackle pliers that's 98% of your problem. Watch the Tim Flagler video (American pheasant tail nymph) for the remaining 2%. Note how he uses fingers from both hands to wrap the fibers. 

Yeah... I gave up on those quickly. They just couldn’t grip the fibers well enough anyway. I’ll try that method in the video. I tied a couple today that went alright. I’m sure practice will be the key. 

Hey folks! I’m fairly new to tying but have tied a fair amount of woolly buggers and partridge soft hackles with some success. I’ve recently started using pheasant tail. So far I’ve tied a few of basic pheasant tail soft hackles with varying results. I’ve gotta tell ya though... pheasant tail is difficult for me to handle. I’m having a heck of a time keeping the fibers together when wrapping around the shank of the hook. Things separate or just all together come loose from the others. I can’t seem to get a good grip using hackle pliers either. And capturing it with the thread??? Oh man! Things often come unraveled there too. Any tips as to how to turn these fibers without every thing going haywire? 

Here’s one that wasn’t a complete disaster. Oddly enough it was my first attempt. They got worse after that! Ha!

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks!

13 minutes ago, WWKimba said:

Welcome to the site DB!

I'm Kim and I'm a born and bred central New Yorker.  Been tying for 50 years and have been lucky enough to cross paths with some very fine tyers in that time.  Had a chance to steal - er, I mean LEARN some handy tricks and tips over the years.  I especially enjoy working with newer and youth tyers.  You'll see me on this site in a few places but especially on the swaps - I enjoy hosting as well as participating.  Been retired for more than a few tears and tying helps reduce the amount of trouble I can find myself in!

You'll find this site is loaded with some fine tyers, fishers, teachers and all 'round good folks.

I look forward to crossing paths with you and tight lines my friend.

Kim

Thank you Kim! I’m very excited to get to know other fishers and to learn more everyday. 

Howdy from the frozen tundra of Texas! 
 

I’ve been a fly fisher for a few years now but still consider myself a newbie. Trout streams aren’t particularly convenient to Dallas so my time on the water is fairly limited to trips that require some planning. Even warm water fishing need some forethought for me. Nonetheless I’m having a heck of a good time learning as I go!

A year or two ago I decided to try my hand at fly tying to pass the time and have learned a lot so far. I’ve got some Tupperware bins full of the ugliest flies you’ve ever seen! Mangy tails... over wrapped heads... stems sticking out... disproportional dubbing... crazy looking hackle... all of its there. I’ve got one box called the “Butt-ugly Box” and totally intend on fishing those little derelicts when I can. I sure wouldn’t mind having a box of beauties though.
 

Thank heavens for YouTube and books written by Tom Rosenbauer. But dang... they make it all look so easy! I’m really looking forward to learning tips and tricks from all of you. I’m especially curious as how to wrap pheasant tail without a flurry of profanity. But more on that later. Just glad to be here folks!

DB