my 1st ever hares ear

[fishaholic69 0]

ok heres how it went down! I used lead wire under the body. tan thread and tan rabbit dubbing. i used a pheasent tail for the tail and had no turkey for the wing case so this nymph don't have them. i used to half hitches and a whip knot finish. not perfect but I was just trying to practice. here what ya think for my 1st try ever! guess it resembles a hares ear. kinda. lol!! boy that was fun to tie !

[utyer 0]

Not too bad for your first effort. Could just as easily be a scud. It will catch something. Your tail is fine, but the body is a little bulky, and not well tapered. You want to work for a slimmer abdomin, and a thicker thorax. Before you start wraping the body, tie in about 6" of copper wire, then wax your thread, and spin on about a 3" noodle of hair. This noodle should be thin, less than a pencil lead. Wrap the dubbed body 2/3 of the way up the hook. Now wrap the wire forward in an even spiral. Shoot for about 7 wraps of wire. This will compress the body, and help keep the abdomin a little thinner. For the wing case, you can use pheasant tail, goose quill, dark colored plastic bags, peacock herl lots of different things will work fine. Tie this in next, and spin up a thicker noodle, and wrap the thorax up to one eye width back from the eye. The thorax should be a little bulkier than the abdomin. Pull your wing case material over the thorax and tie down. Wrap a neat small head. When your done, turn the fly upside down, and pick out the thorax fur for legs. I use a short piece of an old saber saw blade for this. Gently work some fur out to each side. Glue up the head, and your done.

[madkasel 0]

Suitably buggy! It'll fish and definitely a worthy effort for a first tie. Looks lots better than my first.

 

Lots of different feather types can be used for the wing... feel free to substituit.

[rockworm 0]

fishaholic69

 

utyer's comments are dead on. His comments on body shape are especially important.

 

Not bad for a first fly (I'm pretty sure my first dozen flies were all quickly untyed and repeated!) I hope you won't mind if I add a couple of comments to utyer's:

 

It looks as if the tail has rotated around the hook shank with the tension of your thread. It is important to maintain the position of material as you tye on. (Or alternatively, offset your material so the thread will carry it to the desired position.) A tyer's primary skill is making his material do what he wants it to do!

 

It also looks like the hook eye is lost amidst the thorax dubbing. Crowding the fly's head is probably the most common tyer's mistake. (And not just novices either!) Always save space at the front of your fly for a neat head so the hook eye will remain clear.

 

I look forward to seeing more of your flies.

 

By the way, I am also pretty sure the fish will ignore all the blemishes we have pointed out. That is one BUGGY nymph!

[fishaholic69 0]

thanks guys. I see all the stuff you pointed out and see kinda where I went wrong. I will make some more and try to do what you guys are telling me. i messed up a lil at 1st because the lead wire underneath slipped around and moved the tail. then I didn't use enough gold tinsel. then I think I used too much dubbing. at least I kinda got the hang of it. will post more pix of the others I tie later today. keep you posted and thanks for the comments and tips

[fishaholic69 0]

just tied another hares ear. it came out a lil better but i tried to use peacock herl as the wing case and it ended up kinda to the side. not straight on the top of the body. heres the pic. not too bad and not as buggy. i used more tinsel and less dubbing. i will make some more later . heres the pic. sorry it isn't that good of a pic

[trouterguy 0]

I put fly tying down for awhile and am really rusty. But time does make us better. The more you do it the better you'll get. as long as you believe you can, than you will.

[fishaholic69 0]

I believe! lol I just did another one and used pheasent tail feather as the wing case. turned out pretty good except i am having trouble finishing with the whip finisher. i believe mine is a thompson. i need to figure out what i am doing wrong. sometimes i get a knot sometimes i don't

[trouterguy 0]

Here are a couple of videos that were passed on to me by another member.

 

Cheers

 

 

Matarelli style :-

 

 

Non-Matarelli style :-

[fishaholic69 0]

thats helps alot. thanx. i tied a pheasent tail today and more hares ears , sucker spawn and eggs. the pheasent tail i posted on here check it out.

[Moosie 0]

What has been said so far is right on. Good first effort. And your enthusiasm will take you a long way. Here's what I have to add:

 

- If you want to weight your nymphs, go with a beadhead. It adds some flash and wont bulk up your body, plus it'll keep the eye clear. If you do use wire, keep it to the thorax, which should be thicker anyway.

 

- While you're getting beadheads, get some fine gold or copper wire for ribbing. Flat tinsel can dominate the body if your tying small.

 

- Less dubbing, less dubbing, less dubbing. Lay it on thin, at least until you get the feel for things. You can always wrap more on if you need to build up your body.

 

All that said, I'm sure those will catch fish. They're sure buggy enough! Go out and give 'em a shot!

[fishaholic69 0]

thanks made another today and it looks way better than those .here it is. wish i had real hares fur to make the tail tho. I also have copper wire on the way. alos i clipped som of the tail after the pix was taken. it was kinda long

[rockworm 0]

fishaholic

 

Your choice of tail material was fine. But never cut a tail if it's too long. Instead, I suggest you start measuring your materials as you tye them in. First, make a rough sketch of your fly. Then determine the lengths of each part in terms of shank length (SL). A typical dry fly for example might have the following measurements:

 

body length= 1 SL

wing length = 1 SL

wing width = 1/3 SL

tail length = 1 SL

 

Then measure the SL of the hook you are tying on and substitute this value in the lengths. Then you tye in the tail loosely; measure it; and adjust it's length before going on to the next step. Repeat for all the parts. Then, when you are done you won't be surprized to find the tail is too long. (By the way, this is not a crutch to be used by beginners. It is, in fact, the only way to assure that your flies are uniform and the proportions are correct.)

 

And until the copper wire you ordered arrives, why don't you take apart some household electrical cord? You must have some old appliance, lamp, etc sitting around. (I remove the cords from any appliance I need to throw away.) When you strip the plastic insulation, you will usually find each consists of numerous smaller-diametered wires. The size (and sometimes colour) of the individual wires varies from cord to cord, so a couple of dead appliances can give you a nice range of wire for ribbing.

 

 

[fishaholic69 0]

I will look around for something broke if not i will just break something :hyst: