The Royal Family Swap

[Jon G 0]

hey guys,

 

Are we going to all do the same size of fly or is it up to the individual?

 

just a thought

 

 

Jon

 

[Dezod 0]

I was going to ask a very similar question today. Origianlly I thought it would not matter, but the more I think about it I think I would like to see all the flies the same size and on the larger side. For me that is a 10-12 for the dries. I think the streamers are their own group and I am a poor judge of streamer size as I don't tie very many. I don't plan on fishing these, like I do most of my swap flies, so I would like to see some of the detail that will go into all of them. Just thought I'd toss out an opinion.

 

C

[Futzer 0]

I would recommend at posted photo of the finished grouping. I once added 250 or so size 10 Royal Wulffs to a fishing hat I had, for the shop Christmas party. Thinking about that makes my eye twitch to this day. :hyst:

 

Cheers, Futzer

[Dart 0]

As far as the sizes of the flies, I don't know if it would work to have them all the same size. The dry flies should probably be size 12-14. The streamers would be larger and so would the wets. So maybe just the average size for that type of fly would be fine with me. I'm all for discussing it though.

 

And pics will be taken as these will be mostly saved in collections as "tie for show" flies. I'll take pics individually as well as a group.

[Dart 0]

I got IBRB's flies yesterday and the first words out of my mouth were "HOLY SMOKES!!" These are some great looking flies... the bar has been raised for the rest of us. Nice job on the lil' size 14's.

 

Thanks for the generous extras, IBRB.

 

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I'm tying mine on a size 2 7xl hook sorry guys all out of the 10 xl but there isn't much a difference

now my question is do you all want the one in the magazine or one with a tippet tail like the original royal coachman the mag lists the tail as red goose or duck quill

[Dart 0]

I'm tying mine on a size 2 7xl hook sorry guys all out of the 10 xl but there isn't much a difference

now my question is do you all want the one in the magazine or one with a tippet tail like the original royal coachman the mag lists the tail as red goose or duck quill

 

I'm no expert on these flies... but if John McCoy says the pattern has a quill tail I'd personally try to tie it like that. That being said... I'd rather you tie the fly as you're most comfortable. Whatever looks good, I'm fine with!

[JJG 0]

Hi dart;

 

Could you send me the contact info I still cant log in under my old signup of Jon G but now that i'm back into the site I can work on it. The royal coachman wets are coming along well. the bodies and tails are looking better since i watched don bastion's classic wet flies DVD. the beard and wings are still bugging me. i just ordered some new mallard wing feathers . i had tried with goose but didn't like the results. Anyways it's good to be able to post again.

 

thanks

 

Jon Grant AKA Jon G

 

[JJG 0]

Thanks DART

 

 

pm recieved

 

 

Jon

 

[JJG 0]

Yea I am not a Bait fisherman anymore.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

:yahoo: :yahoo:

 

Jon

 

[purolohi kalastaja 0]

I really like the head on the fly. Nice and smooth and shiny. looks good to me, but I'm no expert....

[Old Hat 0]

Greetings Fellow Royal Swappers,

Here's one of the swap flies I'm tying and i have question regarding the bucktail. The ends of a lot of the hairs seem to be broken. Is this common on bucktails or should I be looking for better materials? Also, any other critiquing would be appreciated. Don't have much experience with this kind of fly and want these to be really good.

JP

 

 

The fly looks very well tied JP. I usually just try to pick out as many of the broken ones as possible. If I'm just heading to the river I don't bother. If you feel there are too many many broken, you can find better quality with unbroken tips if you have the resources and can look them over personally. Your preference. Fly looks great. Also, before I tie in the wing I will usually grab it about 2/3 the way up the stems and slide all the shorter hairs out the back. This gives a nice taper to the wing but just at the tips. Some like to stack the wings. Between picking out broken ones and sliding out shorter ones I will usually cut off about twice the amount of hair that I need for the wing. Like I said a lot of it is just preference. Hope this helps.

[Old Hat 0]

Hi dart;

The royal coachman wets are coming along well. the bodies and tails are looking better since i watched don bastion's classic wet flies DVD. the beard and wings are still bugging me. i just ordered some new mallard wing feathers .

 

Hey JJG, I just got my shipment of duck quill in for the dries and ordered about twice what was needed because a lot of the guys on the classic site said it was recommended. They weren't lying, about 40% was junk. It's been a good learning process though, I have been trying my hand at washing, steaming, and ironing to recoup some of the feathers. All new to me. Well back to practicing those uprights.

[Houndog 0]

Some very nice ties shown already!

 

I have been patiently waiting the arrival of my Hatches Magazine, but it's time I get tying these flies. I can see from the online version of Hatches that the Royal Coachman (Steelhead/Salmon Wet) uses a Mustad hook (36890?), but I can't make out the model number. Would someone with the new Hatches mind checking?

 

Thanks

[Jon G 0]

Hi dart;

The royal coachman wets are coming along well. the bodies and tails are looking better since i watched don bastion's classic wet flies DVD. the beard and wings are still bugging me. i just ordered some new mallard wing feathers .

 

Hey JJG, I just got my shipment of duck quill in for the dries and ordered about twice what was needed because a lot of the guys on the classic site said it was recommended. They weren't lying, about 40% was junk. It's been a good learning process though, I have been trying my hand at washing, steaming, and ironing to recoup some of the feathers. All new to me. Well back to practicing those uprights.

 

 

The fly shop that is looking for the white mallard feathers are striking out so far but it is amazing how much junk actually goes out to the shops. i guess that we buy it so who cares type of attitude exists. Here's hoping things change. :cheers: but i wont hold my breath .......

 

 

stilll looking. Say does anyone know if the original coachman had white wings or was the leadwing coachman first?

 

 

Jon