First two flies...

[zhoyt 0]

....and a camera with no macro settings. :wallbash:

 

A chartreuse Wolly Booger. I dont care for the color and the tail is too long.

 

 

 

A Wolly Worm. Pink Hackle. Crystal chaneille. White Flashabou for the tail. Black thread. My wife picked out the colors for this one.

 

 

 

Hoping to set down this weekend with teh new vise and knockout some more. Playing with hook sizes and such.

[CoachBob 0]

First attempts take courage. Congratulations.

Okay, you have the general idea, but let's talk about some missed concepts.

You appear to be using maribou as your palmered hackle. Generally speaking, maribou is reserved for the tail. A good saddle will provide a better shape and appearance in the water. Use a realtively soft underfeather and try to make your turns as evenly spaced as possible.

Tails should be relatively sparce, but not skinny. Look at samples on this and other sites to get a feel for density. Just because it's fluffy in a picture doesn't mean it's thick. They length of the tail is usually shorter than what you are showing and should flare a bit more smoothly.

[zhoyt 0]

Thanks for the input Coach. I did some looking around and found some differences in the steps I tied and those on other bodies. The tail on the green one is definately maribou and done horribly wrong. I see where I screwed that up. The body, I am sure, was not Maribou. It was a saddle hackle. The gear for the chartreuse came from a kit I got. I compared it to the gear I bought at the fly shop and nonticed how much better the fly shop material was. This may account for some of the look. Also I noticed none of the wooly buggers online were tied on the body like I did. I twisted the sadle around the chineille before I twisted it around the hook. This would seem to make the hackle hold up better. It was tough wrapping the chineille/saddle hackle this way(no rotary vise), but seemed to make the wraps more uniform. Any more thoughts on any of this? Again I appreciate the input.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I'd continue to take a look at online tutorials and books. As for woolly worms and woolly buggers, they are some of the most consistently productive flies, period. I recommend not trying to twist the chenille and hackle together, then wrapping it. Wrap your chenille body, then wrap your hackle forward, tightly and evenly. Don't worry about the 'durability' of the hackle. The hackle stem is buried into the chenille and is fairly well protected. I have caught hundreds of freshwater fish on WWs and WBs (trout, bass, walleyes, panfish, pickerel, on and on) and I can remember exactly ONE time a hackle broke from being chewed on. They're so easy to tie, always make four or five more than you think you might need. If one fails due to a fish destroying it, consider it to have died an honorable death.

[CoachBob 0]

If you use ultra chenille you will note that there are peaks and valleys and the seams between the wraps are perfect for laying down the hackle you are palmering. In this way it sits DOWN IN the chenille. This doesn't work quite so well on fuzzy chenille.

[Fred H. 0]

You have recieved good advice from Coach Bob and JS. One thing I would add on the wooly buggers

tail. A good measure on the tail is the length of the shaft of the hook (the section between the eye and the bend) . Using this measurement will keep your tail size in proper proportion from one hook size to another. And you may not have this problem (but I did) Keep in your mind where you want your material to end on the hook to allow for a good thread head. And welcome to the obsession .

There is nothing like catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself.

Fred

[Hillbillyredear 0]

Something I might add, although not important, Wire ribbing counter wrapped after you palmer your hackle will also help the durability of the fly. But like some have already said They are usually fairly durable flies any way.

[zhoyt 0]

I appreciate all the input fellas.

[Peterjay 0]

Z, is that a marabou hackle stem I see in the first fly's tail? I don't know how you applied the marabou, but an easy way to do it is to lay the marabou feather flat on the desk, brush out the barbs with your wife's toothbrush (to fluff up the barbs and get rid of matted areas) and peel them off the stem while holding the barbs flat on the table with the fingers of your other hand. (Just grip the feather tip and pull it away gently - the barbs will peel right off) Then you can bunch them up as thickly as you please and tie them in at any length you want. You can also moisten them a bit if static electricity is a problem. Most tiers will also strip the fluffy barbs from the butt end of the saddle hackle before tying it in and winding it on. It certainly isn't necessary, but it will make for a more even looking fly. BTW, your first attempts look a lot better than mine did. Either one of your flies will catch fish. The guy who taught me how to tie my first fly told me it would catch a trout - I thought he was nuts, but I went out the next day and caught a rainbow on it.