Beginner question

[Flying trout man 0]

I am new to the forum and have been reading the posts for beginners and from what I am understanding it that I should tie nothing but one fly until I get it right....is that correct? What would you suggest that I start with? I guess that I will post a few that I have already tied and looks like a 2 yr old tied...lol.

 

Thanks for any help that you can offer.

[Futzer 0]

Hi FTM, Welcome, and you are off to a pretty good start. Yes, I do recommend picking a not too difficult fly pattern and tying many to improve. I would concentrate on proportions. On the dry flies, Tail=length of hook shank, from right behind the eye to the start of the hook gap bend. Wings = 2 times the hook gap, and hackle = 1 1/2 times the hook gap length. Pick a fly that you find interesting and want to have in your fly box, your current patterns will catch fish, so have some fun. Keep posting too.

 

Cheers, Futzer

[Flatwaxed 0]

When I first started I would find a pattern that I new would catch fish and then I would tie 12 of them. Everytime you tie it again you will figure something out about what you have done and by the time you have tied a dozen of them, you will know exactly what you need to do to get it how you want it. Flies are like the golf swing, everybody does it differantly. Im not sure what kind of flies you use were you live but I started tying a size 12 Gold Ribbed Hares Ears with and without a beadhead. This is a good fly to get your body proportions correct and is a fairly easy and highly effective tie. Have fun out there and keep tying it just enhances the fishing experience when you are using your own flies to catch fish. I have not used a store bought fly in over 2 years (with the exeption of a few small dries) and I love it. :headbang:

[Flying trout man 0]

Hi FTM, Welcome, and you are off to a pretty good start. Yes, I do recommend picking a not too difficult fly pattern and tying many to improve. I would concentrate on proportions. On the dry flies, Tail=length of hook shank, from right behind the eye to the start of the hook gap bend. Wings = 2 times the hook gap, and hackle = 1 1/2 times the hook gap length. Pick a fly that you find interesting and want to have in your fly box, your current patterns will catch fish, so have some fun. Keep posting too.

 

Cheers, Futzer

 

 

Futzer, thanks for the advice. Question, on the tail it is the length on the shank, Is that where I start to tie or is it from the end of the bend on the hook?

 

Mark

[Futzer 0]

Hi FTM, Welcome, and you are off to a pretty good start. Yes, I do recommend picking a not too difficult fly pattern and tying many to improve. I would concentrate on proportions. On the dry flies, Tail=length of hook shank, from right behind the eye to the start of the hook gap bend. Wings = 2 times the hook gap, and hackle = 1 1/2 times the hook gap length. Pick a fly that you find interesting and want to have in your fly box, your current patterns will catch fish, so have some fun. Keep posting too.

 

Cheers, Futzer

 

 

Futzer, thanks for the advice. Question, on the tail it is the length on the shank, Is that where I start to tie or is it from the end of the bend on the hook?

 

Mark

 

That is the length you want sticking off the back tied in right at the start of the bend of the hook. As for tie in area, mine vary by the pattern, most times you can leave a length as long as the body materials for a little build up under the body. Also practice tying in the hackle stem, and any wound in body like peacock herl with two wraps, then one behind the material and one more in front, that locks it in and is a minimal amount of thread for the job.

 

Cheers, Jeff.

 

[neoFLYte 0]

Hi FTM, Welcome, and you are off to a pretty good start. Yes, I do recommend picking a not too difficult fly pattern and tying many to improve. I would concentrate on proportions. On the dry flies, Tail=length of hook shank, from right behind the eye to the start of the hook gap bend. Wings = 2 times the hook gap, and hackle = 1 1/2 times the hook gap length. Pick a fly that you find interesting and want to have in your fly box, your current patterns will catch fish, so have some fun. Keep posting too.

 

Cheers, Futzer

 

 

Futzer, thanks for the advice. Question, on the tail it is the length on the shank, Is that where I start to tie or is it from the end of the bend on the hook?

 

Mark

 

That is the length you want sticking off the back tied in right at the start of the bend of the hook. As for tie in area, mine vary by the pattern, most times you can leave a length as long as the body materials for a little build up under the body. Also practice tying in the hackle stem, and any wound in body like peacock herl with two wraps, then one behind the material and one more in front, that locks it in and is a minimal amount of thread for the job.

 

Cheers, Jeff.

 

Hi!

The videos made by David Camiss (http://www.youtube.com/user/topflyman) were an inspiration to me when I was thinking about tying flies. I am far from expert at this point, but I can't think of many things I'd rather do when I have some downtime. Tie on!

 

[JMWAngler 0]

What they all said is great, but don't get down on yourself, those are some damn good ties for your first flies.

[grand_ol_osprey 0]

I agree with JMWangler if those are some of your first just keep doin what you're doin

[TnTom 0]

I discovered in the early part of the learning curve was I had more interest in getting the basic technique under control and it was fun tying some "excessive" looking flies. It gave me a feeling of what different things just felt like. Getting past the pulling too hard and poppin the thread at a bad time (still do), skinnying up the dubbing sort of things. You hear it over and over... "proportion' and consistency.

 

Tying 15 flies in a row that are consistent and measure up the same and even look the same becomes the test.

 

The Adams caught my eye and with the help from lots of members and a ton of advice from Mr. Futzer there becomes an opportunity to try a lot of different techniques and tips or tricks that helped make certain things happen correctly.

 

Use good materials. Futzer showed me the difference between good hackle and otherwise hackle. I was using "otherwise" and when I tried the hackle he suggested it was like night and day. Using neck when saddle is really the correct material can really make a big difference also. So good materials and the correct material is all important as to how long it takes to get things under control.

 

I was catching fish with them so it was easy to keep tying the Adams and Parachute Adams. I have a box full of both now. The question being when do I stop tying them? No need to! Ive been using them in conjunction with the Copper John (just started tying it) along with other bead heads. The Parachute Adams makes a great strike indicator and the fish hit it 75% of the time (fun) and the dropper not as frequent (still fun).

 

I wouldn't set a number overall. Tie what you need to tie to give you that "piece of cake" feeling with things in proportion.