Looking for a critique of some flies

[troutinturnie 0]

I've now been tying for about a month and I think I'm ready for some. Feedback. Here are the flies I am most impressed with but I want to know what you think. With no other fisherman or even tiers up here feedback is nonexistent.

 

Please help, I want to get better.

 

Wolly Bugger

Hares Nymph

Wolly Worm

Hopper

Clouser Minnow

[JSzymczyk 0]

Those are all fish catchers, without a doubt. I'll point out three things:

 

On your Woolly Bugger, make the tail just as long as the body. Yours is about 1-1/2 times as long. Here's a link to a SbS I posted about how I make my marabou tails and wings: http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=72670&hl=%2Bmake+%2Bmarabou It's not the "right" way but I find it works well.

 

On your Woolly Worm, the red yarn tail could be shorter, I typically like to trim it almost even with the outside of the hook bend. A black and grizzly woolly worm with a bright red tail just like yours has been my absolute #1 fly for trout for my entire life, and other fish as well. I've caught fish from Alaska to Florida, Maine to Nevada on that fly.

 

On your Clouser Deep Minnow, Pick out the broken and extra-long hairs in your bunch of bucktail, and cut it to length before tying it in. Also use hair from the 1/2 or 2/3 of the bucktail towards the tip end (the end of the tail furthest away from the body of the deer.) That hair is usually finer and less compressible, making a nicer minnow profile. There are some videos on line of Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh explaining the logic of choosing the right hair from a bucktail. For example:

 

 

 

The thread heads on your flies are a bit large, but experience working with materials will enable you to get the most advantage from the fewest wraps.

 

None of my comments are "rules" of any sort, just observations compared to how I would do things...

[utyer 0]

I would second what J said, your doing just fine, tighten up the heads, on the flies. On the clouser, move the eyes back a little. Bob says to divide the full length of the hook (including the bend,) in thirds, and place the eyes on the one third mark.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Great advise given. Also, on the Clouser, the hair on the belly side should not be bound against the front of the eyes, even though many you see in catalogs are tied this way. Not really right or wrong, it gives a slightly deeper profile to them if the hair is not tied against the eyes.

 

Joels (JSzymczyk) fly that he posted is tied this way if you look closely.

 

I'm as guilty of anyone of sometimes tying them with the hair bound against the barbell eyes, especially if I mount the eyes too far forward.

 

I don't always tie the belly hair along the hook shank either which again gives a bit deeper profile. Where you wish a thin profile, then do as you've done & tie along the shank too.

 

These flies, the eyes are about 1/3 down the shank as Utyer suggested, and the bottom hair is not tied against the eyes in the front. Bob Clouser mentions this in his book, and coats that resulting open area with epoxy. These pictures were taken with only some Sally Hansens on the head, but they were later epoxy coated.

 

Tied on saltwater hooks.

 

Tied on worm hooks. Again about 1/3 the way down the shank from the hook eye.

[notenuftoys 0]

I really like the red behind the eyes. Haven't thought to try that.

 

Are you just tying in the white bucktail and flash with red thread, then whip finishing before finishing with white thread?

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Other than the length of the tail on the woolly bugger which has already been mentioned, I don't see much to criticize here. If I had been tying flies that looked that good after tying for 1 month I would have been ecstatic. Nice job!

[troutinturnie 0]

Thank you, I appreciate all the advice. i mostly want to target pike and smallmouth bass. That was my first clouser to I will try some more tonight and post a pic later to see what you think.

 

Kyle

[troutinturnie 0]

Also JSzymczyk, what size wolly worms and buggers would you reccomend tying?

[JSzymczyk 0]

I like sizes 12, 10, 8, and 6. Mostly use sizes 8 then 10, but you will be surprised how many snobby trout will fall all over themselves going after a big #6 woolly worm.

[Gene L 0]

Thank you, I appreciate all the advice. i mostly want to target pike and smallmouth bass. That was my first clouser to I will try some more tonight and post a pic later to see what you think.

 

Kyle

If I were targeting pike and smallies, I'd go quite a bit lager assuming pike are voracious as reported. Say 4s or 6s or thereabouts. No pike around here, but from what I've read, they go big with no problem.

 

Trout I'd go 8s.

[ROTW 0]

I agree with everyone else but no one commented on your nymph- I'm a nymph fanatic. The body of the nymph should start at the bend of the hook and not right above the point. GREAT JOB!! especially for only tying for a month.

[barrytheguide 0]

All of the fly's will catch fish. But they are too heavily dressed. Just like most fly's you might buy from your local fly shop, they are designed to catch fishermen rather than fish. So try to be a little more sparce with the materials and tie more and more and more.....

[tidewaterfly 0]

I really like the red behind the eyes. Haven't thought to try that.

 

Are you just tying in the white bucktail and flash with red thread, then whip finishing before finishing with white thread?

 

Yes, I like the red in there too. can't say that it makes any difference to the fish, but I like it & am using the red thread to tie in the belly hair, then I switch for the other hair & finishing the head. I use Danville Flat Nylon thread for most tying I do.

 

 

All of the fly's will catch fish. But they are too heavily dressed. Just like most fly's you might buy from your local fly shop, they are designed to catch fishermen rather than fish. So try to be a little more sparce with the materials and tie more and more and more.....

 

Generally I agree that many flies are tied too heavily dressed, and they'll still catch fish. But, that's the point anyway, they'll still catch fish. Your comment about sparseness comes up every time a Clouser Minnow is posted. They can be tied sparse & there's good reason to tie them that way, but sometimes sparse is not the best approach. In clear water, IMO, sparse has a place, but not as much in places with less clarity. Sometimes we strive for the "pushes water" feature in flies, and that's not done with sparseness. There's a time & place for both sparse & more heavily dressed flies. The main thing is to tie to meet the conditions that may be encountered. If there may be various conditions, particularly water clarity, then tie to meet as many as possible so there might be various degree's of sparse. Plus, every ones concept of what is sparse & what is not is not easily defined.

 

Given that these are his first flies, he's done a very good job with them as far as not over dressing them too much. Sure, they could be sparser, but I don't think it really would matter much to the fish.

 

Troutinturnie, one other thing I noticed about your Clouser, is that the chartreuse hair you used is a bit flared & the fibers are thick. Most likely you cut them from closer to the base of the tail you have. Usually the hair from the upper third of the tail is better for this type of fly. There have been numerous post about how to select bucktail hair for tying & the hair you select will have some affect on the end result. Read through some of the posts about bucktail & I think you'll get a better idea about how to choose it for tying. I know that JSzymczyk has shared some very good information about choosing bucktail hair. (And about tying Clousers!)

 

Personally, I like to use the finest textured bucktail hair I can get, but that's not always possible. The use of finer bucktail can provide a different appearance & degree of sparseness. If the hair you choose starts to flare when you tighten down on the thread, then it's not usually the best for Clousers or any other type of hair wing fly.