My First dry

[JayWirth 0]

My first attempt at a Hendrickson Dark on a size 14 hook.

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

Not bad! There'll be many responses hopefully. If I'd critique anything I'd say to make sure to not crowd the eye of the hook. But if this is your first dry fly tied, it's nicely done. Proportions look pretty fair. The hackling looks a little thin but not horrid. I think the number of winds of hackle is something like 4 or 5 rearward of wings, 3 in front - or something like that. Of course good quality hackle makes a difference (don't know what material/s you used).

 

My first dry flies tied in the Catskill style did not look this good. It'll catch a fish me thinks!

 

BCT

[Sundance 0]

Pretty good for a first attempt - better than my first effort. My suggestion would be to use fewer barbs in the tail and make it slightly shorter - the length of the hook shank. The hackle is a little sparse, but not bad. High quality hackle would make it a bit easier. Be sure to place each wrap immediately in front of the one that precedes it.

 

My advice to beginning tyers is always the same: go buy one copy of the fly you are learning to tie and try to match its proportions step by step. Does your tail look like the original? Is your body the same length, taper and thickness? Do your wings match the original? etc. When I teach tying I give each student an example of the fly we are working on to take home and copy. It is by far the best way I know to teach proportions.

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

It's not a bad idea to tie a few in a row too. Modify one particular item and critically look at the result. Then when satisfied with that aspect of the fly, modify another aspect, etc... until you address all the issues that you have with the fly.

 

But critically look at dimensions, proportion, etc..

 

BCT

[JayWirth 0]

It's not a bad idea to tie a few in a row too. Modify one particular item and critically look at the result. Then when satisfied with that aspect of the fly, modify another aspect, etc... until you address all the issues that you have with the fly.

 

But critically look at dimensions, proportion, etc..

 

BCT

I agree. As I tie the first of any pattern I have an idea of the areas that are less than perfect and try to improve with each addition. This evening I began tying a few more Hendrickson on a #14 and a few on #12. Once I was able to tie a decent fly on the #14 switching to the larger hook was much easier. My first try took about 35 minutes by the 7th I was under 10 minutes.

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

Might want to consider tying on the larger hook first - then going to a smaller size if you want multiple sizes. Seems easier to me at least. Sort of gets me warmed up and then going smaller - I just need to keep an eye on making sure I scale all the dimensions down for the smaller hook. I have been guilty of tying a size 12 fly on a 14 hook, for instance.

 

BCT

[RCFetter 0]

Might want to consider tying on the larger hook first - then going to a smaller size if you want multiple sizes. Seems easier to me at least.

That's what I did. I started tying in March and for the first 7 days or so I only used a size 2. I probably averaged 20 min a day. Last night I tied my first size 14 PT nymph.