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Fly Tying
PeachySteph

My fly tying attempts

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I think you're on the verge of some great fishing. Your hackle is way too long for trout, although they may catch unwary fish and bream. Concentrate on a few patterns that have proven effective. Get yourself a pattern book or refer to patterns on the computer online, they're traditional patterns for good reasons; they have worked. Visit North GA Trout Online, they have a great pattern reference and are a wealth of knowledge for local fishing.

 

Very few domestic birds or animals provide suitable feathers/fur for fly tying, which is why there is a thriving market for generic materials. The only local materials I've been able to use are beaver/muskrat fur (from a friend who used to trap) and squirrel tails from road-killed squirrels. As said, songbirds are protected and don't furnish good materials anyway. Duck feathers CAN work, but you can buy them cheaper than harvesting your own. Duck wing pairs are cheap and matched, but they're kinda advanced in their usage.

 

My advice would be to target a certain pattern that's worked, like the Wooly Bugger and purchase material for that particular fly, which is maribou and chenille and maybe some hackle packs of wooly bugger feathers for palmering. Once you've caught a few fish on that pattern (and you will catch a lot of fish on that pattern) you can refine your material inventory.

 

Welcome to the world of fly tying.

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Also on building the head, keep in mind to cut a taper into your tied in materials when you can. In that way the thread ties in down a natural taper to the eye. Other waxes are better than dubbing wax, That's true but I have to say I've used dubbing wax on the thread for tying in materials and it's worked better than bare thread.

 

I very very seriously doubt I'm going to court over collecting a Jay feather out by my back yard feeder. Let's face it, it's no Spotted Owl or even a nesting Finch . it's an over populated menace. Anyway Additionally, Quail, Grouse and Pheasant, as well as Turkey are all game birds here in Ma. You do need to check local laws as has been suggested and then use common sense.. We have Mourning Doves at our feeders ground feeding but they don't seem to drop feathers, In Ma. they are protected . We cherish our little pair of doves, who have up to six others come visiting us at times. they are fun to watch, been here for years. Useless crows and grackles drop feathers all the time.LOL. If the feathers were worth using I would.

 

Ya know it's cheaper to buy a live chicken than a pelt ? Who pays $60 for a chicken ? Nobody, that's who.

 

About tying in general. I suggest watching any Davie McPhail videos you can find on YouTube. His techiques are superb and his videos clear. And it appears every fly turns out perfectly. I watch them for the technique, I don't claim to even try to make perfect flies but I like to gain in method knowledge for what I do tie. Another solid set of videos are the Orvis ones , though my go to is Davie.. Also, the Norvice series with Norm gives great insight on tying with a rotary vice.

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Starling feathers can be used in soft hackle flies, but that's the only non-game birds I can think of that you can use for tying.

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Also I'd recommend trying some streamers in sizes 6-10; it will help you get your tying hands. Working with the head problem is also easier with streamers; same principles just a matter of scale.

Tie an adams or royal coachman in a size 8. It'll do well for bluegills, be fun for practice.

 

For me the challenge in small drys was wings. It was a matter of the right amount of bulk for wing material, and height. My wings were either absurdly tall or fell below the hackle winding. Just took practice. I found that many of my issues could be traced to selecting the right amount of bulk for each part of the fly. I'll echo Mikechell above: I started using way too much material and that was the #1 cause of crowding the eye, thread slipping down on the headwrap, my bodies being "blimpy." you'll be surprised how little you will need for each part, even bushy flies like wulffs don't require nearly what you might think at first. Practice, but focus on being intentionally really really sparse and see how it goes. Build up from too little rather than paring down from too much.

 

To economize if you really don't like a fly, razor blade off the material and do another on the same hook. Because even the "worst" tied flys will often catch fish surprisingly well, I have kept most of my "firsts." I still give them away to others from time to time, and of course I fish them.

 

Commendable to reach out on this forum; there are some great folks here. I'd like to actually meet one every now and again on a stream ('course, who says I haven't already .....).

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I'm just about to start tying myself. My vise should be arriving in the post tomorrow and I can say I have been watching every single video I can find on Youtube in preparation.

 

I love all of the Davie McPhail videos, because they are so detailed and include a lot of general tips and tidbits about the various materials. I would highly suggest checking out the 'tightlinevideo' channel on Youtube as well. The videos from 'tightlinevideo' are very detailed in terms of instruction, and he outlines his tying techniques very well. They are typically shorter than Davie's videos but the flies are usually just as detailed.

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I've put off telling you this, but I suggest you go to http://www.flyanglersonline.com scroll down the menu on the left side and select Fly Tying. Then select Beginner Tying. They have an assortment of flies that teach you various universally used techniques, and some of the flies, such as the Wooly Bugger, are flies you can use to catch just about anything except a cold.

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today's failure...

2yjx4pk.jpg

 

I'm not even going to go into detail.. it's pretty obvious what all the mistakes are. I'll just try again later.

 

My biggest issue is the thread slipping down toward the hook eye when building the head or making wraps near the eye..

 

 

See if you can pinch off some of the hair off the tail. That would be my concern with that one.

 

Check out the devil bug, it's similar to what you tied up. Catches a little of everything. If you want it to float, it'll float. Fish it as a terrestrial or as a wet fly.

 

 

This is a little more than the standard pattern.

 

522D1BAA-24BE-494F-A7E4-87E6EF972CB5_zps

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Rockworm,

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "tying the last material to the eye." Wouldn't that mean crowding the eye?

 

Randy

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Steph, looks good! The colors are great! That fly will certainly catch fish!

 

However, general rule of thumb (nothing is law) the hackle you ribbed the body with should have fiber lengths no more than 1 1/2 times the hook gap dimension.

 

Yours looks to be much longer. That can cause issues with the hook gap being clogged on small hooks. Personally, I like to over size the hackle on really big buggers I tie for bass, like on 1/0 size worm hooks, but as the hook size decreases it's usually best to keep the proportions inline with that general rule.

 

Also, the tail may be a bit long, (always a matter of opinion & personal preferences) but again I like a longer tail on those I tie too. As long as it doesn't foul, it will be fine.

 

Other than these small details, you did a super job with it! IMO, it's almost perfectly tied. The head could be a bit smaller, but that comes with more tying experience. It doesn't appear that you've over dressed it, which is a common issue with beginners, and you're not crowding the hook eye! Very well done! smile.png

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Steph those feathers should work, just be careful which feathers you keep, depending on where you are different regulations prohibit certain species, such as songbirds.

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