Cahill Practice

[stabgnid 0]

In a Cahill swap this my second attempt at it need a little feed back ..

Steve-stabgnid

 

 

[FlaFly 0]

Looks great to me DB but I've never tied nor used that kind of fly, so what the heck do I know. To quote Jane Austen, it appears to have the right number of arms and legs.

[phg 0]

Not bad, and it will certainly catch fish, but, as you asked.....

 

The tail is a bit too bushy, and maybe a tad too long. You only want 7 to 9 fibers in the tail, and the length should be the same as the hook shank. Real mayfiles, of course, have much longer tails, but you are trying to make a fly that you can cast.

 

The wings look decent, full enough, and a decent spread, but try setting them back just a bit further. A couple of thread wraps further back will make them look a lot better, and will balance out the fly better, and give you a bit of thorax behind the head (again, a casting thing.)

 

The hackle is just about right for a Catskill. It looks like you have 2 wraps behind and 2 in front. If you move the wing back, as I suggested, you might do 2 behind and 3 in front, but, unless you are fishing turbulent water, I wouldn't do more than that.

 

Now, one thing I can't tell from just looking is the stiffness of the tail fibers. Keep in mind that the tail fibers need to be fairly stiff, so they can help support the weight of the fly.

 

Overall, a nice fly, though! Keep at it.

[FlaFly 0]

phg.... you're right about mayflies having longer tails, but real mayflies only have three tail filaments. I've always wondered why guys didn't tie them that way.

[mvendon 0]

Hi Steve,

 

It may be your picture, but the tail looks like it's a different color than the hackle that's around the wing. They should be the same, or very close in color. The tail fibers look too soft also. You want nice stiff, straight fibers. If your tying it Catskill style, leave the tail fibers close together. If not, tie them so they splay out a little using a thread bump. It will fish better with the tail spread.

 

Regards,

Mark

[Meeshka 0]

Nice looking fly for second effort! If I tye in the classic catskill style I try not to bring the fly head that close to the hook eye actually leaving a bit of hook shank and its not much. I think its just a matter of preference, as I've never seen this written in stone. Nice fly!

[phg 0]

phg.... you're right about mayflies having longer tails, but real mayflies only have three tail filaments. I've always wondered why guys didn't tie them that way.

Actually, some tiers that use micro-fibbets do restrict themselves to 2 or 3 filaments, depending on the species of may fly. Sparse seems to be adequate, though. I don't think trout count very well, so 5 to 9 stiff hackle fibers seem to do the trick. I use 5 of size 18 and smaller, 7 on size 14 or 16, and 9 on size 10 or 12. More than that, and you may as well tie a Wulff.

[flytire 0]

are your wings woodduck?

 

[stabgnid 0]

are your wings woodduck?

 

They are Barred Mallard Flank..

[Gene L 0]

Looks good to me. I might make the tail slightly less lengthy, but overall pretty nice. Need a fuller tail than The Real Thing to help float it, IMO. Fish can't count, so the three fiber tail rule isn't all that necessary. Also, I'd add more hackle to float the fly although I know that's not kosher. Better float than sink for Pattern's Sake.

 

It should catch fish. Providing fish are rising.