good patterns to practice

[Dave G. 0]

Something ( a fly) that is fishable for lots of types of fish and takes your woolly bugger steps up a notch and is good practice, is an older wet fly called the Picket Pin :

<iframe width="698" height="393" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qpedwMUXYBA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Bruce Norikane 0]

 

Oh and Bryon as far as the book goes, every time I go to buy one I cant bring myself to spend money on that when I can get materials. I might just have to suck it up and get a book haha

Check out your library. Even if your local doesn't have a beginning fly tying book, most can borrow from a regional group of libraries.

 

Flafly's suggestion is spot on. You can't beat flyanglersonline.com beginning fly tying lessons.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Here it is, I should have had the chenille go all the way back to the tail, this was an obvious mistake, none the less I missed it. However for my third fly I think it is pretty decent, let me know what you guys think.

 

(ps. I tried to post a higher quality pic with my camera but it was two large of file, anybody know how to lower the quality a bit to make it a few less megs?)

 

Your bugger looks pretty good, especially for being only your third fly ever. My only suggestions at this point would be:

 

1. Your tail looks like it may be just a wee bit long; it should be the same length as the hook shank, measured from a point just behind the eye to the point where the hook starts to bend. (This length thing isn't a deal breaker, but keeping an eye on the proportions of your flies is a good habit to get into.) Also, some would say that the marabou you used for your tail looks a bit sparse--it will have decent action in the water and will catch fish the way it is, but you may get better action from a thicker, fluffier piece of marabou for your tails .

 

2. The chenille. After you tie in the tail, you want to tie in the chenille for the body as close as possible to where you tied in the marabou for the tail. The idea is that, when you start to wrap the chenille, the first turn should conceal the thread wraps on both the tail and the chenille itself. The way I do it is like this:

• Tie in the tail
• Tie in the chenille immediately forward of the thread wraps on the tail. (HINT: if you use the nails on your thumb and forefinger to remove some of the "fuzz" from the chenille, leaving the fiber "core" of the chenille exposed, and tie in the chenille by the exposed core, this will prevent the chenille from building up an unsightly "bulge" at the tie-in point).
• Tie in the saddle hackle by its tip immediately forward of the thread wraps on the chenille.
• take one turn of chenille behind the hackle, covering the thread wraps on the tail and the chenille. Make your second turn of chenille just ahead of the saddle hackle, and continue wrapping to a point about 1/8" behind the eye. Tie off the chenille and trim the tag.
• palmer the saddle hackle forward and tie it off at athe same point as the chenille.

3. The thread head. Yours actually looks pretty good, especially for a first attempt. You managed to avoid the most common beginner's mistake, which is "crowding the eye"--that is, not allowing enough space between where you tie off your materials and the eye of the hook, resulting in the thread head obscuring the eye of the fly and making it all but unfishable.Good job avoiding that pitfall! The only critique I would offer here would be to try and build a nice, neat, cone-shaped thread head, and to keep it as small as possible. Like the tail length thing, this is not a deal-breaker, it's more of an aesthetic point, but it's always good to strive for neatness and good proportions in fly tying.

 

Good work and keep practicing!

 

Bryon

[flytire 0]

 

simpler picket pin

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=82689&hl=picket

[johnnyquahog 0]

Hans is the best but isn't that an oversized griffith's gnat !

[flytire 0]

probably closer to a wooly worm than a griffiths gnat.

 

regardless of what its called its still a good fly to practice

 

[flyty1 0]

I picked up a top-quality materials kit from a very well known fly shop. They based the kit on the materials needed to tie 10 of each of the first 10 fly patterns listed in

Skip Morris' book, Fly tying Made Clear and Simple. The book is also available in video (DVD) form which is really nice to be able to follow along with the tying sequence - especially for a beginner. The sequence of flies as listed in the book and video start with basic skills and build on each other - if I remember correctly, the

final fly is a parachute Adams. All of these patterns are geared for trout, but they all will also work for panfish and bass.

[Chris_NH 0]

If you're going to learn on a bugger watch this video and follow along. May as well learn how to tie one properly and efficiently from the get go. It's similar to Hans' video above, but a more traditional bugger.

 

[rstaight 0]

Nice first effort. I agree with fishinguy, you found the most glaring on your own.

 

The other thing I would change is the size of the hackle. I keep the barbs equal to the gap of the hook. If using a spade hackle they will get larger as you go forward and that's fine. I like them to match the gap at the rear.

 

But the only real test. Will it catch fish? I think it will.

 

Keep at it.