Skill Builder Series Final Round

[mikechell 0]

Thank you, very much, for posting the pictures. Very interesting set of flies.

[vicrider 0]

And even better when they're delivered to your door Mike, like mine were.

[mikechell 0]

Really ??? That's just crazy talk !!!

[Moshup 0]

Bream buster it is Moose hock not elk and I got it online but I can't remember which shop.

If you goggle you will find a nbr of sources. I would order the moose body hair as well to see

which you prefer.

[stilis 0]

The flies are in the mail. You all should be getting them in the next few days. Thanks to all for participating. It's been fun. For those who have participated in several or even all of the Skill Builder Series, many, MANY thanks.

 

Take care

 

BB

I received my set yesterday. Thank you so much for hosting.

[Idaho RC 0]

My files arrived in yesterdays mail. They are all really nice looking! Thanks for hosing I really enjoyed this ongoing swap and I am going to miss it! Also thank you to vicrider for the tiny files. They area really impressive. I hope to be able to tie Adams that small.

[fishingbobnelson 0]

Nice box of flies in the mail this morning. Thanks to all the tyers, and thanks BB for hosting.

[Moshup 0]

Bream buster I'll cut off a small sample from both my patches and send them on down to

you so you don't have to waste time or money . Look for an envelope mid week

In the mail.

Mogup

[breambuster 0]

Mogup, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

 

BB

[jmckaughan 0]

Got my flies this morning all I can say is AWESOME

 

Great swap

[Wetsock 0]

Got mine today real nice set! Really liked this swap and learned a lot along the way thanks BB for hosting.

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

Ok, everybody.

A long time has passed and a lot of skills have been practiced.

All in all I can say that it does look a lot like all did get something out of this exercise.

Not let alone the thread control, the most needed skill in any fly tying.

 

The critic from me this final round:

 

Stilis 1:
Not much to add here.

Maybe the small dent/gap between the body and the thorax.

Something that can be avoided by making the body a bit too long and the cover the extra with a little of the thorax.

 

Stilis 2:

Again a super fly.

The nit picking here is following; I see a thread wrap on the thorax, could be covered in dubbing.

The few stray fibers sticking up from the hackle could be removed ;-)

 

jjs89yj:

Tail: On back of hook, move to top.

Body: Ok

Wing post: Ok

Hackle: a mess... Try to tie in the hackle on the post with a few turns, then put each turn of hackle between the previoud and the hook moving downwards. Finally secure the hackle with 2 wraps on the post and whip finnish (using a thin thread or twist it to make it round and thinner...

 

Wetsock:

Tail: Goes around hook? move to the top.

Body + thorax: Very nice

Wing post: also ok

Hackle: A bit to dense to my liking, but nothing wrong... a bit of tidying up to remove the strays would be good. (Stray hackles pointing down breakes surface tension and sinks the fly more easily)

 

L'il Dave:

Tail: A little too soft looking

Body: would have liked it more hard dubbed

Thorax: Good

Wing post: A bit to short for my liking, wings tend to be at least the length of the body on may flies

Hackle: Fibers too short and hackle to dense for my liking, but very nice wraps done...

 

Fishingbobnelson:

Tail: Missing :-P

Body: A little smoother would be nice

Thorax: Hmmm, hard to get a good impression of, but I would have made it a bit longer

Wing post: Good

Hackle: see comments to jjs89yj

 

Idaho RC:

Tail: falls down the side of the hook, and fibers looks a little on the softer side

Body: Buggy but nice

Thorax: Fine

Wing post: good

Hackle: a tine bit too long and looks again as beeing a little to the softer side of dry fly hackles.

 

Vicrider:

Tail: Placement good, try to do a single turn underneath the tail to spread it out fan like in one plane.

Body and thorax : not too much shape but ok.

Wing post: Good

Hackle: Good, but a little tidying up would make it even nicer. Also to spread down the hackle pointing up, a foam thorax could be used (BWO Dun here: http://www.wideopen.dk/webshop/the-fish-the-fly-1-dry-flies/)

 

jmchaughan:
A bit more hackle and a broader wing will make this hopper look even better.

The body could also be a bit heavier, but not needed.

 

Mogup:

Tail: Same as many above, tails belong to the top of the hook ;-)

Body: Really nice

Thorax: Looks like it could be done better with another material than the vinyl-rib (?)

Wing post: Nice

​HackleS: Very challenging doing two hackles on a parachute, but ok here. Again a bit tidying up always helps.

 

BB:

Tail: It's on top of the hook, Hurray :-D :-D

Body: Looks good

Thorax: Same

Wing post: A bit more length will make the fly even looking better

Hackle: To many turns and too short fibers (only a little too short;-) ) + the standard comment - tidying up helps ;-)

 

 

Hope you all can use the input I've given.

All flies will fish and catch, but the aim is not to catch fish but fishermen.

 

And remember, thread control and limited use of thread is the way forward.

Think of your thread as the most valuable material you have, use it only as thick as needed and only the number of wraps needed to secure your material, other is overuse... (Read: misuse)

 

Have fun and keep up the good work.

 

/Henrik

[breambuster 0]

Henrik, FIRST, thanks so much for your wisdom and insight and for being willing to stay with us to the end of the Series with you most helpful comments about our flies. We all appreciate your comments. They have been a MAJOR part of the success of this swap, as I see it.

 

SECOND, I am NOT arguing with you, but explaining what I did and asking for information sake. I'm trying to learn here, not argue! And I'm doing it here so that others can read my questions and your response, and hopefully, learn from it.

 

When I tied my Parachute Adams, I used a size #14 hook. I also used hackles from Whiting 100's packs that were all sized for a size #14 hook. That's the same thing I would have done if I had been tying a Classic Catskill Adams Dry Fly. So my question is, should I have used a hackle that was sized for a size #12 hook? You mentioned that my hackle fibers were "a little too short."

 

Also, I tied in 2 hackles, one grizzly and the other brown and wound them together. Assuming that we are talking about 2 turns of hackle for each wrap, how many wraps of hackle should I have put on the fly? Or in other words, how many wraps of hackle total per fly for a size #14 hook? Would it have been less if it had been a size #16? If so, how many less?

 

Thanks

 

I hope my questions are clear. If not, tell me and I will try again.

 

BB

[Henrik Thomsen (DK) 0]

BB,

 

First, thank you for your kind words.

 

Second, you are not arguing... But I am... :-P

Now, back to serious.

On parachutes the hackle is typically one or two sizes over what you would use for classic dries.

For classic the hackle should be about 1,5 times the hook gabe.

For parachutes the tip of the fibers pointing towards the rear should almost reach the end of the body/start of tail, but not fully.

Therefore hackle size depends on placement of wing. ;-)

 

Number of turns...

When doing a classic dry fly, a decent number of turns should be used to give enough area to hold the fly on the surface tension of the water. More tyrns for rough waters.

For parachutes, the complete hackle (one round) gives the surface area to keep the fly floating. Theoretical therefore one turn is enough... But one thing is theory another fly tying. I normally do 3-4 turns depending on hackle fiber density.

 

Hope this info helped a bit. :-)

 

Br,

/H

[Moshup 0]

Henrik,

Thanks so much for the review. Yes I should have done better with tail

especially since it's the easiest part of this construction. I had several

choices with the thorax but the originator seem to just use the same

material as his body. I did used D-Rib because I liked the segmentation

and I wanted the body to sit down in the water for more of an emergence

effect. Hackle were tied dull side up to also lower the fly. That was my

theory on this fly. This is my first trout fly in 30yrs and my first ever parachute.

I didn't want to tell anybody or I would have been thrown out of the swap. Lol

I'd welcomed all opinions on my choices. A purple biot with purple ice dub was

another choice that I decided not to go with. Thank you for helpful review and

thanks breambuster for putting it together.