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Fly Tying
Hayemaker

My first bugger

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I am relatively new to the art of fly tying. I tried it many years ago but got discouraged trying to Palmer hackle on flies. Last spring I picked up a new fly rod and just had to start tying again. I do pretty well with hare's ear and pheasant tail nymphs but have been afraid of hackle. What do you think. I know the colors are off and my hackle size is way to big but this is all I had. I just want to be able to hackle without fear.

post-59526-0-90368400-1487305965_thumb.jpg

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Welcome to the site, Hayemaker.

I don't know about the proportions, since it appears they are way off, but I can venture that the fish will race each other to get to that fly first.

Looks like you have the basics of palmering hackle just fine.

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Palmering hackle is really a matter of quality hackle. Crappy chicken feathers don't palmer as nice regardless of who's palmering them. Care to guess how I know this? That's right I use to use crappy feathers until I learned there's a reason behind the different grades of hackle. Good thing fish don't know the price of hackle though.

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Beyond being too large, you might want to wrap the hackle so that it's larger in the front of the fly than the back. You can accomplish this by either tying the feather in at rear of the fly by the tip (before wrapping the body) and wrapping forwards, or by tying it in at the front of the fly by the stem and wrapping rearwards -- secure at the rear with a wire rib (that you tied in previously before wrapping the body._ Then wrap the rib forward through the hackle.

 

The fly you have there will no doubt catch fish, however.

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welcome to the board hayemaker!

 

That, in my opinion, is pretty good for a first time self taught tie. It will catch fish without a doubt. The fish don't know it's palmered in a backwards direction. It will show bulk in the water. The next time try using a full maribou feather for a tail. 1 - 1 1/2 times the length of the hook, it will show more and will give more action.

 

If my first fly looked like that, I would be very proud! (I wished I kept the darn thing as a reminder on how ugly flies can be and still catch fish).

 

Cheers, Ron

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Not bad. It will catch fish. It looks to me like the hook shank is too short. Normally, I tie buggers on a 1XL to a 4XL hook. Since they're more or less intended to imitate bait fish, leeches, crayfish, hellgrammites and other large swimming nymphs. I did come across some pictures of some buggers I tied 17 or so years ago. I'd been tying about 5 years at the time and someone was nice enough to take pictures of them for me. I don't tie this particular style anymore. I think you'll be able to see some of the issues the others have pointed out that are apparent. Tapering the hackle to give it a profile, hackle width, length of the tail in relation to the body. I think these are tied on 2XL hooks.

 

post-309-0-41063600-1487364551_thumb.jpg

 

post-309-0-35993500-1487364611_thumb.jpg

 

post-309-0-64698600-1487364637_thumb.jpg

 

post-309-0-53693800-1487364692_thumb.jpg

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Thank you all for the feedback. It has all been very helpful. I had considered the taper of the hackle after I finished and realised that if I had tied the feather the other way, it would have been better. I also am limited on the proper supplies for tying buggers. I primarily the hare's ear and pheasant tail nymphs because they work so well here where I fish. I also found a hackleless peacock caddis pattern that works very well on my local river. I just want to step up my game and expand my knowledge of this exciting craft.

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Another feather that can be used to tie buggers is Emu. There are several types of Emu feathers and so you need to be able to see them before buying. The feathers are used in the place of the palmered hackle. Fortunately I was able to buy a pound of feathers for $20 before the feather extension craze.



This is the type of feather that you want. The barbules are softer and give more movement to the fly.



Natural-Emu-Feathers.jpg



Here are my Emu buggers. Mix and match the color of the tail and the chenille to get different colored buggers.



Screenshot2012-06-14at13602PM.png





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Another feather that can be used to tie buggers is Emu. There are several types of Emu feathers and so you need to be able to see them before buying. The feathers are used in the place of the palmered hackle. Fortunately I was able to buy a pound of feathers for $20 before the feather extension craze.

 

This is the type of feather that you want. The barbules are softer and give more movement to the fly.

 

Natural-Emu-Feathers.jpg

 

Here are my Emu buggers. Mix and match the color of the tail and the chenille to get different colored buggers.

 

Screenshot2012-06-14at13602PM.png

 

 

Thanks for posting Silver.... Those are nice and I have an emu assortment with which to work...

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I have seen a lot worse, besides maybe the proportions, it looks like you have a handle of the basics. Nicely done.

 

Here is a Bugger tutorial I did years ago for Hatches, it might help you out.

 

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2011/06/02/the-copper-and-black-bugger-by-carl-e-sanders/

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