My first attempt at fly tying

[August9999 0]

This is my first attempt at tying a fly. It's a saltwater clouser tied on 1/0 hook.

 

 

[Fisherboy0301 0]

This is my first attempt at tying a fly. It's a saltwater clouser tied on 1/0 hook.

 

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Holy Crap! Are you sure you aren't a veteran tier that's pulling our leg?!?!?! that's freakin great! Honestly one of the best first attempts I've ever seen. Some will say the wing is too flared, but I like the look of bulk it gives you without more hair. You can tie these sparser, or full like yours, but most tie them sparse. Great fly my friend!

[add147 0]

I agree! Great looking fly my friend. I have only been tying since March and I have tied a few of the Clouser but I tend to tie mine more bulky than others as well. I figure as long as a fish hits it that is all that matters. Keep up the good job.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I also agree! You did a very good job for your first attempt! As Fisherboy said, they can be tied in various degree's of spareness or bulk. Much of that issue is in the materials you choose to use since bucktail does flare some. It's been mentioned here in these forums many times that the hair on the upper 1/3 of a deer tail is often better for tying this type of fly. Of course that too depends on the tail as all natural materials vary & sometimes greatly.

 

You may want to move the barbell eyes back a bit along the shank. Not that what you've done won't catch fish, it certainly will. Generally the eyes should be about 1/3 the shank length back from the hook eye. Bob Clouser indicates this in his book. The reason is it causes the fly to glide more, rather than jig. You get the up & down jigging motion, just not as pronounced as a jig. Moving the eyes back a bit will also help you with finishing off the fly as it will give you a bit more room. Crowding the hook eye is a common mistake that new tiers make. You've done a good job there too. Just be aware that leaving a bit more space for the "head" area will improve the appearance of any of your flies you may tie.

[August9999 0]

I also agree! You did a very good job for your first attempt! As Fisherboy said, they can be tied in various degree's of spareness or bulk. Much of that issue is in the materials you choose to use since bucktail does flare some. It's been mentioned here in these forums many times that the hair on the upper 1/3 of a deer tail is often better for tying this type of fly. Of course that too depends on the tail as all natural materials vary & sometimes greatly.

 

You may want to move the barbell eyes back a bit along the shank. Not that what you've done won't catch fish, it certainly will. Generally the eyes should be about 1/3 the shank length back from the hook eye. Bob Clouser indicates this in his book. The reason is it causes the fly to glide more, rather than jig. You get the up & down jigging motion, just not as pronounced as a jig. Moving the eyes back a bit will also help you with finishing off the fly as it will give you a bit more room. Crowding the hook eye is a common mistake that new tiers make. You've done a good job there too. Just be aware that leaving a bit more space for the "head" area will improve the appearance of any of your flies you may tie.

Yeah, after I tied it I noticed my head was up pretty far. I started at about 1/3 of the shank back but I unconsciously moved it forward while securing it.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Easy fix for the next ones then! You know what you did & what you need to do to correct it.

Lessons learned! Most of us have been there!

[agn54 0]

Very nicely done, impressive for any fly much less you first. It looks like the pink hair is from the base of the buck tail so it is more hallow and will tend to flair more. If you use the hair closer to the tip it is softer and will lay flatter. The hallow hair can give the fly a bigger profile while the softer hair will flow a bit better in the water. It's really preference although most people prefer the softer hair. Both will catch fish. Nice color selection, great for the salt

[add147 0]

Check out this video from the man himself Bob Clouser...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0gX83J1Kvg

[shoebop 0]

Well done kid! Much better than my first attempts.

[August9999 0]

Very nicely done, impressive for any fly much less you first. It looks like the pink hair is from the base of the buck tail so it is more hallow and will tend to flair more. If you use the hair closer to the tip it is softer and will lay flatter. The hallow hair can give the fly a bigger profile while the softer hair will flow a bit better in the water. It's really preference although most people prefer the softer hair. Both will catch fish. Nice color selection, great for the salt

Okay, thank you for explaining that. I wasn't aware of the difference.

[August9999 0]

Well done kid! Much better than my first attempts.

Thanks, shoebop.

[utyer 0]

Your first attempt is better than many, and you have already figured out where you went wrong with the eyes. This is a very good pattern, and you should work on getting a box full. Tie these with white bellies, and black, gray, brown, tan, and olive tops. Pink, purple, and chartreuse wings are also good. I tie some in yellow with light green backs. You have kept is fairly sparse, and you haven't used too much flash.

 

Salt water fish will tear these up pretty fast, and there are ways to make them more durable. First tie them in stages. Start by tying 6 or 12 eyes and bellies. Use a white thread or clear mono. I use 4# line on many of mine. After you get the bellies tied, then coat all the thread with several coats of clear nail polish.

 

When the last coat of glue is dry, then restart your thread, and tie in the wings. Then coat the heads with several coats of nail polish. You could use epoxy, but that requires that you rotate the flies as it drys, and you may not be setup to do that yet.

 

Vary the weight of the eyes. In shallow water (less than 2 feet,) bead chain eyes are enough. If your fishing deeper flats, use lead eyes.

[add147 0]

utyer is a vault full of knowledge in my opinion. He has helped me out several times since I started getting into this hobby back in March. All the folks here are excellent in offering suggestions on how to tie something or how to improve your skills. I seen a few other forums out there but this is the best one I think!!!!