Bruce Derington

Go for it. The tail and hackle will support the fly

I sort of agree with Steelie, and I guess it depends where the fly is posted :dunno: Beginners need to post their flies and get excited in doing so. Normally if the fly looks like a Broken Di-k, I'll start with a positive, then give some advice(or my perspective) and followed up with another positive. NOW, As seen on the Classic site, When guys ask for criticism they get it BUT they have been tying for quite some time and normally don't get too upset. You have to go easy on newbies :smoke: I also think some tyer's have been taught some bad habits and the more they post they will begin to realize the shoet commings. After all, in the classic world very few are ever think perfection has been acheived :whistle: FISHY is good though. P.S. Some of the most beat up fles in my boxes are the best producers!

We could go to the virtual classroom and I could show you how I tie them

Have you tied the soft hackles B4

When we tie with the japanese silks we use gloves to prevent snagging and to keep the oils from our skin away from the silk. what type of thread did you buy?

I guess the real question would be, why did you buy it? The "soft hackle fly" uses pearsall's silk and is a very effective pattern. There are a couple of types of Pearsall's, Pearsall's Marabou which ia a 2 ply strand and the gossamer 1 ply. The Marabou is more like floss and makes great bodies

Sounds like you've solved your problem :dunno: Most guys do use some kind of fly floatant, I've heard of all kinds of stuff used such as scotch guard, rain-x, and silicon shoe saver. With use of these you should let them sit over night to dry completely. In the old days we used parafin wax and white gas in a small container, worked great. There are also many "paste" type of floatants readily available. I think Al Beatty may have posted a floatant(might be wrong about the name) Abolene? its in every drug store and one jar will last a lifetime. I think its a haircare product. I , however use a "dry" floatant that both works before I fish a fly and after(when its wet)' Simply put it in a 35 mm film canister ,leader attached, snap the lid shut and shake. they sell one called frogs something and runs as much as $5.95 for a jar the size of a 35 mm canister, BUT I found a cheaper product and I think its the same stuff. Its called Feather- Dri and its a product from Bohning Company. Its produced as an archery accessory, used for drying wet fletchings arrows. WORKS GREAT :headbang: One container will last a very long time P.S. People are mistaken when they say Deer Hair is hollow, IT IS NOT :thumbsdown: If you had a cross section of the hair , you would see "air cells" throughout its length, except the tail.

No photos are atttached, hard to comment :dunno:

I'll take 3 Medium Prarie Dust Tan Sport Gray

Not bad for your first flies :headbang: You just need to watch where you tie in the hackle and keep wing length equal to length of shank

Steeldrifter had one for sale on the trading floor, PM him , he makes fantastic rods and could help you out

I'm not sure what your tying but take for instance Al Troth's Elk Hair Caddis that he ties. He palmers ribbing forward through the hackle wrapping it conventually. Counter wrapping ribbing forward is done primarily to keep ribbing from getting lost in the body material ie: say a pheasant tail body. Obviously it is used to protect the hackle as well as adding a segmented effect.

Spinning is easy, the trimming can be tough, go slow. Never hooked a steelie on the surface, sounds like fun

OH YEAH :headbang:

Buy the latest Hatches Magizine and read the artical about Deer Hair , which was written by Chris Helm. For spinning and stacking you want long coarse hair He says this " look for a hide from a deer that weighs at least 110 pounds (dressed). The deer should be between 1 1/2 to 2 years old. Early season deer hair is normally 1/4 to 1 inch, and hair shorter than 3/4 of an inch is real tough to handle. If your tying on size 2 or larger , hair should be 1 3/4 to 2 inches. The later in the season the longer the hair. Give him a call and ask him questions

I'll be tying some "poorman's" Classics

Will set up a "U TUBE" type vid page

Easy to tie egg fly on Hatches TV http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/tv//play.php?vid=121

Nice :headbang:

Keough hackle has some great feathers. The best deal is his tiers grade. He has $60.00 necks if you think you need it. He's as good or better than most. A local guy out of Mi. :headbang:

Its a Bead head wooly bugger :whistle:

Try something like this, taper the entire strip , then add some eyes. That should put you in good standing

Sick

Check out our new HATCHES TV http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/tv//play.php?vid=118

Try this link, it should point you in the right direction :dunno: http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/thread_control/ :headbang: