wow, just how hard are dry flies?

[shmish 0]

I tried my first dry flies today. Previously I've had some modest success with wet flies such as wooly buggers, clouser minnow, etc.

 

So I tried to do a parachute paradun. Tricky bits were:

spreading three microfibres for the tail (and keeping them spread as I dubbed close to it

dubbing in general! lol

and then the biggie... tying off the hackle that was wound around the parachute post

 

I was following an Oliver Edward video where he carefully knocks off a few hand whip finishes around the post. BTW, I think this winding around the post isn't that unusual? Especially for parachutes, klinkhammers, etc? Man, that is really hard to do. I kind of gave up on that and tied off the hackle along the body/thorax. But it really left an obvious non-natural feature, with the somewhat darker hackle being brought alongside the lighter coloured body. I have no idea on how durable my flies will be, I think they might only last a few casts.

 

Anyways, I don't know if there are any real tips to help with this other than advising to practice more. The hand whip on the post seems sort of hopeless at this point though. I had to write this just to vent I think!

 

s.

[Bob Cunningham 0]

Dries are something I have stayed away from as well, but that is one reason that I joined here so that I can begin to really learn that part of the art and craft. I think it will take time and care but don't give up on it.

[ILikeFish 0]

I just posted something about parachutes not too long ago, and got some good responses. I tie the hackle off/whip finish on the head of the fly. one way to make it easier is to wrap the hackle counter-clock wise around the post. then when you go to whip finish the fibers just kinda move out of the way and don't get smashed down... as for the microfibbets, I think it just takes practice, do a few of them and you'll kinda get your own technique to work upon. goodluck, and hope this helps!

[fishaholic69 0]

never tried the parachute post yet. other than that the hardest part for me like you said is taking those little fibers for the tail and keeping um where u want um. guess practice makes perfect!

[carlp5351 0]

Here is one ot the best turtorials for a parachute dry fly. Charlie does a really good job in explaining the process for the hackle and wing and tieing of the hackel. Hopefully this helps. I had the advantage of seeing this in person, after seen this way to tie parachutes they are the easiest dry fly to tie.

 

Carlp5351

 

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/detail.cfm

[DancesWithHeadCement 0]

Dubbing for dry flies is like Thanksgiving dinner, it all looks good on the table and by the time you push yourself away you have to unbutton your pants.

 

Less is more for dry fly dubbing, and if you can't see through the fur you have too much. Remember that it's the one part of the fly that assists in sinking the bug, so use as little as possible to cover the thread and yield the desired color.

 

Fur with really fine fiber size helps, all of the water mammals have really fine fur; otter, beaver, muskrat, mink, etc ... will be much easier to use for dry flies than coarse dubbing. Synthethics fibers are usually coarse as well, although some are suitable.

 

Use a neutral colored thread as your eyes are always bigger than your stomach, meaning, you'll see the thread color poking through and add more dubbing to cover it. A neutral color thread like tan, gray, will not tempt you as much to add more.

 

Yank what you think you need to make the body, then put 2/3rds of the fur back, use the remaining "mist" of dubbing to make the body.

[conehead 0]

Fly tying is like anything else in life, Practice make you better not perfect. The more parachutes you do the easier it becomes, and the better they look.

 

I also learned to tie dries the Oliver Edwards way. My first dozen or so did not hold up well or look good. After dozens and dozens, they look great. I just tied up several size 32 dry midges using the Oliver Edwards method. No it seems so easy now.

 

HINT:

Wrap wing material around the bottom of the shank and extend material up. Wrap thread arouned the hook shank in front and behind the wing material compressing the wing material to a tight shaft. Then a dozen wraps around the shaft (working upward) of wing material. Add a drop of head cement to harden the wing where it meets the hook.

 

Finish the fly, including dubbing in front of the wing and making a nice thread head.

 

Tie in the hackle parachute style. After wrapping the hackle allow it to hang down over and against the body, whip finish the wing shaft (making a couple of wraps through the hackle) as if it was the hook eye.

 

If this feels odd because you are used to making a whip finish in the horizonal position, then unclamp the hook and turn it a quarter turn to put the wing in a horizonal position.

 

I tied my first several flies in a very large size until I could get the hang of it. As I moved to realistic sizes, I took a razor to the large ones that I would never use.

 

Hope this helps,

conehead

[shmish 0]

Thanks guys. My biggest hurdle right now is learning to whip finish by hand and then translate this to the horizontal position. Working with dubbing is also quite difficult. I sort of can spin a sparse amount of dubbing onto the thread but by the time I starting wrapping, the dubbing is coming off and clumping up. I don' think I'm getting the dubbing onto the thread correctly.

[ILikeFish 0]

Theres a few ways to apply dubbing to the thread. Personally, i pull a small amount from the bag (very small) and kinda pull it out allong the thread, and spin it onto the thread. remember to spin in one direction only with your forefinger and your thumb. maybe try licking your fingers, or put a small amount of dubbing wax on them before you spin it on.

 

I think on hatches tv theres a video from Al, you might find this very helpful.

 

hope this helps.

[shmish 0]

Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean by Hatches tv... is this a hatches tying video? where would I might find it? I checked out their website and looked at back issues articles but didn't see much on dubbing.

 

cheers

[Robert_S 0]

shmish, what kind of dubbing are you using? synthetic dubbing tends to spring back when twisted on the thread. If you not using natural dubbing you should. Tends to stay where you put it. Make sure its a dry fly blend and not for nymphs. The Nymph blend has a lot of guard hairs in it, its not what you want for dry flys. The second thing that may help is to just tap your finger on the top of a tube of dubbing wax and then twist the dubbing on. It tends to firm it up and your still able to remove any extra.

[shmish 0]

the dubbing is synthetic, I believe it is antron olive sparkle. I'll look into some naturals, thanks. I don't even know what "antron" is.

 

I should maybe get something like this

cheers

[shmish 0]

Okay, I found the hatches tv, thanks.

 

When I was dubbing with the Antron, when I twisted the dubbing it just spun around the thread. So it's like I was created a twisted yarn of dubbing that wasn't really attached to the thread, the thread didn't grab it at all. I've also used some rabbit dubbing for a wet fly and it seemed to work out ok.

 

cheers

[Ten Bears 0]

Dubbing is a pain in the caboose. I always hated messing with it but I kept doing it until I could get a nice tapered body. Although I have gotten the hang of it, I still hated it enough to seek out a viable replacement for dubbed bodies. Enter A. K. Best's quill body methods. After following Mr. Best's instructions I found that not only do the dry flies look more realistic but they also float like a cork, can be made twice as fast and the trout love them. Goose and turkey biots are great body alternatives too. I still use natural fur dubbing but only when I can't use anything else.

 

 

A. K. Best's Fly Box: How to Tie the Master Fly-Tyer's Patterns is the book that shows you his methods for almost every dry fly he uses.

[Ten Bears 0]

Maybe this will give you some ideas to work with instead of dubbing. Here are some samples of my versions of A.K. Best's quill and biot dry flies:

 

A.K.'s Red Quill Spinner #16:

I don't use dubbing on the thorax for anything 16 or smaller. Also, only one quill for spinners of any size and one quill for duns 18 or smaller and two quills for duns 16 or larger.

 

A.K.'sRed Quill Spinner #14:

Here I've added the dubbing and multiple tail saddle hackles instead of just two on the smaller versions.

 

A.K.'s Light Cahill Quill Dun #14:

Not perfectly wound but close enough to fool a brown trout.

 

A.K.'s Henry's Fork Green Drake Biot #12:

THE secret weapon for those awesome hatches on the Snake. Notice the elk hair tail instead of saddle hackle. The collar hackle is olive grizzly (my own variation to AK's original).