The Royal Family Swap

[Dart 0]

JP:

First, I'm no expert so if I'm wrong... someone tell me to shut up. Basically, I'm just looking at your fly as if it were one of mine and comparing it next to John's example in Hatches. These are things that I think I see that I would work on. Feel free to critique my critique

 

The peacock looks great. It looks like you tied the strands of herl in one at a time and they look nice and fluffy. The tail seems to be the proper length with the first black bar hitting the back of the bend.

 

 

The first thing that stands out to me if you're tying a display fly is the floss. If you look at (A) in the attachment, there is a slight bump in the floss about 3 thread wraps up from the edge of the peacock. This was something I struggled with for a while... and still do to some extent. One of the things that helped me is to tie the tip of the floss in as close to the butt as possible - and tie it in tightly. It takes some practice, but if you tie the peacock off with a single thread wrap, then slide the floss under that same thread wrap, it will reduce bulk at (A).

 

It also looks like you may be using more than one strand of floss as evidenced by (. If you use a single strand of Danville Rayon (if that's what you're using) you will find it's easier to wrap the floss smoothly. It will also help reduce your bulk at (A).

 

As far as C and D, those are the areas I would try to hit with the throat and the wing. I'm not 100% sure on those guidelines, but that seems to be the proportions John set forth in his example.

 

My guess on the bucktail is that it's just old and dried out. Some fresh hair should definitely help with that. You can also use a pair of tweezers to yank the short ones after you get them tied in.

 

I hope this helps... so far it's looking great! Thanks for working so hard to make these flies nice.

 

Houndog:

You are correct on the model number: Mustad 36890.

[Dart 0]

I'm pulling out the vise now and going to tie my first Wulff in a while. I'm trying to decide if I want to tie the wing with calf body hair or tail.

[Isonychia 0]

Guys, first let me say I'm flattered as heck that you would consider my Hatches article worthy of a swap theme. If I weren't so old and crusty, I'd blush.

 

That said, please don't consider the patterns I tied and photographed for the article as "the" way the flies should be tied. While I did a sizable amount of research to make sure the patterns were as close to "original" as possible, my tying of them was based on my personal preferences for proportion and "flow." Your mileage could -- and probably should -- vary.

 

Bottom line: Don't feel undue pressure to tie the "perfect" Royal Whatever. Swaps are supposed to be fun! Have fun with this one!

 

All the best,

John McCoy

[Dart 0]

John, being humble isn't welcome here. Move along, move along!

 

Having said that... I've been in a couple of swaps and it was more stress than fun for me. I'm competitive and I push myself to be the best harder than I should. I don't always succeed, but I try. John's right... that's not what these swaps are about. I don't want anyone to stress one iota over this. No matter how well you think you've tied your fly, the point is that you've hopefully learned something and had fun while doing it.

[Dart 0]

Guys, I'm going to be touch and go here until about next Wednesday. I'm going on a much needed trip to see family as it's been far too long since I've seen them. I'm flying out in the morning and will be back "late:30" Tuesday night. I'll try to check in a few times... I hope everyone who's started on the swap flies is having a blast so far!

 

Jeff

[Dart 0]

Yeah, we need to nail down a date, but I'm thinking early-min January. Let's just go ahead and say Jan 10 if that's okay with everyone.

[purolohi kalastaja 0]

I should be able to tie up some decent flies by then.

[ibrb 0]

???? Royal Humpy not part of the family.????

[Old Hat 0]

???? Royal Humpy not part of the family.????

 

Good call ibrb. Not in the magazine though. :dunno:

 

OK guys, I will confess, I am a bit nervous about this swap. I am tying the Quill Wing Dry. I don't have much experience with quill wings, but was going to dedicate this winter to learning and practicing them, so I saw this as a good opportunity to get started. I am confident that I can get a grasp on them, but my nervousness comes from the fact that many have stated that they are going to display their collection from this swap. I feel a little under qualified for this task, but will do my best. So I apologize ahead of time. I have just started tying them in a #12. I ordered white quill and about 70% of it was :poop: . I learned to wash, steam, and iron it and recovered a majority of it. It was a good learning process. I have tied up a few "unqualifying" flies so far that I'm sure the fish will like but not what I want to send along. Here is where I am at currently after a few tries. Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. The areas I'm working on mostly now are not crowding the forward peacock and the hackle, and my wings are still coming out a bit tall I think.

 

[Dezod 0]

Old Hat

 

Please don't worry about the supposed quality of your work. I am sure that the ties you send will be wonderful. I actually think it is really neat that you picked a fly that would force you into a new technique or material. There are a number of people in this swap who are using this as an opportunity to broaden their skills. I on the other hand took the cowards way out and tied a group of flies I tie to fish on a regular basis. I think anyone in the swap who is planning on displaying the flies is probably more interested in the grouping than in the individual comparison of techniques and tiers, at least that is how I feel. Looking forward to seeing ALL the flies.

 

C

[professori 0]

Don't worry about "qualifying". For me, this is another swap like all the others. I don't display my flies, or those I get from swaps, I fish them. I have never fished any of the royals, but now I will be able to do so.

[Old Hat 0]

Thanks guys,

 

I meant the "qualifying" as more standards I set for myself. Just the way I am. I am really looking forward to seeing all the flies together.

Yeah, I don't know how these can be considered a beginner fly. One of the tougher flies to tie for me, there's a lot of stuff to fit on a regular shank hook.

 

Again, any suggestions would be welcome.

[Houndog 0]

Again, any suggestions would be welcome.

 

My suggestion would be to tie 13 more just like the one you posted

 

Well done!

[Dart 0]

Looking good guys. Don't put undue pressure on yourselves. That's easier said than done, I know though because I do it all the time.

 

Old Hat, I've never tried that pattern, but it looks challenging. I think your fly is "wall worthy" as it is, but you asked for criticism, so here is what I'm able to offer: One difference in "show" and "throw" flies that I've learned is that many times in "show" flies you tie 1 strand of material in whereas in throw flies you go ahead and tie many strands in to speed up the process. For example, the peacock herl looks like you maybe tied in multiple strants which results in a fuller flare. The way I'm learning to do it is to tie in one strand and wrap it like a hackle. It gives a more upright squared off appearance. It depends on what you're going for.

 

I've had problems with the hackle flaring back toward the tail before also. The hackle would look like this: >|| instead of this: ||| What helped me straighten the hackle up is to not crowd the wing with the 2nd butt of peacock herl. The wing also looked a bit long, but it could just be the pic. Try to shoot for two times the gape of the hook (unless the proportions are different on that pattern for some reason).

 

Keep in mind, I'm far far FAR from advanced in these skills, I'm just trying to relay what has helped me learn.

[Old Hat 0]

Thanks Dart. Yeah, I think those are the 3 areas that I need work on. I was using two strands of peacock but started using one. It looks better but won't be as strong for those that want to fish the flies. I worked on getting a smoother thread base and transition under the hackle and from the body to the hackle tie in point and I think that has helped with all the transient hackles. I collect old Thompson tools and had a Thompson Wing Former that I decided to try out (never used it before). It helped quite a bit.