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deanyuan

First week of tying

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Super excited after getting my vise, and I just started tying last week. I dont have as much time I'd like to practice with a new infant in the house, but I still try to get in a few moments when I can. Here are some pictures of a few flies I tied this week. I bought a kit to tie Denny Rickards Seal Bugger, and started playing with a few dubbing variations. For the life of me, I cant get the hackle correct - it keeps pointing forward...

I also notice that my ribbing isnt very even, and on my initial attempts, the tails ended up being longer than they should.

 

Any other suggestions/critiques?

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Those will fish fine.

 

You are being a little too agressive with the dubbing... you need to thin out just a little, and make sure it goes on evenly. That is really nice work for your first flies though.

 

The hackle has a curved form. If you want the hackle to point back, you need to make sure the hackle is facing the right way, and maintain the orientation. If you hold it with two fingers and just keep winding it, it will twist and you will have uncontrollable results. If you face the convex side forward, the barbs will be forward pointing when it is wrapped on. Get the right orientation, then pass the hackle from hand to hand as you wrap forward, maintaining that orientation. Or use hackle pliars, and wrap using the hackle pliars' design to maintain orientation of the hackle. An ordinary spring pliars will have a loop at the "hinge" and you can put a finger through that and then wrap with one finger, and the hackle will stay oriented correctly.

 

Everyone makes tails too long in the beginning. Some people never stop! :lol: It's okay for this type of fly, but you will learn to visualize better and place the tailing materials properly before tying in with a little practice. For now, just intentionally go a little shorter than you think is necessary, and it will probably be better.

 

Welcome to the forum. Glad you are here.

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Great looking first flies! Can't really add too much to what David has already noted - other than to say one thing I noticed is that you're leaving plenty of room by the eye, and that is usually the bane of most rookie tiers. I read once (probably on here) that one should visualize a 'space' behind the eye of the hook, about the size of the eye, and nothing ever gets wrapped there till you finish the fly - that way you'll always end up with a neat, clean head. That's not too hard on patterns like you've tied, but as one attempts more complicated patterns, and smaller hooks.... it becomes a far greater challenge to keep the 'head' area clear.

 

BTW - in my experience most fish won't care much about proportions..a fly with good movement, of a reasonable silhouette, presented well, will take plenty of fish. How the fly 'looks' is more a matter of aesthetics and perfecting your craft.

 

Welcome to the madness, it's a great way to spend some time with your head in fishing... even when you can' be there. :punk:

 

 

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...one thing I noticed is that you're leaving plenty of room by the eye, and that is usually the bane of most rookie tiers.

 

I completely agree. Not leaving enough room behind the eye was one thing that messed me up many times when I first started tying. I think your flies are plenty good.

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You can always pinch off a little of the tials to make them shorter. My suggestions would be to use a little more marabou in the tail, and a little less dubbing in the body. Your center fly is just about right. The hackle is laid in just right. Some folks will tell you to save those flies for comparison to your patterns a year from now. I never did that, I gave em all to the fish, or stream side brush. If your limited in time, stick to one pattern like the one your doing, until you can reproduce them pretty much the same way one after the other. That seal bugger is a good pattern, it will take trout, panfish, and bass. Tie some in black, and brown too. You will soon have them down.

 

You picked an excellent vise, your grand kids will appreciate it decades from now.

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Dean

 

Not bad for first attempts. And your self-appraisal is dead-on. Keep that critical eye and your tying will improve daily. I aggree with all the previous comments. Most improvements require just small changes in amount (dubbing) or length (tail). (Although these flies will catch fish just fine the way they are.) The biggest problem is the hackle. It looks like you might be tying the feather in by its base at the rear and then winding forward. For a fly like this I would tye the hackle in by its butt just behind the eye (with the convex side forward) and wrapping to the rear. Then you would wind your rib forward, over the hackle, in even turns. But always remember there is no one right way. Experiment; learn what works for you. A good tyer never stops learning.

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