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YosemiteSam

My Bumble Bee....tell me what you think

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I'd never fished a bumble bee patter before until last year at the family cabin, I found a bumble bee fly in an old fly wallet. It had to be 30 years old. I took it out, fished the next day, and caught a brookie on the first cast. It immediately started to unravel and come apart. I've tried to tie one based on that fly. I also wanted to just practice certain techniques like splitting wings, winding hackles, whip-finishing, etc.........so I came up with this.post-53811-0-46578000-1423201739_thumb.jpg

 

Tell me what you think. Why does the hackle look funny? My hand whip-finish could be better, too, I think.

 

 

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You have done better than I have so far. I've never caught on a bee pattern. The photo doesn't show any problems with the tying. What do you mean by "...the hackle looks funny"? Without seeing how you are tying it, it is difficult to offer advise.

 

If you want a neater head then you need to start the fly with that intention. Don't start the thread immediately behind the eye. Leave a gap the size of the head you want (usually, but not always, one eye width back from the eye). That starting point will give you an aim point for where you tie off the last material. Then you can form the head and whip finish in that space you left.

 

When I first learned I was given the advise "Use your thread as if it cost £5 an inch... Which if you buy it from me it does". In other words use only the wraps of thread you have to. I could loose it here and go on and on about this. I see it all to often in videos. That's why the only ones I recommend without hesitation are those of Hans Weilenmann. You might not like his style of fly, but if you can tie like that you will be able to tie in any style you like.

 

Cheers,

C.

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From the angle of your photo ... the hackle looks like it's missing from the far side. It's probably just a trick of the picture angle, but that's the only thing I see. You've already admitted the head, so no need to mention it.

 

For fishing, there is nothing wrong with it.

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When you tie, what is your goal with the fly? I consider this when I tie. 99.9% of the time I'm just tying for fishing, thus if they aren't perfect, I don't lose sleep on it. If it's for a presentation sort of audience, then the head could be neater and not so big - perhaps. Get that detail on the next one and fish this one. If it's for a fish to chew on, then I believe it will fish just fine and like flytire states, let the fish decide.

 

BCT

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Thanks for the replies, gentlemen.

 

Crackaig, I never really thought of tying in the thread base anywhere other than right behind the eye. Now that you mention it, I believe this tip will help with several of the flies I tie. Thanks!

 

mikechell, Yes, that was kind of what I was thinking, but looking at the fly itself, and not the picture, I think it is just that I didn't wrap the hackle where it was touching on consecutive wraps. I think it is ever so slightly "palmered" if you will. Is that the correct terminology?

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The appearance looks good, but I don't know about the mix of the materials. I guess your intent was to tie an dry, so you shoud avoid chenille cause it soaks very easy and it's very difficult to dry again, try a synthetic dubbing instead, like superfine and a floss for the ribbing.


I think the wing is very thin too, try to put more fibers. Be carefully with the head, it looks a little bulky (too many turns), maybe less turns or a thinner thread, a varnish on it it's not a bad idea.


Great Job wink.png

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I'm guessing here - going by your photo it appears that much of the hackle is wound over

the tag ends & binding thread of the chenille & wing....effectively making

too large a diameter for the wraps of hackle to begin with.

 

(think how the hackle wraps might look when wrapped on a practically bare hook shank,

with its tiny diameter)

 

What if....you were to tie the hackle in first (leaving room in back of the eye

for the ensuing forward hackle wraps and thread head), then proceed with the rest of the tie?

 

I think after reading what I just wrote, it's simply a reiteration

of what Crackaig and other have already written. They offer

sound advice, and forming a nice, neat head is a high challenge.

 

Aside from that, your pattern looks buggy as hell and quite fishable.

 

 

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I generally use yarn for my bee bodies. I do believe that the thread you are using is too heavy and it will be very difficult to make a nice head. I am just lazy and I usually put a red hair tail in first and after the body is wound I just tie in a soft hackle. I don't tie dry bees either. I always tie wets. As mentioned above above, watch Hans. He does beautiful work.

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Thanks a bunch for the advice from everyone!

 

Andre - I haven't fished a lot of chenille body flies, so I never thought about how soaked it would get. Great point!

Hatchet Jack - Noted. Great advice on trying to not wrap the hackle on the tag ends of the chenille and wing. I don't think of these things.

ditz2 - I will have to check out Hans now that he gets a second nod on here.

 

 

This forum is awesome!

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From the angle of your photo ... the hackle looks like it's missing from the far side. It's probably just a trick of the picture angle, but that's the only thing I see. You've already admitted the head, so no need to mention it.

 

For fishing, there is nothing wrong with it.

It looked to me like some of the hackle fibers were bound down with thread during the whip finish.

 

I noticed where you excised the hackle, there is still a "stump", if you will, that is clogging the hook eye. I like to, after securing the hackle with three firm wraps of thread, make a triangle with my non-tying hand (for me it is my right since I am a southpaw) using my thumb, index and middle finger and pull everything back and make two to three secure wraps. Then, I cut the hackle off and since the waste piece of hackle is facing away from the eye, I do not have to worry about the stump clogging the eye.

 

What size and kind of thread are you using? I think if you used a smaller sized thread, you can get better heads. For a fly that size, Uni 8/0, UTC 70 denier, or Veevus 12/0 or 14/0 works best in creating neat and orderly heads. Very good pattern, I am going to copy that one.

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