My first flys

[Coin 0]

These are some of the first fly's that I have tied. Now I have been having trouble with the feathers so instead of using good ones I went to Hobby Lobby and got some cheap ones. I do know it should be a Olive colored feather but I used what I had. The Wooly Bugger is on a Eagle Claw #2 and is a all purpose live bait hook. Also the Bully is on the same hook. The Vise is the one I bought on Ebay called a Byron, for me I don't know the difference between a good or bad one but so far it works. Don't laugh to hard and I am open to suggestions.

 

[Chasing_Tails 0]

One thing to  keep in mind with materials, you can do amazing things with materials you find at the craft store, but using mediocre materials can only frustrate you because the fly won't look like you want, not because of your tying skill, but simply because of the quality of the material your using.

Your bugger looks good and don't even worry about the colors not matching. Contrasting colors can add to the fly.

Welcome to the addiction, it only gets worse...

[chugbug27 0]

Looking good. Strung saddle hackle is a good size & shape for buggers and is cheap. The vise looks pretty nice, actually, some kind of Renzetti knockoff. 

[SilverCreek 0]

The Byron is a knock off of the Renzetti Traveller Vise.

As for your flies, they are a nice first try.

I have 3 suggestions on how to improve your flies.

The first is proportion which is the relationship between the amount of material and where it is placed on the hook. Proportion is one of the hardest things to get right for a new fly tyer so do not get discouraged.

You can improve the fly below by paying attention to proportion even with the materials you have. The marabou tail is uneven in that the fibers at the top are shorter than the fibers below and the chenille goes a bit too far back. So make sure the ends of the marabou is lined up before you tear it off the feather shaft so the ends will be lined up when you tie it on.

The body of the fly should be the length of the hook shank. The fly body should END where the hook shank just starts to bend and the body on your fly goes too far back past where the hook starts to bend. Of course the hackle is too long but that cannot be helped because of the hackle you had.

 

Now let's consider the next fly.

Again the fly body is tied too long plus it has a bulge at the rear which suggests the material was tied in, then wrapped further back and then overwrapped on itself as you wrapped the body forward.

The front end of the body should have been wrapped further forward so there would be less tying thread behind the eye.

 

These are all improvements that you can make that are independent of the material. Regardless of the material you use, it can and should be placed in the correct location on the hook so the relationship of the parts of the fly are correct.

[gillage 0]

Your avatar says,

• Favorite Species:Bluegill

My favs as well, if that is a fact and you are tying for Gills I would suggest a hook downsize to 8 or 10 or 12

[niveker 0]

Looking good, @Coin, glad to see you posting your flies. 

All good advise given by the gents above, particularly:

using contrasting colors on flies, that sometimes acts as a trigger IMO

strung saddle hackle is good, as are cheap Chinese necks

the importance of proportions 

 

 @SilverCreek.  I agree the body of both flies are too long, but the Bully Bluegill Spider is tied weighted on the back end so it drops butt first to allow the rubber legs to flutter as it sinks.  I think that may partially account for the enlarged tuchus on his fly.  

Great first attempts, Coin,  I hope to see more.      

Oh, and one last thing I wholeheartedly agree with: Welcome to the addiction, it only gets worse...

 

 

 

[SilverCreek 0]

2 hours ago, niveker said:

 @SilverCreek.  .....the Bully Bluegill Spider is tied weighted on the back end so it drops butt first to allow the rubber legs to flutter as it sinks.  I think that may partially account for the enlarged tuchus on his fly.  

 

Thanks Niveker. I have been corrected.

[Moshup 0]

Decent Coin !

[skeet3t 0]

The important thing is whether or not the fish like it. Bluegill will take anything. As mentioned, drop down to a 10 or 12 hook. I have tied for over 25 years and never got caught up in the proportions thingy. I tie and fish the fly.

[Coin 0]

Thanks for looking at what I have done to date. This is some thing I have wanted to do for a long time. Now that I have started I am wondering why I waited so long to start.  My guess would be life just gets in the way. Hoping the next ones will be better. If anyone around Tucson is up for some very cheap lessons lets talk.

[vicrider 0]

One thing Silver Creek forgot to mention is either of your flies are going to catch fish. Maybe the lump on the back of the bully is wrong or maybe the fish will see it as an egg sac. Perfect proportions are great and some of them have been developed to float or cast a fly better but I had a friend who would tie a few chicken feathers on the hook and outfish most of us. Have fun with it and enjoy the craft, the art part will come along later.

[Charlie1947 0]

On 8/2/2021 at 3:00 PM, Coin said:

These are some of the first fly's that I have tied. Now I have been having trouble with the feathers so instead of using good ones I went to Hobby Lobby and got some cheap ones. I do know it should be a Olive colored feather but I used what I had. The Wooly Bugger is on a Eagle Claw #2 and is a all purpose live bait hook. Also the Bully is on the same hook. The Vise is the one I bought on Ebay called a Byron, for me I don't know the difference between a good or bad one but so far it works. Don't laugh to hard and I am open to suggestions.

 

Great start! The more practice, less nerves, more fun! Be sure to ask questions if you need help!

Great bunch of guys, none have bitten me yet! Great beginning vise! Be sure you have great light!

[hopperfisher 0]

Good start! Better looking flies than my first ones for sure! The bugger's good...as said, strung saddle hackle is your friend (and cheap, but get a quality brand) in the fly tying material world the mantra is...garbage in, garbage out, your hackle should be about 1.5 times the hook gap, tie it in by the tip, right in front of the tail and wrap forward, this will give you a reverse taper (wider at the front, skinnier at the tail...preferable for buggers) ...as far as the tail, only use half of what you used, preferably the longer half...keep tying up those spiders in size 10 or 12 and you'll keep your rod bent for sure! 

All of that said, take those out and fish the hell out of 'em...you might be surprised at how effective they are! 

[helenjmoore 0]

I am also new to the fly fishing. Not much aware how to use flys. This will be helpful.

[chugbug27 0]

Orvis has a really good series of short beginner videos on everything you'll need...

https://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/video-lessons/the-basics-of-fly-fishing/chapter-one-the-basics-of-fly-fishing

https://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/fly-tying-videos