Tied my first flies

[mikesl]

I recently inherited/ received for xmas my grandfather's old tying materials, bought some cheap tools, and tried my hand at making a few flies.

My main motivation right now in tying is to be able to get flies the way i want, but cannot buy... e.g. I had a hard time finding commercial smallish woolly buggers with what i felt was enough weight, and generic buggy nymphs with good weight.

here is my first batch of stuff, keeping to the easy things...

Lots of walt's worm and variations, some x-caddis, some bob wyatt style deer hair emergers, a rough, large parachute adams and some bigger x-caddis.

also made some woolly buggers, 1 shown here with UV dun dubbing rather than chenille.

happy to report that the walt's worm and wolly bugger are fish-approved... not so sure how the dries will do, might need to work on them a bit before they are where i want.

This is a good sized fish for me, took the UV wooly bugger in high muddy water on a small limestoner today

Thank you everyone on this board (and a few that i've met in person) for the knowledge sharing and inspiration.... going to be a fun year.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I liked the story. Welcome to the world of fly tying.

You've already been successful, as the fish are the only true judge.

 

[Murph]

Nice ties! What did you use for the tail material and post on your parachute Adams?

 

[lv2nymph]

Welcome to tying, it is as you have found out addicting. Nice looking flies you got there, I like the fact that you've met the diameter of the beads with the dubbing. There are a few of the dries that need backed off of the eye. Makes it a pita to get the tippet through, and the fly will balance better as well. Congrats on the trout, it's always better when you catch them on your own ties.

 

[GenCon]

Looks like you are off to a good start. Nice fish. All the points lv2nymph mentioned above are good ones.

GenCon

 

[gfen]

FWIW, antron makes a terrible post because it wicks up water. There's my helpful tip.

The flies in the third row fail because the material goes too far down the bend.

The wooly bugger has way-too-long of a tail.

I bet the caddis would benefit from my flare in the wing. YMMV, I never use them.

They're all better than the awful abortions I make. Carry on.

 

[mikesl]

Haha, thanks guys

Leaving enough space for the eye on the dries is def something I noticed was an issue.

Too long body on the emergers is also a good point

I was improvising in some of these materials just to learn... I think the post is poly yarn that I untwisted, and the tail might be long hackle fibers

Funny thing is that bugger is the first one I didn't get a short strike on, after getting short strikes galore on some that I trimmed much shorter. Maybe the key is finding the right fish.

 

[gfen]

I can't count. I meant the fourth row. Or column I guess. Precise counts.

They're like purple.
And. Experimental.
Those. Too far down the bend.

Not the third row. Those are fine.

 

[mikesl]

Thanks gfen, i know the ones you meant.

Here is a link with pics of what they are supposed to look like

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wyatt+deer+hair+emerger&FORM=HDRSC2

I tied a few more on a 2x long curved hook, and they look a little better.

I think I am tying flies that are a little too big for the hook

 

[McSneek]

mikesl wrote:
I think I am tying flies that are a little too big for the hook

You are doing very well but I think you are using too much material on some of your flies. Sparser is better in many cases. Your nymphs are a little thick bodied.

 

[Fishidiot]

Good stuff.
Welcome to fly tying - it is indeed going to be a fun year.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

mikesl good stuff .. I will be starting the journey of fly tying shortly. What did u use as a reference to get you started book(s) or youtube?

 

[djs12354]

And this form of the addiction claims another victim. (As I make my way to the bench)

 

[mikesl]

I agree they are too thick ... Learning how to get thin dubbing and still get the buggy look I am after


Stagger, I have a fair number of general fly fishing books that include fly patterns that influenced my thinking of What to tie, but I find that the guides available on YouTube (especially a guy named Hans) are really valuable.

Lately I am definitely influenced by the book "what trout want" by Bob Wyatt which seems to emphasize a few simple generalist patterns over finely detailed and specific flies

And the nymphs in George daniel's book are also good inspiration

 

[jeremymcon]

Nice work! Looks like you had some idea what you were doing before you sat down. Tying can be so much fun and rewarding - It's great to catch a fish on a fly you tied. I like the ice dub wooly bugger... I may have to try that. I do agree that some of the nymphs are a little too thick, but I still can't dub flies correctly half the time anyway. To make them look "buggier , " you may want to try sticking some velcro to a popsicle stick and brushing some of the fibers out after you finish tying.

 

[lv2nymph]

It's been pointed out that on the grub style hooks the dubbing is tied too far down the bend, it's very tempting to do this because they end up looking so cool. The reason this is such a no no is the hook has no "set point" so to speak, the dubbing will push the hook out of the jaw of the fish while playing it.
or it will not get set at all and you'll end up stinging the fish and losing it quickly. Tie into the bend about a quarter so that you have all of the bend and some of it left after the bend bottoms out. Speaking from the hook point up.

I posted this pic because I started to confuse myself with this, Personally I would not go any further down the bend than this. You could even stop a touch further up than this, but I've had no trouble with where it is here. Hope this helps, Let's see some more from you.

 

[gfen]

When you jam that there hook through a fishes' jaw, it will go all the way back to the deepest part of the bend; right below where the fly ends in the example above.

So, when the fish pulls, he's smack dab in the deepest part of the bend.

With the ones you tied in this thread, you won't seat it that far down, he'll be hanging on the part of the hook BEFORE that bend. You won't get full leverage.

I'm sure some sciencey nard'll be along to explain this in moar detail with bigger words, but in the spirit of just fishin', remember you want the fishes' mouth hooked into the deepest part of the bendy bit.

Leverages and what nots.

 

[mikesl]

Thanks guys
been having some more fish catching success with the simple beadhead walt's worm, and got a few more materials to work with (different dubbings, waxed thread, less cheapo bobbin that will let me work with finer thread wihtout breaking.

Also tied a few jig headed versions, but certainly found i could snag them as well as a conventional nymph

BTW, i could fill the role of sciency nerd pretty well, and I think you guys said it perfectly.. it is a matter of where the hook wants to rest when there is tension on the line... and you want that area free of springy body material. Don't get me started on how the stiff hackle of an EH caddis seems like it would act as a sort of weed guard for the fish's mouth, making it easier to miss a hookset.

 

[mikesl]

Thanks guys
been having some more fish catching success with the simple beadhead walt's worm, and got a few more materials to work with (different dubbings, waxed thread, less cheapo bobbin that will let me work with finer thread wihtout breaking.

Also tied a few jig headed versions, but certainly found i could snag them as well as a conventional nymph

BTW, i could fill the role of sciency nerd pretty well, and I think you guys said it perfectly.. it is a matter of where the hook wants to rest when there is tension on the line... and you want that area free of springy body material. Don't get me started on how the stiff hackle of an EH caddis seems like it would act as a sort of weed guard for the fish's mouth, making it easier to miss a hookset.

 

[mikesl]

oops sorry about double post, not sure what happened there.

here are a few more from tonight....
walt's worm including a few jig style, still working on the abdomen of the emerger/dry, and my first 2 frenchies.