First Dry tied

[flynoob]

been fiddling with tying streamers and nymphs and this was my first shot at a dry. It's supposed to be a March Brown. Please let me know what I can do to improve.

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[sniperfreak223]

your wings look a little sparse, try to use a little more material in them, andyour hackle wraps look to be spaced out a little too much, try to bring them a little closer together. I've also found it easier to wind hackle correctly if you add a small pinch of dubbing under the hackle, it forms a solid base that keeps the hackles from slipping, as well as giving the fly a more natural profile. But even though your first fly didn't come out perfect, don't get discouraged- "Catskill"-type hackles take some time to master, so just keep trying and they will improve (it took me almost three months to get these right, but I'm somewhat of a slow learner...)

hope this helps...

 

[ryguyfi]

Let me work from back to front and give my input.

The tail doesn't look too bad. If you want it to splay out, then put a small ball of dubbing right underneath it on the hook. This will splay out the fibers of the tail and get you a better looking tail. Mayflies have 2-3 tails, and they are splayed rather than straight.


The dubbing looks like you're putting too much on your thread. Take what you think is enough and cut it down to 1/3. It should BARELY cover the thread. This will get you a better coverage of the body and make it more uniform.

Hackle... by far the hardest part of any catskill tied dry. Tie in your hackle with about 1/3 left before the eye. The trick is to strip the bottom 3-4 barbs of the hackle so you have a small stem to use as a tie down point. Then dub up to about 1/8" from the eye. Leave room to finish your fly. Now when hackling, make sure each wrap is right in front of the other, even touching. It looks like you put it one in front of the other, but they are too spread out. You should probably have about 8 wraps of hackle, give or take, on that fly. The wings, if you want to put them in, should be slightly bigger. I don't put them on mine too often. It's just for the silouette.

Whip finish and cement... then you're done!


It's def a whole new ball game compared to a basic nymph, but keep at it. I can remember the first fish I caught on my own dry.

Keep asking questions too.


Ryan