Some more flies to critique

BelAirSteve

BelAirSteve

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
680
Please take a look and let me know what you think. I am looking for constructive criticism...really...I can handle it.

As soon as I can figure out how to post commentary between pics, I will do so. But until then, here's the run down.

BHPT: I think it looks very buggy. The thorax is a little thick, and the legs look more like wings.

BulbousBHPT: I used black peacock ice dub instead of herl, and I used way too much. I thought it looked pretty cool anyway.

CaddisPupa: Olive hares ear, no rib, black peacock ice dub

Midge Pupa: Saw this in Dave Hughes' book...thought it looked pretty cool. Fun to tie. White antran yarn added.

Olive Zebra: Pretty simple, clean. Thought the ribbing might be a little too close.

Red Floss Zebra: Tied the body with red floss...its a little thick, but looks buggy to me.

Soft Hackle: My first attempt at a soft hackle. Cahill dubbing with some rust antron dubbing mixed in, mallard flank tail, hen hackle. Don't know if it will catch fish, but it was fun to tie.
 

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Steve,
Honestly, these are well done. You've picked up the hang of fly tying mighty fast.

Since you've requested some constructive criticism, I'd suggest that on the Midge Pupa, that you tie it a bit more slender. The thickness and profile of your nymph is more in keeping with a scud rather than a midge. Midge pupae/larvae are very slender and best imitated with small bead heads and thin bodies. Your Olive Zebra is closer to what I'd regard as ideal for midge pupae. On the Red Floss Zebra, I'd suggest a darker (or white) ribbing material for greater contrast and a bit more noticeable segmentation affect. Also, for this fly, you may have wrapped the body just a wee bit far down the bend of the hook. I see a lot of nymphs in books/catalogs tied on scud type hooks with this way down the bend bodies but I'd suggest not going quite down that far as this will impede the hook's penetration and you might lose fish.

All things considered, however, these are minor points - Your flies will definitely catch fish. Keep up the good work.
 
Steve.......no bs those are all nice looking flies and i think anyone of them would catch fish , you asked for it so if i thought otherwise i'd tell you.
 
Definately good flies.

If I had to suggest something....
The first pt I think the bead is too large -- my advise, never go by the bead/hook chart, use your gut. The larger bead pushes everything back on the fly, making your abdomen small -- which isn't a bad thing in terms of fishing, but tying - it looks unproportioned.

And on the caddis pupa, I'd have another few turns of peackock for a fuller thorax.

I also think both "problems" could be solved with a smaller collar wrap.

Thread management is key -- don't use 4 wraps when 2 will hold. 2 good ones that is.
 
I know you fish the Gunpowder, so I will mention that the caddis pupa looks very much like the fly I caught my largest brown on in that river, tied on a # 12 or 14 Tiemco 2457, but without a thorax, just olive dubbing and a bead. Fished as a trailer.

Beads by their nature help avoid crowding the eye with thread. The beadless ties seem crowded. Not a problem if you can get your tippet through, but the wraps do have a cunning way of coming loose after a while.

"Be to his virtues ever kind,
Be to his faults a little blind"
 
Your soft hackle looks very good.
If you like to tie them, check out books and videos by Sylvester Nemes.
 
The soft hackle is a personal favorite of mine. Try to use a variegated feather and tie it much sparser, I'll sometimes strip one side of the quill if it lays in too heavy. That being said, it's still all about presentation!
 
Steve as others have said your ties look great! The crowding the head and using to many wraps is something you will get past. After a year I still do it from time to time.

A little trick I have done on my Prince nymphs as an example is wrap the peacock body with 6 strands for a # 16 hook. Tie them off and clip 4 off leaving the other 2 hanging down. Then I tie in partridge and white biot, clip and right before I whip finish I will do 2 turns with the remaining peacock to hide the bulky thread. You could use this technique on any fly where you use peacock for the thorax. Although it may look funny if the fly has a wing case.

Quick critiques yes on the PT the legs should be shorter and lay next to the body not pointed up right.

The fix..... before tying in the wing case hold the tips of the feathers even with your tail or just short of it. Tie down and when you fold them over they will be the perfect length.


As for your second fly yes the thorax is oversized BUT, I prefer to tie mine that way. Drift that fly over a rocky stream bottom just a few times and you will loose that "extra" synthetic dubbing. I find this to be more common on flies I tie with synthetic vs. natural fur.

On the soft hackle personally I think they look better tied sparser on the hackle. As far as length I'd say it's good you could try short on some of your ties just until you find out what the fish prefer. I haven't fished SH to much yet so I don't know what the fish prefer.


Midges are to thick as stated by other. All you need to do is cover the hook with thread nothing more.


Caddis pupae either a couple more turns of peacock or just tie in 1 or 2 more stands than you did.

As far as beads I don't see a problem with the beads being oversized. Sure it shortens the abdomen and thorax but as long as you adjust accordingly what's the big deal.

I'd like to hear others opinions on this and would like to know if in general the board prefers a bead slightly larger or smaller than the thorax?

Hope this is what you were looking for they are just my opinions others may disagree. I tried to provide solutions not just point out what I do differently. Keep up the excellent work!
 
Good commentary so far. On the Zebra Midges take a look at how thin the body is on the olive, and how thick on the red. The red body is built up too thick. The Olive is better, but I like a little more taper, ie thicker towards the bead. Had you wrapped back about 1/3rd and forward it would be perfect for my liking! Then tie it in Black. Read my lips. Tie it in Black! I use a silver rib on the black, and sometimes gold. Not sure it makes a difference.

Nice ties!
 
I have no doubt that you would catch fish with all those ties. Nice work!
 
Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I know I am crowding the head, but I still don't have the feel for whether or not two wraps will hold instead of five. Only one way to find out...tie them differently, then go fishing!

I did get a chance to fish this weekend for a short time and hooked two wild Gunpowder browns on a red bead head zebra midge...not the one pictured above. They were both LDRs, but I saw them, so they count!
 
Steve... these look really decent! If you get some time let's pick a night and we can tie a few together?!
 
Very nice flys, good proportions
 
wetfly1 wrote:
Steve... these look really decent! If you get some time let's pick a night and we can tie a few together?!

Definitely...I just picked up the materials for what I am tying for the swap. Shoot me a PM with your schedule and we'll set a date. Are you going to the MDTU meeting tomorrow by chance?
 
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