A Couple Flies I Tied

[BelAirSteve]

I'm new to this and looking for some feedback. I tied these two yesterday. The first is a bead head teeny nymph with some olive hares ear dubbing behind the bead. Although I haven't fished with midges yet, I think they look cool and tied this one. It's red midge flash and peacock ice dub.

 

[jayL]

I would fish em. Good stuff.

 

[BelAirSteve]

Thanks Jay. Hey, as I look a little closer at the midge, do you think I could have started the body a little lower on the curve of the hook. The thorax looks a little out of proportion to the body.

 

[jayL]

Yeah, I would either do that or use a smaller hook.

On smaller hooks, I like to offset the point to one side or the other to increase hookups. Credit to Padraic for that tip.

 

[tomgamber]

BelAirSteve wrote:
Thanks Jay. Hey, as I look a little closer at the midge, do you think I could have started the body a little lower on the curve of the hook. The thorax looks a little out of proportion to the body.

Not only that but you can go back now and make the abdomen longer with no trouble...

 

[whheff]

Very nice!! They will catch fish. If these are some of your first flies, they are really good. Save them and look at them in 6 months and see the difference in your tying. You will be surprised!!

 

[BelAirSteve]

tomgamber wrote:

Not only that but you can go back now and make the abdomen longer with no trouble...

Good point...never thought of that. Regarding whheff's comment, they are NOT some of my first. I have been tying for about 2 months. I did save some of my original pheasant tails, and although they would probably catch fish too, they are entertaining to look at...proporations way off...way too much thread...all those things.

As a new tyer, if there are any other newbies reading this, pay close attention to what these guys tell you here. It is very valuable and useful information.

 

[bam]

Those are very good for only tying a couple months. Definately fish catchers there.

The Daiichi's scud hooks I bought already have an offset. Actually a pretty significant one.... maybe 10-15 degrees. I've noticed Tiemco makes one of their scud hook with a straight, rather than a downturned eye... I doubt it would make much difference, but it does have a slightly bigger bite.

 

[ryguyfi]

First thing... take the barb off ;-)

Second, try to visualize the fly before you tie it and plan out how you are going to do it step by step. Just like we say when describing a fly it is a "recipe". Take out all your materials you need, and know when you are going to do what step and how. Also, like in your wings/legs on your teenie nymph, measure them out before you tie them in. I recently started doing this on my flies and they are much more visually appealing to me. That doesn't necessarily matter to fish, but to us FF snobs, it does. My biggest piece of advice is to just sit at the bench and tie the SAME fly about a dozen times. Make it something simple like a Hares Ear. You'll improve with each one and see what works and what doesn't. Have fun and keep posting pictures, we'll help ya out.


Ryan

 

[BelAirSteve]

ryguyfi wrote:
First thing... take the barb off ;-)

Ryan

I hear ya...I always fish barbless, except for smallies, so don't worry about that. I was more concerned with taking the pictures. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ryguyfi]

I lose my fair share of fish throughout the year, and it's just a way to have an excuse lol.

"ahh that fish got off because I am barbless"
(not a chance because i'm an idiot and played it wrong or it outsmarted me)

 

[osprey]

They'll work for sure , get out and get 'em. Jay i din know jesus was a flyer , what position did he play? he kinda looks like hextall.

 

[3wt7X]

Good looking flies and you camera did a nice job showing them. I think that you should continue posting patterns as you develop in your fly tying. It is nice to see critiques from some of the better fly fisher/fly tyers on this site. I would post some pics of my ties, but I cannot get the camera to focus on smaller flies. Regardless, keep up the good work!!!!

 

[BelAirSteve]

3wt7X wrote:
Good looking flies and you camera did a nice job showing them. I think that you should continue posting patterns as you develop in your fly tying. It is nice to see critiques from some of the better fly fisher/fly tyers on this site. I would post some pics of my ties, but I cannot get the camera to focus on smaller flies. Regardless, keep up the good work!!!!

I have a Nikon D40 and I set it to the "closeup" mode, as I do not have a macro lens...yet anyway! I was pleasantly surprised how well the pictures turned out. The picture in my profile, the sulphur, was taken with the same camera on the banks of the Gunpowder back in May.

I tied my first soft hackle last night, and I'll get a pic up that up soon.

A question for the group...as I post more pics, should I keep this same thread going, or start new ones each time?

Steve