First Hare's ear

[SBecker]

So Ha taught me this pattern a couple weeks ago, so I gave it a try today while waiting for football to start. I know I have to center and add more Pheasent wing on the wing casing, but heck it was my first lol

 

[surveyor06]

That will deff catch fish. It has good proportions, and looks buggy. Alot of the commercial Hares Ear are tied too tight and are not frayed like yours. Dont be afraid to really pick out fibers. I take a barrel cleaner to a .22 to most by nymphs to really pick out the fibers. Nice tie!

 

[wsender]

If you don't want to use a barrel cleaner try sticking some velcro to a popsicle stick. Works great for pulling some fibers out.

 

[surveyor06]

Thanks for the tip. I got an extra cleaner with a gun cleaning kit I bought, so I figure I might as well put it to use. I use the .45acp cleaner to remove underfur from deer hair. I like to use the tools I have at my disposal.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

You learn quickly, grasshopper. ;-)

I see you managed to keep the gold on the outside on the tinsel wrap. You invented some new curse words trying to do that this past Friday!

Look at the head on the second one! Nice!!!

Next lesson will include the touch dubbing technique and dubbing loops.

Hey Andy - look at his first pheasant tail in the "First prince" thread. Amazing.

 

[gfen]

Heritage-Angler wrote:
Next lesson will include the touch dubbing technique and dubbing loops.

What do you use for wax? The Waspi stuff in the orange tube sucks.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

gfen wrote:
What do you use for wax? The Waspi stuff in the orange tube sucks.

I don't wax. I like my legs naturally hairy, unlike yours. :lol:

For touch dubbing, this is really good stuff. Almost as good as Wonder Wax. We'll find some for you at the symposium.

 

[jaybo41]

Very nice work on the Hare's Ear! You're way ahead of where I was when I had first started.

I also use the velcro on popsicle stick to pick out the fibers, works very well.

 

[SBecker]

Thanks everybody for the kind words and thanks Ed for taking the time to be my sensei.

 

[Alpabuck]

LRSA, here's a little tip! Dont waste the time and materials by adding legs, wing case, and tails. The bead, the dubbing, and wire is you need!

 

[SBecker]

Alpa...In fast waster where a fish doesn't have the time to decide if he likes the way my legs look, I would tend to agree with you. But if it is in slower water and a fish has a good look at it I would think those kind of things matter. Agree or no? Remember I am not always fishing the dumb fish of the Lehigh

 

[gfen]

I disagree on the wing case, I'm ambivilent on the legs. They look nice, and if it doesn't kill you to add them, then add them.

Legs are nice, but the whole point of combing out the dubbing under the throax is to give it lets.

 

[SBecker]

Gfen..I do understand that is why we comb out the dubbing. but I just saw that pattern on-line and though to give it a try with the pheasant tail instead of the turkey.

 

[Alpabuck]

My most productive fly on all waters is a size 18 hares ears, on an emerger hook.

Bead dubbing wire. I fish them from 14-20 and slay fish with them. On the LL one day I had a client that never fished before hook over 20 fish with it. It golden on Spring in size 18 and size 16 on the Delaware.

I tie my pt's the same way but I add legs! I'll post some pic's later!

 

[osprey]

LRSABecker...........Confidence is alot of the game , if tying a certain way gives you confidence by all means do it that way it makes a huge difference to have confidence in a fly.

 

[SBecker]

Alpabuck wrote:
My most productive fly on all waters is a size 18 hares ears, on an emerger hook.

Bead dubbing wire. I fish them from 14-20 and slay fish with them. On the LL one day I had a client that never fished before hook over 20 fish with it.

Must have been fishing the fish food section and they though it was a pellet J/K

Post those pics then.

 

[SBecker]

Osprey...I am so confident in my fishing technique I curse at them when I make them miss my fly on purpose. lol

 

[surveyor06]

Some of the features of a fly are more for the fly tier than the fish. I dont tie legs on my flies, but I primarily fish soft hackle versions of popular nymph patterns. Some of the most successful flies I fish are also the most simple. On spring creeks, a walts worm is deadly, easiest pattern to tie. Sometimes simple is good. Simple patterns tend to work better (atleast for me) because there is less for the fish to refuse. Take the classic catskill fly. Theres alot that can go wrong when tying: wings too long, body out of proportion, too much hackle, too long a tail, etc. Now take a comparadun, simple pattern, less for the fish can refuse. Also why the Al's trico works so well. But I will say that a properly tied catskill looks really nice,

 

[jayL]

I am with alpa 90% of the time.

There are some imitative flies that I tie where the wing case is critical. For my hare's ears, I tie them like alpa said... touch dub the whole thing. Whatever it is supposed to look like, I don't know. It does look alive, though.

LRSA, use more material for the wing case, and make sure you get good coverage over the thorax with it. That is leagues better than the stuff I was tying when I had only been at it a few months.

 

[Alpabuck]

surveyor06 wrote:
Some of the features of a fly are more for the fly tier than the fish. I dont tie legs on my flies, but I primarily fish soft hackle versions of popular nymph patterns. Some of the most successful flies I fish are also the most simple. On spring creeks, a walts worm is deadly, easiest pattern to tie. Sometimes simple is good. Simple patterns tend to work better (atleast for me) because there is less for the fish to refuse. Take the classic catskill fly. Theres alot that can go wrong when tying: wings too long, body out of proportion, too much hackle, too long a tail, etc. Now take a comparadun, simple pattern, less for the fish can refuse. Also why the Al's trico works so well. But I will say that a properly tied catskill looks really nice,

Yup he nailed it. It's how you present the fly not the fly it's self. People that tie great wonderful beautiful flies are show offs.