Troublesome flies

[Tigereye]

I've been tying flies for longer than I would care to admit and believe I make a fairly decent and consistent fly.

The 2 flies I hate to tie are the Muddler and royal wulff. Both flies give me fits.
The muddler I don't tie anymore as a
I seldom throw streamers. Buggers or zonkers now and then are an exception. Both fairly easy ties.

I love the Royal Wulff. It is a go to search pattern thar is productive year after year. I needed to restock a bit and dreaded the task. I tie 3 in an hour. Still struggling with calf hair. Can never get the right amount for wings. I tried white Para post material and it did make the job a bit easier. I found some white polar bear substitute ( not sure what it is) but it is a natural fur perhaps died or bleached white I'm not sure. Gonna try that tomorrow after this glass of brandy.

 

[hooker-of-men]

I'm just a couple years into tying, so plenty of things still present a struggle. I mentioned somewhat recently that elk hair stimulators have so far been impossible for me. I've never produced an end product that was even approximately right (which is unfortunate as it's my most used and most productive fly much of the year).

Really the struggle is mostly palmering hackle. Everything within reach is going to end up pinched in my whip. The double hackle on stimulators - or any dry with double hackle up front - are a no go.

The saddest realization, though, is in reference to the brandy. I tie at night when my kids are asleep, which means it is also the perfect time to have more beers than is appropriate during the daylight hours. It took a good while to understand how fully incompatible the two hobbies are. Every fly gets troublesome

 

[Dr.J 1952]

Humpys! Can't seem to get the proportions right consistently. 14s aren't too bad, 16s fair, 18s impossible.

 

[poopdeck]

3 flies an hour is great. I get antsy and can’t tie more than 2 or 3 flies at a sitting. I dont Religiously adhere to any fly pattern just because someone else tied it a particular way. Calf hair is out and I don’t keep it on the bench because of the difficulties I have with it. Deer hair, elk hair, poly, work just as well for catching fish. the royal wulff is a great pattern that I fish often but I find it rather straight forward to tie.

any fly smaller then a size 20 gives me fits And I’m on the verge of lowering that to a size 18. Fortunately I have no use for flies that small.

 

[dryflyguy]

Tigereye -

Totally agree on those 2 flies being a PIA.

I had to tie a muddler minnow for my tying class. And thought then that it was way too complicated.
And never caught a thing on one.

Always thought Royal Wulffs looked great. And read many places that the fish eat them like "candy"
But I never found that to be the case.
Sure - brookies take them - along with just anything else.
But I can't recall catching much of anything else. though
There are many simpler attractor flies that work just as well IMO.

The problem I have with tying them, is getting the body to look good
Getting that floss wrapped between the 2 peacock segments just right, has been challenging.

If they actually caught fish - and floated - well, I would have spent more time on them. And probably got it down pat.
But honestly don't think they're worth the fuss

 

[Tigereye]

Interesting because a RW is like an ace un the hole for me especially this time of year. I do find they work best in broken water. Flat pools or slower moving water not so much. It appears the standard for the fly is a #12. Not sure who those folks are, but I find a marked preference of a #14 from the fishies.

Another theory is that a slate drake comparadun is an excellent fly all through summer (evenings) on the Lehigh. The RW may look a bit like that but it's a stretch. Then again I'm not a fish.

I just know I hate tying them.

As for floss mid section, there is a video on you tube. I'll need to see if I can find it. The tyer just does a regular peacock herl body and finishes the fly. After tying the head, he goes back and ties in the red band atop the peacock., I believe he just uses red thread. Whip finishes the band and puts a drop of head cement on. It looks good but may be bulky to your eyes and likes.

 

[GeneBeam]

Here it is

 

[Thunderpole]

I used to hate biots I wouldn't couldn't use them. Over the years iv learned to tie with them. Now it's definitely the humpy. Can't get proportions correct. I like my Flys perfect or I won't use them. Anything that isn't par I give away I'm just wierd