Becoming A Better Tier And The Tour De France

[ladystrange]

This is an interesting article.

 

personally, i get distracted quickly, i tie a few of each pattern and move on to another to create something else. I find i am always excited to make something new or try a new material. a different style of hook or the same pattern just with different colours.

 

After reading the article I thought back to the recent swaps i have participated in, where i actually had to sit down and tie 12 or more of the same pattern. I discovered that by tying 12 or so of the same pattern with out getting distracted and off topic, the last 7-8 flies were more uniform than the first few.

 

I just wonder how many people can go to their bench and tie 10 plus flies of the same pattern, same colour everytime they tie vs. me, who usually cant tie more than 3 of the same kind without some change.

 

of course i end up with bits of fluff, feathers, thread, patches of fur and strands of glow in the dark mylar motion everywhere

 

 

Tour de France therory of Fly Tying

[albannachxcuileag]

OK - what is this mylar motion stuff that you like? Similar to the likes of crystal hair and the like?

[Flytyer]

OK - what is this mylar motion stuff that you like? Similar to the likes of crystal hair and the like?

 

AC it's a colour of flashabou.

[DonAndersen]

Lady..

 

Poll results are neat. But, takes about a dozen of one size to get it about right and about 100 to get it close and about 1000 to get the proportions bang on.

 

But you can hardly ask fishermen to do that.

 

 

catch ya'

 

Don

[lonefisher]

should have been a middle option. I have my moments and certain patterns I can tie dozens of... but usually I just like creating stuff. In the summer I rarely tie more then a couple of a pattern at a time. Like Don said though I think you have to tie hundreds before you can really know how a pattern goes together best. My biggest problem is materials as I prefer to buy in a shop but not all materials are available here to me all the time. When I do go into the city I usually end up halfway home with all the materials I need and then I remember I forgot something crucial like the right hook.

[albannachxcuileag]

I just noticed the poll at the top of the page and voted 10 or more because recently I have been involved in a lot of fly swaps and by doing 12 or more of a fly you soon get it down pat especially if it something you like doing. When I did the Bomber fly for the Province swap I was glad to see the back of it, not because of the tying but the bloody mess of my tying area!

The Frawg was a different story as it was a time consuming fly to tie but fun none the less. The most I have tied of a single pattern has been 24 but in 3 different sizes, again a time consuming fly as I had to strip hackles for this and not every hackle was usable resulting in a pile of waste!

 

Practice makes perfect. Never a truer adage to be spoken!

 

Getting away from repetitive flies and into the creative, out the box thinking is where I have the most enjoyment and then trying them out to see if they are catchers or not. Luckily about 60% of my experimental flies are catchers and this is enough to keep you at the vice. I try to get the experimental stuff out to a few people who fish different styles and waters to see if the pattern can become an all rounder or just a species or water type specific fly. An example of this was the Glass Bead Damsel which has become a still water lure for both Browns and Rainbows after extensive trialling.

 

It must have been the same for those tyers of yore when patterns were limited and they would have to have tied hundreds of the same fly because there would not have been the options that we have available to us now.

 

Happy tyings. Folks.

[ladystrange]

AL, it is similar to flashabou, however, i picked up some glow in the dark flashabou yesterday.

 

the mylar is more like mylar tinsle except rather then being gold or silver, it is glow in the dark -that phosphorus whiteish green colour and in stead of coming on a spool, it is packaged in thin strips like the krystal flash. the material lays flat

 

as for the flashabou, packaged the same way but is more of a green colour and is crinckly like krystal flash and the glow didnt last as long.

 

**

 

i'm very interested in the results of this. although yes it does take 100 to 1000 of the same fly to get it perfect. obviouly no one will sit down and tie that many at one time. but i was surpised that even just doing 12 to 20 of each fly they were getting better.

 

i have also found something interesting. the hockey pool swap is 12 different flies vs the other swaps that are 12 of the same. i have found that i can sit down and do 12 different flies without getting distracted by the tv, dog, neighbours kids, computer, ex husband or what have you. yet if i start tying 12 of the same, i might get through 4 before something breaks my consentration. i also found that the improvement effects are residual. if i tie four of 1 kind one day and tie 3 the next, the next 3 are better than the first and so on.

 

but hey i fish, you cant expect me to sit down and tie a 1000 of the same fly.

**

 

AL, i'm also feeling this way about headlights and olive green marabou. enough fluff.

[Nick0Danger]

i only tie about a dozen nymphs, 20 dries and 6 streamers (variations in color and such). So i am able to just production tie.

[ladystrange]

perhaps i shouldnt watch movies while i tie. 1 an hour isnt exactly production tying is it?

[scotfly]

I used to tie at least 5 nights a week during the winter, tying, depending on pattern, anything from 4 to 6 doz at a sitting. Usually all the same pattern.

Don't tie like that now unless I'm doing some flies for friends or swaps!

[Inconnu]

When I tie a pattern I do a dozen for me, a 1/2 dozen for my spare box and a 1/2 dozen for CFR. There is a point around the 7th fly where once past it, I can tie the same pattern all night. I like the change to a new pattern as much as the next tyer but I also like to learn the one I am working on well enough that I don't have to focus entirely on what I am doing while I tie.