My First Tie

[EdB]

Well i thought i would try to get into the beginners swap and this is my entry. I saw it on the board and thought i would try it. Still working on them as i have only ever tyied a SJW before this. So what's it need still?

 

I need to move it back from the eye of the hook a little i guess

[rusty]

A few minor things:

-don't crowd the eye so much (I still screw this up after years of tying). Best way to do this is to be careful when you tie the foam in and leave room for when the foam's pulled back.

-get the back of the body dubbed too - just slide the dubbing up the thread all the way to the body before you wrap, and make sure that the first few wraps cover the end of the body completely. Your first few wraps can even be towards the rear of the fly.

-not sure what you're using for wing material, but if it's hair, use a stacker and measure before you cut so that the wing is roughly as long as the body. Don't be afraid to flare the hair a bit either - I like those flies to have a nice bushy wing. Did you trim some of the hair tips?

-did you tie the wing in on top of the dubbing? That will raise the wing base and doesn't give you as nice a profile. Dub the rear body, tie in the hair and foam, dub the front, pull the foam back and finish the fly.

-your foam looks like it's open cell, but I could be wrong. Get some good closed cell foam - the open stuff will absorb water and it kinks too much when you pull down on it.

 

All in all though that's a very good tie if you're just starting.

[admin]

Looks great for a first tie. Rusty covered everything that you need to look at. One other thing to note is when you are putting dubbing onto the thread, do it sparsely. It looks like you had a thick dubbing noodle in spots. It's better to have to add more dubbing. Keep tying, it's the best way to get better. Save this fly and fish the next. You can compare your ties from now to ones in a couple years and see just how far things have progressed.

[beedhead]

Looks good, keeper up... ..

[EdB]

i can see that the cement really played a little havoc on my dubbing. Have tyed about 6 now and they look better allready.

[bhurt]

Looking good so far ed. You will notice the more you tie the better your flies will look, its just like fishing, all you need is some PRACTICE.

[EdB]

Heres an updated version...getting better i think

 

[EdB]

[albannachxcuileag]

Troutslayer,

 

for a first tie you did not pick an easy one but by the looks of it, you are coming along well. Just a few pointers on the construction. I have stuck both photos together so it is easier to see what I am talking about.

 

Go a bit lighter on the dubbing as this is what makes the base for everything else on the fly, if you have it too heavy it then pushes everything out. I was always told that less is more in everything about fly tying but I still make the mistake of being too generous with materials sometimes and have to redo it.

 

The butt should not go as far round the bend but the amount is correct.

 

It is hard to see from my photo the area under the head but I am a tight Scotsman and don't see the need to dub that part.

 

The foam does not need to be pulled so tight and can be a bit wider as this gives the fly it's main buoyancy because the deer hair does get wet and try to drag the fly under if you are twitching it across the surface to emulate the real thing, this makes for savage takes. See if you can find a close cell foam like that made by Wapsi, it is much easier to use.

 

There is one thing this fly does that cannot be stopped, it has a tendency to furl your tippet if cast rapidly to fish as the deer hair wing drives it in a spiral when casting, if I could stop this happening I would make a fortune but it is down to the aerodynamics of the fly and we just have to live with it. I tried different methods with the deer hair but what it is now seems to be the best and you have that covered OK

 

Beginners all make the same mistake with thread and I was no exception to this either, we tend to use too much thinking that a few wraps will not be enough to hold it all together but it is and by reducing the number of wraps and whippings it gives us a cleaner looking finish. I whip finish all my heads with 2 sets of 3 turns, this is more than enough to hold it all together and on foam I do not use varnish or head cement as it breaks the foam down.

 

All in all, for a beginner choosing a difficult fly you have not done too badly at all! We all have to learn to walk before we can run and there are plenty of folks in the forum that can help you with those first steps.

 

TLs

 

 

 

 

[EdB]

thanks alot for the help. i didn't know that there was different foam but you are the second person to mention that. I will try and get the other kind. I was losing alot of hair from the fly when i tyed it was why i think i was putting on to much. when i fluffed it a little a bunch would come out of the center of the stack.

[albannachxcuileag]

thanks alot for the help. i didn't know that there was different foam but you are the second person to mention that. I will try and get the other kind. I was losing alot of hair from the fly when i tyed it was why i think i was putting on to much. when i fluffed it a little a bunch would come out of the center of the stack.

 

If you are having this problem then you are not getting the thread loops tight enough over the butt end of the deer hair. I use UTC 140 Denier and you can put a lot of tension on it before it breaks but all you need is for it to bite into the deer hair a bit and cause the butts to flare out a which you cover with the foam anyway! IF you are still have in problems with losing hair there is a method that is not pretty but the hair will never fall out - use superglue! The very runny stuff is the best as this will soak into the crevices and bind it all together but the best way to do this is with proper thread control as you will benefit much later in your tying career if you get it right now.

 

Take a look at this Deer Hair Bomber Sedge I have been experimenting with and you will see that the winging is just held with thread over the thorax area of the fly, if I had used to much thread it would detract from the dubbing on the thorax and as the thread was pale yellow it would have been much worse if I had over whipped it. The whip finish actually is on the deer hair and not at the eye of the hook as I wanted to keep it dark with the dubbing.

 

Another thing with deer hair, when you are tying in the bunch for the wing, keep a good hold of it between your thumb and finger as you pull down the loop of thread, you can then tighten it up with a couple of more turns while still holding it and this prevents the deer hair flaring too much.

 

 

Keep at it because no matter how good you think someone is at tying flies, they did not instantly become an expert as it takes a lot of learning, questions and patience. I still tie like *hit!